Wisdom Teeth

K

Kjs

Guest
If I remember correctly easy child's wisdom teeth came in when he was 17.5

We were at the dentist last week and they showed me the xrays. The wisdom teeth are right there. Look the same as the other teeth, but they told me it hasn't broke the gum yet. Top look like they are coming in striaght, but they could make a turn. Bottom ones are sideways...facing his last teeth. It is going to go right into the side of his last tooth.

Does anyone remember or have experience with this? Can these teeth lay dormant for a long time? 6 months or more. A year?
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Kjs- I didn't have my impacted wisdom teeth removed until I was in my thirties. I waited too long... each of my rear molars were damaged by the wisdom teeth pressing into them, plus it's caused alignment issues (which in turn has exacerbated my teeth grinding).

Follow the advice of your dentist as soon as you reasonably can... you may save difficult child years of dental pain & many $$$ down the road.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I had my wisdom teeth removed at 30. No problem. They put a scare into me, though, by telling me that the teeth could rot under the gums so I should really have them removed sooner rather than later.
Best of luck. It's always a tough call. I hate to sound like a broken record, because I've said this so many times on so many things, but do as much as you and your kids can when you're young enough to heal, and when you've got good insurance.
 

smallworld

Moderator
It's such a coincidence that you posted this today. My son J is 17.5, and the nurse at his Residential Treatment Center (RTC) emailed me this afternoon to let me know that his wisdom teeth are starting to come in. She attached an X-ray that the dentist in Utah had taken that I shared with our dentist here to see what his opinion would be about taking them out. So far I haven't heard back from our dentist here.

I had my wisdom teeth out at age 20 because they were crowding my mouth. Wisdom teeth absolutely can be seen on an X-ray years before they break through the gum. TM is right -- get an opinion from your dentist about what should be done.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
It all depends on the teeth. I had mine out at almost 18 but they werent all that bad. They were impacted but once they were out, I healed very well.

Billy had his out with just pulling, not impacted. Jamie and Cory never had theirs out. They didnt need them out because they didnt cause any problems or havent yet.
 
K

Kjs

Guest
well, easy child was 17.5 but difficult child is only 15.5. Dentist pointed out his upper ones look straight but could turn. I decided if we have to put him under to take out the bottom two, we are going to have all 4 taken out. Not going to take the chance of going through it twice.

Dentist said we have some time yet. difficult child doesn't want to "plan" it for when school is out. He wants to do it and get out of school!! He hates going to appointments after school. He wants to go during school. LOL....he has so many. I told him if he kept his grades up and did his homework, once and a while we could have an appointment during school. Not until.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I told him if he kept his grades up and did his homework, once and a while we could have an appointment during school. Not until.

ROFL! So it all boils down to that.
 
C

Cazzy

Guest
I don't know - I'm over 40 and mine have never come through. My dentist said plenty of people never get 'em. Never heard of them rotting under the gums...gross. But I guess if that were going to happen it would have by now.
 
K

Kjs

Guest
yep...if he wants to get out of school to go to an appointment when I have the option of scheduling it after school...yep, he has to show me he can afford to miss class. Otherwise, his appointments will be scheduled after school. He still wants to go to these appointments, just trying to get me to take him out of school. And then there are some appointments where I don't have a choice and he must get out of school. I dislike school SO much. Wish he was more engaged in school and activities.

His wisdom teeth are there. I saw them on the xray. they actually look like they are through the gum, even with his other teeth. So I am wondering if those teeth can lay dormant and not proceed to come in for a while. It's been a while since the boys were babies, but i seem to remember the teeth start to come in and then they stop for a while. I don't want to wait until he is in pain, but I don't want to schedule an surgery if we can postpone it.
 
KJS,

It's usually so much easier to remove the wisdom teeth when kids are in their teens, you can avoid all kinds of later problems. Both easy child and difficult child had theirs removed when they were 16. It was clear from the xrays that they were coming in sideways, just as mine did. Our dental insurance did the heavy financial lifting, and neither guy had any complications. Interestingly, difficult child was a much better patient than easy child.

husband still has his wisdom teeth. But, mine announced themselves when I was at a conference in NYC, that I had looked forward to for oh so long. It was no fun, the pain was extremely intense. I was a student at the time, so I had them surgically removed, one at a time (after the infection calmed down) at the local dental college - no sedation. I just didn't want my kids to have to go through that!

Valerie
 

DaisyFace

Love me...Love me not
KJS--

Wisdom teeth do not automatically have to come out. I still have mine...no problems with them at all.

If your son only has a problem with two - why not just deal with two? No sense pulling perfectly good teeth "just in case"...
 
K

Kjs

Guest
I just came from the dentist, for myself. I asked about difficult child's xrays and wisdom teeth. Since the only person who discussed this with me was the lady who cleaned his teeth. I was told because his teeth are so crowded on the bottom there isn't room for the teeth to "glide" up the back. He also said the roots are not fully formed yet and it could be atleast another year. However because his teeth are that crowded it may be best to get them out before the roots fully form. ????? I think I'll wait. Too many things going on right now. Plus he is not quite 16 yet. That is young for wisdom teeth.
Just don't want to jeopordize the other teeth with movement. Then his anxiety would hit the roof again. Grrrrr. Just hoping for a calm day. Just one at a time and hope for more.
 
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