Metal Mouth Message Board

hi, This is really worrying me My braces are going to off soon, my bite is fixed now my ortho is just fixing my midline with elastics. But I'm worried what will happen if and when my wisdom teeth come in ( I recently turned 16) Would my wisdom teeth mess up my teeth again? I really wouldnt want to be in braces again, 3 years is enough.

Hi -

If there is not enough room in your mouth for the wisdom teeth to come through, they can cause major crowding, which would be unfortunate because you might need braces again. This is something your dentist should know. I was in this situation and my dentist caught it and I had to have oral surgery (my first time with general anesthesia!) when I was 18. I needed braces then, but the wisdom teeth would have made my teeth a lot worse. I didn't get braces until 29. Anyway, if your dentist says that you have enough space at the back of your mouth for the wisdom teeth to come through, they shouldn't mess up your great results from wearing braces for so long. Either way, ask your dentist and find out before it's too late. If they start poking through and you don't have the room, they can mess up your teeth. I know you don't want that to happen. And I'm sure you know you should wear your retainers.

Thanks sadpanda. The biggest problem before was crowding, but my dentist hasnt tooken an xray since I got braces. hopefully they will be off by november when I go again so they can take xrays. I'm really worried, I think I might ask my ortho about it next week

Hi -

Your ortho should definitely take an X-Ray soon. That's actually how my dentist could see where my wisdom teeth were and how much time I had to get them out. Since you just turned 16, I'm not even sure if your wisdom teeth would show in an X-Ray just yet. You might also get lucky - my mom never got wisdom teeth. Well, it's more likely that they will come in, but as long as you go to your ortho or dentist and get X-Rays for the next few years, you can be prepared for whatever you have to do. If you don't keep an eye on them, they could come through and cause problems. But again, you could get lucky like my sister who had room in her mouth for all of her wisdom teeth and just had them extracted one day at the dentist's - no crowding or anything. Either way...you are way ahead of me. I actually just got my braces on and I'm almost 30. The only reason I know about wisdom teeth is because mine were impacted and I got them out so long ago, but it does make it a lot easier to know I can get things corrected with braces and not have to worry about extra teeth showing up.

As a 35 year old who just finished my second stint with braces due to wisdom teeth growing in, I would highly recommend staying on top of this with both your ortho and your dentist. After 2.5 years in braces and headgear as a teen, I needed braces again by the time I was 22. I spent 10 years wanting to get my teeth fixed again until I finally decided to go through braces for 2 more years. Please learn from my experience and continually communicate this concern to your dentist and your ortho.

First of all, be sure to wear your retainer exactly the way your orthodontist tells you. This will help prevent any problems.

An x-ray can show your dentist exactly where your wisdom teeth are, and he can predict how long it will be before they cut through the gum, or if there may likely be problems in the future.

My daughter is 16 and recently had an x-ray, which fortunately showed that her wisdom teeth seem to be coming down perfectly. He didn't think they would cause her any problems. She wears her retainer every night. She got her braces off last year. He told her that the wisdom teeth probably wouldn't be cutting through for several more years.

My wisdom teeth were a massive pain, having had braces once at 13 for 2 years, my wisdom teeth coming through caused my teeth to move back (even worse than before).

3 out of 4 wisdom teeth are through and the 4th is stuck under another tooth. I was worried about this causing trouble so i spoke to my ortho who says it shouldn't cause any trouble as long as i wear my retainers as he recommends. I may get it removed anyway just to settle my mind and stop me worrying about it.

I think the key is wearing retainers properly!

Thanks so much for the comments guys! I'll be sure to wear my retainer when my braces come off I'm just worried about the wisdom teeth since alot of people my age have already had their's come in. And if they do come in, will there be room in my mouth because before braces I had crowding.