Metal Mouth Message Board

Do most people have their wisdom teeth out? I have all 4 of mine, and at my first consultation the doctor didn't mention extracting them. Is it possible that, if I don't get them extracted, they may cause trouble in the future? I will probably ask my ortho next appt but I was basically wondering if anyone in braces kept their wisdom teeth..

I had 3 come through and one decided to hover permanently somewhere near my left ear.

All was fine until my lower left came through. All of a sudden, I had no contact between opposing teeth from my incisors back to the first of my second molars, on both sides. The dreaded open bite.

I started in braces in February. By July, my ortho said the offending wisdom tooth had to come out otherwise he could not close my bite. So I trotted off to my regular dentist who did the dastardly deed. Things have come along nicely since then.

The other two erupted wisdoms are staying put and one of them is bracketed.

See what your ortho says about yours. You may get to keep some or all of them.

I have two upper wisdom teeth - impacted very far up and laying horizontal. Surgeon recommended leaving them there--odds are they have been there more than 20 years (I'm 44) and will not descend and the risks to get them out are far greater than risk of future problems with leaving them there. I never got any wisdom teeth on the bottom - they just never grew.

I have two on top and two on the bottom which have never come through.
My top ones are slanted towards my molars; my bottom ones are nearly completely horizontal.


I'm supposed to have them taken out the same time I have jaw surgery.

I don't have any wisdom teeth at all!

Lau xx

I guess I'm jumping ahead of myself here, but if the ortho lets me decide if I want to keep them, I would tend to want to keep them just to save money. I just don't want to have to pay more in the future if they cause problems.

I have my 4 wisdom teeth, mostly 'all of all' out and they seem to be aligned well so I have them still. My braces only go up to my premolars though.

All my wisdom teeth are still in my mouth. I was told I should probably get them out after my treatment.

I have ALL of my wisdom teeth plus extra wisdom teeth (yea, im special). I was told I can keep them however long I want (and can take care of them properly).

I had mine out 20 years ago. The top ones would probably have erupted eventually but the bottom ones were lying horizontal.

I still have all my wisdom teeth. When I went for my consult the Orthodontist mentioned my wisdom teeth and said that they are fine where they are and she does not see any reason to have them taken out. My bite in the back is fine (as in my molars meet where they are suppossed to) and I have enough space in the front to compensate either way. I was so thrilled and incredibly lucky, because I would not have been able to afford it!!!...lol. But she also stated that as long as I am able to keep them clean and they dont cause me any pain they can stay. AND I WANT THEM TO STAY!!!...LOL. I dont have braces...YET. I was suppossed to get spacers tommorrow and braces a week later but I have some other dental work that needs to be done and I did not want to have it all done so close together. So needless to say I have postponed it until I can get all the dental work out of the way...

I have all 4 of my wisdom teeth. They came in fine and the ortho says they are not part of my bite problems. My top wire goes all the way back to my wisdom teeth and I have a lot of rubbing back there, especially if the wire pokes out even a small bit. But I am glad I did not need to have them out.

I have one...bottom right. Had the other three extracted in April '06. One was impacted, one was fully erupted, the other was partially erupted. The fourth, well we're going to use that one seeing as I'm missing a bottom molar on each side. I don't think it's necessary for everyone to get theirs out. If they work with your bite and mess things up and cause cause crowding, I don't see a reason to have them removed. I did a lot of reading up about wisdom tooth extraction prior to having mine out, and it seems like there is a ton of debate on the issue. Some people think dentists and orthos order them out just for the sake of doing so. I don't know, I think it should always be a case by case sorta thing.

~Rachel~

i have all 4 wisdom teeth... but i only am getting 3 out because the other one is being brought into my second molar's place..

I have all 4 wisdom teeth. At my first consultation my ortho did not mention anything about extractions for my wisdom teeth. He told me that I needed a total of 6 extractions and told me which ones (2 top premolars,2 bottom premolars and two molars on bottom that were terribly decayed) After I've been braced about 2-3 months he mentions to me in one of my adjustment appt's " You know you need the wisdom teeth out,right ?" I really don't understand why since they are all out and not tilting or near other teeth that are bracketed I went through a really rough time when I got 6 teeth extracted in one day and just to think that I need 4 more ugh! But if it means that my teeth will stay nice and straight then I'm all for it. Sooooo I will be getting my wisdom teeth extractions after Christmas. I will be put under general anesthesia but depending on price ,I might only have 2 extractions done at a time.

Gennel