7 Reasons to remove your wisdom tooth (even when there is no pain)

I have often been asked this question. “Do I really have to remove my wisdom tooth? It does not hurt or give me any trouble yet!” Perhaps you are of one of these patients who your dentist has advised that you have an impacted wisdom tooth and it’s recommended to get them removed. This involves a minor surgical procedure and hence the anxiety and preference to avoid the issue is understandable.

Removal of impacted wisdom tooth is done on 2 occasions. Elective and Indicated. Elective surgery as the name suggests is when you choose to do surgery when you are not having any pain or infection yet. Usually as a precaution to some future serious consequences. Indicated surgery is when you are already having pain and there is a swelling and the Dentist must treat it ‘now’ and remove the impacted wisdom tooth to relieve you of pain.

If you are reading this article, then you are probably considering an elective removal of an impacted wisdom tooth as recommended by your Dentist. Over my many years of clinical practice, I have done hundreds of wisdom tooth surgeries and over 80% of them have been ‘have to do it now’ or indicated and not elective procedures. How I wish it would have been the other way around because they suffered unnecessarily and paid the price for not taking action earlier. If you are one of them considering this option of an elective wisdom tooth surgery, here are the 7 most common reasons in my experience why you should do it.

Reason 1

Sudden severe pain. This happens when the gums around the wisdom tooth get infected and it can happen at any time. This is because the gums of the impacted teeth have areas or pockets where food and bacteria get trapped. Suddenly and without any warning this could lead to a very painful condition where even painkillers can be of little help.

Reason 2

In my years of practice, my patients always experience, the infection and pain of the wisdom tooth when it is most inconvenient. Typically, it acts up when you have an important examination, sport event, job interview, travelling for holiday or a busy period at work. It’s no big secret that these periods are linked to higher anxiety levels as well as stress. You might already have had a few episodes of infection during such periods as it is quite common.

Reason 3

When the pain starts you need to do the wisdom tooth surgery as soon as possible BUT you may not be able to get an appointment with your choice dental clinic or your choice of dentist since his/her schedule is full. This has happened on numerous occasions to my patients who had their episode of pain and infection when I have been on a dental conference or travelling and often too when my schedule is full. Trust me, you want your favourite and trusted dentist to do this surgical procedure for you and not any stand-in locum.

Reason 4

In my opinion the most important reason for an elected wisdom tooth surgery is this. The infected wisdom tooth causes infection and decay to the neighbouring 2nd Molar tooth. And often this requires expensive Root Canal Treatment to save it. In many cases the 2nd Molar tooth too must be extracted. It has saddened me over the years that mere delay in taking action has caused the loss of a good 2nd Molar tooth which is a critical tooth that one has to retain for the whole of one’s life span.

Reason 5

When you choose to do the wisdom tooth surgery on a planned and elective basis one of the biggest advantages is the healing experience. Most of the horror stories we hear of wisdom tooth surgery is not about the surgery itself. It is about the experience after the surgery when there is a severe pain and a big swelling on one’s jaw. The pain is bearable only with strong pain killers and eating too is affected for few days. A more pain free healing and recovery is easily achieved when the wisdom tooth is removed earlier and infection free. Once infected and then operated on there are more chances of complications during the healing period.

Reason 6

One reason not known to many people is the effect impacted teeth have on their front teeth. Impacted wisdom tooth, if not removed early, causes a forward acting force that may push your other molars ahead of it which in turn pushes your front teeth to jut out or causes them to overlap. Over months and years your teeth get more crooked. This affects your smile and appearance

Reason 7

Lastly, the cost implications are significant. The cost of doing wisdom tooth surgery is always more affordable when it is planned and done at an earlier age vs a later age (the older you get the more calcified your bone becomes making it tougher and a longer complex surgery).

However, please seek your dentist’s advice and follow it closely. He / she is the best person to advice you based on your situation. In all my years of dealing with impacted wisdom teeth, there has been no two identical situations as each tooth is impacted in a different angle and as well as each individual is a different patient. Your dentist is the best person to advice you and ‘trust your dentist to know best’. You just need to make a commitment to take action. Remember ‘Prevention is better than Cure’