Should I really extract my wisdom teeth?

[EveningWalk]

Hello!,

I hope you are doing well! I am scared and ambivalent about wisdom teeth removal and I apologize for this essay-length posting. However, I would really appreciate any comments or suggestions to this post. Please let me know if you are a dentist/dental student, etc.

My main questions (once you have read the information below it):

1. Is the red circled region's pain a cause of impacted wisdom teeth?
2. Are what the oral surgeon and dentist saying true?
3. Should I extract all my wisdom teeth?
4. Should I remove the wisdom teeth all in one sitting?

I am 25 years old, and am a male. My bottom 2 wisdom teeth are impacted like the x-ray shown below (it's not my x-ray); and upper 2 wisdom teeth are going in the opposite direction also similar to the x-ray (yellow circled teeth--not sure if those are wisdom teeth though).

My current situation:

• I have sensitivity to eating and drinking sweet things, at about two teeth away from each side of the lower wisdom teeth (see red circled region in x-ray).
• I cannot handle chewing food that requires tension, such as eating medium-hard/hard bread such as baguettes, crunchy food like granola bars and nuts. These things also cause toothaches in the same region. I remember about 2 months ago, i ate semi-hard bread and had pain there for a week :/ At that instance, i assumed this was due to impacted wisdom teeth and I decided to remove them.
• I have had discomfort of opening my jaw all the way since I was like 11 years old. The tension is what causes discomfort at the sides.

So I went to a dentist and he believes my theory of the red circled region's pain as a result of the impacted wisdom teeth to be true. He referred me to an oral surgeon and yesterday I had my x-ray taken again.

The surgeon said he will have to put me in IV sedation (not sure if this is entirely relevant, but I tend to get dizzy easily and have frequent headaches) and will have to cut my gums and all to extract the lower two wisdom teeth and said I should remove the upper wisdom teeth too anyway since it will supposedly get in the way of closing my mouth or something. It was also mentioned that if I don't remove my lower impacted wisdom teeth, food may get trapped there and cause infection and will eventually start eating away the adjacent teeth. I got scared when I saw that there are risks of nerve damage and of my jaw breaking etc. while reading the consent form. Even if these are rare cases, it's still scary :/. The oral surgeon's assistant told me not to worry and that in her 20 years of working there, she never saw any serious case like that.

They offered me a 25 percent discount and are charging me ~ $1,700 which is still quite expensive, no?. Thank you so much for taking your time to read this! Please advise.

 

[calcium48]

If i were you I would have the 2 lower wisdom teeth out at the same time, as they are no good for eating chewing anyway.
Leave the top ones for now and see how it goes, but as they will hard to clean it make cause decay to the adjacent teeth.
I'm not a fan of having them all out at the same time, but that may be cheaper.

 

[EveningWalk]

If i were you I would have the 2 lower wisdom teeth out at the same time, as they are no good for eating chewing anyway.
Leave the top ones for now and see how it goes, but as they will hard to clean it make cause decay to the adjacent teeth.
I'm not a fan of having them all out at the same time, but that may be cheaper.

Thank you sooo much for your input!

 

[calcium48]

The issue about the nerve will always be there (i guess) whether you have them removed now or later.
Not an easy one to call.
There are risks either way.

 

[Katerina SG]

Hi there, I am a dental student in my last year. I can not see the x-ray, but it doesnt matter. In the university clinic, where I work we dont take the lower wisdom teeth at the same time. We do side by side, because you get an anestesia and a main nerve in the lower jaw is 'switched off (left or right)'. It means that you can not control half of your tongue . If you do it on the both sides, you can not control your tongue and you could kind of swallow it, which is pretty dangerous. we recommend to take out the wisdom teeth side by side, but upper and lower together. When you dont have the lower one , the upper one dosent have any function.

The issue about the nerve is not that bad, because it is only responsible for sensation on the skin on the part under your lips. Most of the time is reversible, but takes up to 3 months.

 

[Katerina SG]

And you better have one side to chew on till the other side recovers

 

[Parthadental]

After having read your complaint and going through the radiographic images you have provided :
1. The red circled area could be an overlap or an artefact or prximal caries which has to be verified clinically.
2. About removal of your wisdom teeth- Yes you should get them extracted immediately as it can definitely cause a cavity in the adjacent tooth causing damage to it. It can even cause difficulty in opening and closing of the jaw or even a cyst formation in some cases.
3. Yes you should get all your wisdom teeth extracted. Your upper wisdom teeth do not serve any purpose and could cause cheek bites hence it is in your best interest that you should get them extracted.
4. Ideally it is advisable to remove all your wisdom teeth in one single appointment because you may not have to take double dose of antibiotics and painkillers. Plus according to the radiographs provided it does not seem to be that complicated and if handled by a good maxillofacial surgeon then can be done without much difficulty. After the extraction you may have swelling in the extracted tooth region for around 3-4 days and difficulty in opening of the mouth. In a weeks span you will be back to perfect normalcy. Also it is advisable mto avoid smoking and alcohol after extractions and to have only soft diet.

We wish you the best of health.
Regards
Partha Dental

 

[Zuri Barniv]

Ummm....did any of you notice that the two images are exactly the same, just mirror images of themselves?