BEN H. BRITT, JR., DDS, PA

Probably the most often questions that I get from patients are those that involve wisdom teeth, or 3rd molars as we dentists call them. The first issue to deal with is whether or not one’s wisdom teeth need to be removed. A professor once told me that the answer “it depends” is one that no one wants to hear, but is probably the answer that is right most of the time. So, what does it depend on?

In my opinion, it depends on on 4 major issues: Age, Space or Lack of, Current Infection, and/or Risk of Future Infection.

The age range is what we will discuss today. There are two distinct age ranges. Those that have them removed preventatively or for orthodontics versus those that have them taken out due to pain. When a 17 -19 year old has signs that their wisdom teeth will cause them problems in the future, we have them “preventatively” removed before any infection or pain starts. If they are not removed during this time period then somewhere between the ages of 21 – 28 is when a number of people end up having them removed due to pain or swelling. This is not to say that once you hit 30 that you are totally in the clear, but your chances of keeping them for the duration sure do go up.

Until next time…

Dr. Britt

Tags: 3rd molars, Wisdom teeth

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 10:36 am and is filed under Dentistry.