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Wisdom tooth extraction is a multibillion-dollar industry driven by myths that continue to be spread by the conventional dental profession for immense profit.
Over Spring Break during my senior year in college, I endured wisdom tooth extraction like just about everyone else I knew my age. To top it off, the dentist knocked me out for the procedure instead of using a simple local anesthetic plus laughing gas.
Needless to say, I spent most of my vacation on the living room couch with my mouth loaded with gauze! Recovery from the anesthesia caused even more complications.
Prior to surgery, were my wisdom teeth infected or painful in any way?
No.
Were they causing any sort of problems for me whatsoever?
No.
Then why in the world did I have them out you might ask?
Good question!
As it turns out, over two-thirds of cases of wisdom tooth extraction are completely unnecessary says Dr. Jay Friedman DDS in a study published in the American Journal of Public Health.
Of the approximately 5 million people who endure wisdom tooth extraction each year, 11,000 suffer what’s called “permanent paresthesia” which is a fancy name for numbness of the lip, tongue, and cheek resulting from nerve damage during the surgery.
The problem is, wisdom tooth extraction is quite the little oil well of profit for dentists with the costs of such surgeries topping 3 billion US$ each and every year.
Sounds like the standard practice of wisdom tooth extraction is a bit like “finding and filling” cavities that don’t exist, doesn’t it?
Ah, yes. There’s the rub.
According to Dr. Friedman:
Third-molar surgery is a multibillion-dollar industry that generates significant income for the dental profession, particularly oral and maxillofacial surgeons. It is driven by misinformation and myths that have been exposed before but that continue to be promulgated by the profession.
Dr. Friedman goes on to dismantle in very compelling fashion the 5 myths of wisdom tooth extraction.
Myth #1: Most Wisdom Teeth Cause Problems
The truth is that only 12% of wisdom teeth actually cause an acute issue somewhere down the road that requires the attention of a dentist to resolve.
This is about the same rate as appendicitis, but people do not routinely and preventively have their appendix removed like what happens with wisdom teeth!
Myth #2: Early Wisdom Tooth Extraction is Less Traumatic
The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons recommends the extraction of all 4 wisdom teeth by early adulthood before the roots are fully formed to minimize any chance of infection and pain.
The truth is that this early removal of wisdom teeth is actually much more traumatic than a wait and see approach which leaves asymptomatic wisdom teeth in place and only removes them if pathology develops in the future.
Further, complications from wisdom tooth extraction which include dry socket, secondary infection, and paresthesia (numbness of the lip, tongue, and cheek) are less likely to occur in an older patient than an adolescent.
Myth #3: Erupting Wisdom Teeth Crowd Anterior Teeth
Dr. Friedman writes that it is simply not possible for wisdom teeth to crowd 14 other teeth with firm vertical roots.
There is simply not enough force to do so and multiple studies support this fact.
Myth #4: Risk of Problems Increases With Age
A study of 1756 people who kept their wisdom teeth for an average of 27 years found that less than 1% experienced any cyst formation.
There is zero evidence to support the unsubstantiated claim by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons which states that problems with impacted wisdom teeth increase with age.
Myth #5: Risk of Harm is Small
The list of potential complications from wisdom tooth extraction is long.
- Pain
- Swelling
- Trismus (lockjaw)
- Hemorrhage
- Alveolar osteitis (dry socket)
- Periodontal damage
- Soft-tissue infection
- Injury to temporomandibular joint
- Malaise
- Temporary paresthesia (numbness of the lips, tongue, and cheek)
- Permanent paresthesia
- Fracture of adjacent teeth
- Fracture of the mandible
- Fracture of the maxilla
- Sinus exposure or infection
- Anesthetic complications
Even in cases where there are absolutely no complications whatsoever, wisdom tooth extraction requires 3 days of discomfort and disability while the patient recovers from surgery.
Given that no more than 12% of wisdom teeth ever cause any problems whatsoever at any point down the road, the risk of removal seems great in comparison.
Skip The Surgery!
So, if your dentist tells you or your child that it’s time for those wisdom teeth to come out when they aren’t causing any trouble at all, just politely smile, say “uh, no thanks”, and go home.
You just saved yourself a rather large chunk of change my friend.
Even in cases where you must remove the wisdom teeth, there is no need for antibiotics in most cases. A biological dentist has natural approaches to protect a patient from infection without destruction of the gut with meds.
Which Dentists Won’t Pressure You To Remove Wisdom Teeth?
If you are getting pressured to remove your child’s wisdom teeth, know that a biological dentist does not do this!
I get many requests about who I recommend as a truly holistic, biological dentist who understands the value to long-term health of the wisdom teeth and WON’T take them out unless absolutely necessary.
I recommend Dr. Carlo Litano of Natural-Smiles.com – (727) 300-0044.
He sees young children as well as adults and does phone consultations to help guide those who don’t live near his office. Be sure to tell Dr. Litano that Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist sent you and get 10% off your first visit!
Reference
American Journal of Public Health, Prophylactic Extraction of Third Molars: A Public Health Hazard, Jay Friedman DDS
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10 Signs Your Dentist is Truly Holistic
Avoiding Root Canals with Diet Alone
Could the Cause of Your Illness Be Right Under Your Nose?
Samuel
From Kenya, am 31 and just had my lower right wisdom tooth removed 2 weeks ago and it was a painful procedure for me spent almost three hours to get it out. The tooth was impacted i.e. knocking the other molar and thereby caused an infection of the gum my dentist advised I remove it. The left lower is also growing in the same position though no pain or problem yet.
But have to say proper dental hygiene is the key because most often it is the retention of food particles in the far away areas that causes a problem either cavities or gum infection. I now gurgle with salt water every evening before brushing. After its removal I now thoroughly clean the other wisdom teeth on the left and hope it is enough for them not to be extracted.
The upper right wisdom tooth used to cause me problems in the past that stopped. My dentist advises I remove the upper right one as in his opinion it will continue growing and begin crushing the empty space on the lower side, is that the case?
shanika
Hi sarah,
I have a vertical impacted wisdom tooth, of which 15% of the tooth can be seen when i open my mouth. It becomes very painful at times. Most of the time i visited doctors regarding this, they told me that they need to extract this. However is it possible to turn it around (horizontal turning) with braces without extracting it.
Charles Chan
Not sure if you mean horizontally impacted…if so. Then no it is not possible to rotate.
Tom
It’s interesting reading about small jaws. I’d like to know how many people have had braces , I had braces from 14-16 , before braces I had a bigger jaw but had my growth altered, I think the dental industry could be the root of the problem.
Roy
I just had my lower left wisdom tooth out due to tooth decay and the gap cost was $165.
Not sure how it’s such a money maker for dentists.
Diane
It’s a money maker when they do procedures that are not causing problems and don’t need to be done. If all they had to do was pull your problem wisdom tooth without cutting into the gum which would be considered surgery is why you only paid $165. Once they start cutting is when it gets expensive and usually has to be covered under medical and not dental and that would also require you meeting your deductible first before insurance benifit picks up.
Tawnie
I rather disagree with this article. My wisdom teeth started coming in at age 17 and at least 2 of them were slightly impacted. I made the decision to have them all out and am so glad I did. Down for 3 days, no complications. I have never had any problems with my teeth other than a cavity here and there, and I did have braces for 1.5 years when I was a kid. My facial bone structure did not change after having my wisdom teeth out. I’m very thankful to say that I am 29 and do not have to “wait and see” if my wisdom teeth give me problems. However, my husband, 32, cannot say the same. He had all of his wisdom teeth come in with no problems in his early 20s (one of them did come in slightly impacted), up until today. The impacted tooth (bottom left) had a horrible infection 3 weeks ago, and just yesterday, only one week after finishing antibiotics for that infection, the opposite wisdom (bottom right) tooth got infected. He had both the top and bottom on the newly infected (right) side removed today and will wait to get the other 2 removed surgically. So far, dealing with all these wisdom teeth problems over the last few weeks has paled in comparison to just having them removed and dealing with a few days of discomfort and not having to think about it ever again. He regrets not getting them out as a teenager. With technology as advanced as it is today, I doubt very much that many complications arise from having your wisdom teeth extracted.
Daniel
I’m sure your husband regrets it in hindsight, but cases like his are actually quite rare… like dying on the operating table from excessive bleeding when having your wisdom teeth out.
The question is what rare risk would you rather avoid? Whilst death is extreme, I tend to think it’s a fairly big risk to take for a procedure that is of highly questionable utility to the majority of people and is really more designed to line dentists pockets.
I had my wisdom teeth checked by a health-fund associated (and clearly profits focussd) dentist, who immediately tried to book me in for a $1,800 removal. Not because they were impacted, but “just in case.” I went and got a second opinion from a trusted dentist who is a family friend and he told me I risked far more with the surgery than by keeping them in, and began telling me horror stories of patients having their entire jaws cracked, massive hemorrhaging and infections resulting from the brutal attempt to remove these teeth.
That was in my 20s. I’m now 46 and have a dental check up every 6 months and my teeth are completely fine.
Turns out the trick is to clean them and not eat crap.
Joe
I agree with you. I’m 38 I just had my lower left wisdom tooth removed a few days ago. What a mess I’ve been through the past few days! First my dentist said he could get it after he filled a cavity right next to the Wis tooth. So he numbed me up filled the cavity and started probing and prying on the Wis tooth for over an hour! The tooth did have to come out. It wasn’t impacted but did have a piece cracked for about a year prior. An oral surgeon removed the right side upper and lower wisdoms about a year prior with out any issues. So here I was at the Dentist not the oral surgeon and he’s trying to pull my other wisdom.! I had to tell him to stop after an hour pulling and prying!. He cracked the tooth off and couldn’t remove there roots! So I left with a script for pain meds and an appointment with a good oral surgeon the next morn. The surgeon got it out after multiple shots of local antisteshia. He did it in about ten minutes while i was still awake. I guess I had a tolerance from the night before. I should’ve listened to the dentist when he said to have them removed back when I was 19. It would’ve saved me from having adjacent tooth damage. All I can say is go to an oral surgeon! Don’t let the dentist “try it”.
Nathan dds
take it from me as a dentist for over 20 years you do not want to suffer from unremoved wisdom teeth complications after the age of 40. I have little to gain as I don’t perform wisdom teeth removal BUT I have had to deal with patients who suffered greatly trying to heal from wisdom teeth removal at the age of 45 or 50. you do not heal as well as you would have if you had the same wisdom teeth removed when you were in early 20’s.
Katy
I have to agree. I’m not 40, but I am 30. For over 6 years i’ve been trying to get these things out and something ALWAYS delayed my surgery. First couple times no insurance, not enough money, I got pregnant,ect…
It gets worse and worse. Sometimes nothing at all then out of nowhere complete agony! Infection that gives me horrible breath, my jaw does this spam out thing (no clue), I can hardly open my mouth, Absess, biting my swollen cheeks, pain that keeps me up at night…. the list goes ON!
My dentist as a kid said I wouldn’t have to ever worry about them. Maybe it was too early to tell, but I wish so much that I could of had the chance to remove these things!!!
I started getting jealous of people getting them out! lol Especially if they never had the “pleasure” of knowing what pain they cause! Consider yourself LUCKY to get those freakin things out for crying out loud!!!!
Z
I am 58 years old and until recently I had all my teeth intact. My wisdom teeth were not impacted, not crowding out other teeth, or any other thing wrong, although they did need fillings.
I went to a new dentist that my wife uses and they strongly advised me to have the teeth pulled. Reasons given include:
– Gum disease starts from the back of the mouth and works its way to the front. Without the wisdom teeth, it is much easier to control.
– Teeth cleaning via flossing and by the hygienist is much easier without the wisdom teeth.
– Dental work on the back teeth is much easier without the wisdom teeth.
The other dentist I had been seeing said wisdom teeth serve no purpose, deteriorate over time and cause health issues.
Ok, so these folks are experts, I trusted them and went and had my teeth extracted.
I have regretted it ever since.
The surgery went well, no complications as expected, as there was nothing wrong with my teeth.
The recovery went well, then I developed sever diarrhea, going to the bath room like 7-10 times a day, and within 15 minutes of eating, accompanied with piles of mucus coming out of my rectum.
My specialist believes that this was due to the antibiotics I was given, from which a super bug evolved that was causing havoc with my digestive system.
Having gotten over that, I am constantly reminded of the missing teeth when eating anything requiring chewing. E.g. an apple, peanuts etc. What happens is that the food goes to the back of my mouth and then hits my gums. That was hurting. I now send the food back to the front where my teeth are at.
Dave
Interesting story. I’m 50. I still have all 4 of my wisdom teeth. Never had a problem. I haven’t had them checked in 5+ years but they look fine to me. For 3-4 decades I told my dentists, “no thanks, they aren’t giving me any problems”. I HATE dentists. Wisdom teeth removal is all about making their jobs (tooth cleaning, molar dental work) EASIER. I don’t trust dentists, period.
Jenn
Gosh, I wish it were *just* about making dentists’ lives easier – sadly, I suspect that’s NOT the reason most wisdom teeth extractions occur – I suspect they mostly occur to make dentists’ lives richer.
As a physician, I know that any time performing a procedure is “rewarded” with financial gain, it’s bound to skew your judgment. It doesn’t happen in Canada, say, with doctors as much, because the wait-times are so long for procedures that Canadian doctors don’t need to “drum-up” business by, for eg. looking at a hip x-ray and saying, “well, *maybe* it needs replacing” – there’s already three years’ worth of patients waiting. But when doctors – or dentists – compete for patients’ business, there’s bound to be trouble, and a lot of ambiguity surrounding what’s deemed an “essential” procedure. A very good article, I think.
Jonathan
Sarah, I’m afraid you should re-evaluate one of your claims. I read the article you cited, and it would appear as though you misquoted it!
From the cited article: “Not more than 12% of impacted teeth have associated pathology.”
From your article: “The truth is that only 12% of wisdom teeth actually cause an acute issue somewhere down the road that requires the attention of a dentist to resolve.”
I found this by ctrl-f (searching) “12%” on the article. Correct me if I’m wrong, but…
The two are not congruent. The article you cited says “impacted wisdom teeth,” yours practically says “all wisdom teeth.” Can you explain this, Sarah?
Sarah TheHealthyHomeEconomist
Not sure what your point is? If a wisdom tooth is not impacted, it is even less of a problem.
Jonathan
Not quite. I just had my lower wisdom teeth removed (I’m 6 days into recovery without complication) because they were crowding my lower set of teeth to the point that my two front teeth began to shift like tectonic plates, moving inward on one side and outward on the other to make room.
My wisdom teeth weren’t impacted– they were growing in straight and okay, but just overcrowding my lower jaw. This is one example of why somebody would have their wisdom teeth removed even if they aren’t impacted.
Another example (which I may also follow) is when a wisdom tooth doesn’t have an opposing tooth (some people have an odd number of wisdom teeth, like 5 wisdom teeth). What can happen is ‘overeruption’ and that can cause complications because it will compromise your bite and you can start chewing up your cheek when you normally chew.
The surgery I just had done removed my lower wisdom teeth, and my upper ones just erupted and are halfway to full-length. I’m consulting my dentist in 2 months to check up on them with a ‘wait-and-see’ technique to determine whether or not they are overerupting and need to be removed as a result.
Note that none of my wisdom teeth were ever impacted– they grew (and are growing) in straight. My jaw (like so many other people’s jaw) was simply too small.
Sarah TheHealthyHomeEconomist
If they were overcrowding your jaw and compromising your other teeth, then you were in the small minority having a problem with them then, right?
Rebecca
Nope I’m in the same boat. They’re growing in straight but they’re still shifting my other teeth.
Sarah TheHealthyHomeEconomist
That’s a contraindication then … have them removed.
Jenn
I discussed this issue, actually, with a good friend of mine, who has a reputation locally as a superb and very ethically-minded dentist. He told me that people only *think* their wisdom teeth are “crowding” their other teeth forward – the truth is that all the teeth in our mouth are continually in the process of moving forward, as folks are surprised (and dismayed) to learn, when they have wisdom teeth removed, have all this *space* at the back of their mouths, and yet find their front teeth crowding anyway! Crowding’s not an issue for everyone, but it turns out that it’s just as much an issue for those *without* wisdom teeth, as those *with* them, and the only sure-fire way to prevent crowding is to wear a retainer at night.
Anonymous
Why not just have your two front bottom teeth removed. Sounds just as logical.
Deborah Salinas
Even though I don’t have a problem with my lower wisdom teeth, I was planning to remove both lower and upper teeth. After reading this article, I visited Pearl Dental, a dental clinic in Burlington and had a detailed dental checkup . Then we decided to leave my lower wisdom teeth, which don’t cause any problem yet.
Vic
Hi, thanks so much for the informative article, totally agree the extractions are unnecessary and mostly harmful. I’m wondering if anyone here experienced facial changes after wisdom removal? I think my jaw/face has gotten narrower as a result of the bone atrophy after tooth loss. To say I’m despondent over this would be putting it lightly..as of now I’m strongly considering dental implants to regenerate the bone/restore my natural face. I’m apalled this after effect isn’t mentined as a part of informed consent..