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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
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I’m 23 and I’ve still got all my wisdom teeth. Three of the four are in, although not completely. Thankfully they fit quite nicely in my mouth, after one or two of my other teeth shifted a little (but my teeth are still nice and straight).
We waited for my middle son to remove his wisdom teeth. Unfortunately, his lower teeth shifted awfully! That was after braces. Ugh! Turns out the wisdom teeth on the lower jaw were actually facing the sides of the roots of the teeth in front of them and shoving them forward in the mouth. I hope this is not the case with my other children. 🙁
Hi Kristina, not always ridiculous. It is called supraeruption. When back teeth occlude (bite together) and one is missing, either the upper or the lower, the one that is not missing will continue to erupt and grow out with its root, because the opposing tooth is not there to stop it. But I think you what you are trying to say is that your upper wisdom teeth didn’t occlude with your lower. You made the right decision about extracting a wisdom tooth with a cavity instead of trying to fill it. A filling would have been expensive, and the outcome very guarded, because it is difficult to place a good strong filling so far back, and because those teeth are so hard to take care of back there. Of course, you could have also tried to remineralize, but I don’t know how far or infected that tooth was.
So many of the surgeries done are for the purpose of making money, not helping the patient.
Routinely removing the wisdom teeth is a huge source of dental income, and usually does more harm than good. Every part of our body is there for a purpose, often multiple purposes, and removing anything is a mistake, unless absolutely necessary.
I got my lower wisdom teeth out because they were crowding other teeth and hurting but I didn’t see any reason to get my uppers out. Of course, they were concerned that they would grown too long without my lowers in place. Ridiculous! My uppers aren’t even lined up over my lowers and besides, I’m almost thirty and they’ve haven’t grown yet. I did end up getting them out I guess because I had a cavity in one and they weren’t going to fix it because they just wanted to pull the teeth. And I worried. Oh well.
If the wisdom teeth are in good shape and not causing any trouble, then they can be left alone, and usually nothing will come of it. We make the patient aware that they have the option to take them out when they are young though, because they are much more easily removed. They don’t have complete roots out, and usually just roll out. The surgery is much more difficult in an older person, the bone around it has become more dense and compact. Sometimes we see wisdom teeth in very awkward angles (in x-ray) or erupting completely malpositioned and causing patient inflammation, and pain, sometimes affecting even the opposing arch. That’s a situation where offering extraction is reasonable. In my own case, I only had two upper wisdom teeth, and had those removed in dental school because I couldn’t clean well back there, and was developing deep periodontal pockets around those teeth. I had local anesthesia, had the surgery done by a friend in about 20 min, and was back in clinical rotations afterwards. So, I agree with what Sarah says in that wisdom teeth don’t have to be removed just because they are wisdom teeth. The patient has to have indications justifying the surgery. One of the courses in my dental conference last year explained precisely this point. I think the lecturer was from California. About it being profitable, hmmmmm, I guess it depends in how easy it was remove. Sometimes you come across a hard one, sweat for an hour, and get paid a fraction of what you get paid for something like prosthodontics (crowns).
Thanks for chiming in Harmony 🙂
We agree that for the most part, keeping wisdom teeth in the mouth is wise! 🙂
The only issue around keeping wisdom teeth is to keep the area clean. Given that the bad bugs that are implicated with gum disease get their best foothold around the molars, having more molars just adds to the attention required to maintain great oral health. That said, we think it’s much better to keep body parts attached to the body! 🙂
Routine removal of wisdom teeth is a 3 billion dollar per year industry! Again, the basic rule to any mystery novel applies… Cui bono? Who benefits? Watch the money trail and the ‘controversy’ becomes much clearer.
To your health!
I also had my wizdom teeth removed while in university years ago! I looked like a chipmunk for days, but have not had any problems since.
Off topic – one funny thing is, my husband, who is in his thirties, has 1 baby tooth left. The dentists can’t understand why 🙂
Wish I would of known some of these things a lot sooner! I’m thankful that I was blessed with a easy surgery and recovery, but still why go through all of it when it unnecessary?! I find myself questioning anything that mainstream says is common or “normal.”
This makes sense. I had all 4 wisdom teeth out when I was 16 (20 years ago). I don’t know why – the dentist told my parents to get it done and we didn’t question it. (!?) I had a terrible time after surgery with pain and dry sockets. The frustrating thing is that now, I have 4 spots of “gum” where the teeth are supposed to be. When I eat crunchy or hard items, it hurts and inflames the gums. Duh, there are supposed to be teeth there! So frustrating.