It’s important to evaluate the position and condition of the teeth, determine how often the patient sees a dentist and how well the patient practices home care, that is, regular brushing and flossing.
Should Teens Get Their Wisdom Teeth Pulled Before Troubles Start?
Many parents opt to have their teenagers’ wisdom teeth removed, frequently before they go off to college, and often even before the teeth start to cause trouble — and while the child is still covered by parental health insurance. Experts say the teeth should come out when they’re coming in at an odd angle, causing pain, tooth decay, inflammation, damage to adjacent teeth or other signs of disease. But no one agrees on whether it’s good medicine to extract them preemptively when there are no such issues. Those who favor early extraction say it is generally easier, safer and results in quicker recovery when patients are young, between 15 and 25, although, as with all surgery — as the Leaveys found out — there can be risks. When patients are young, the roots of the teeth are small and simpler to remove, they say.
If a patient is careless about tooth care, cavities may form, not just in the wisdom teeth but in the adjacent teeth as well, one reason it might be better to remove them. But if they brush twice a day, morning and night, floss before bed and the position of the teeth are aligned with the mouth, it’s fine to hold off extracting them, they say.
Carol Rogers, 79, of D.C. is among them. She lost one of her wisdom teeth last year due to a difficult-to-fill cavity in one, but the others are fine. “One or two dentists over the years have suggested I get them out, but I resisted,” she says. “I have never regretted my decision to leave them alone.”