Believe it or not, impacted wisdom teeth are a surprisingly common problem. In fact, according to an interview that Dr Louis Rafetto gave the New York Times back in 2011, it’s thought that around 70% 80% of all wisdom teeth become problematic (impacted). However, not everyone agrees with this statistic. With this in mind, here are 5 key points you should know.
Wisdom teeth haven’t served any purpose for thousands of years
What is universally agreed is that wisdom teeth no longer serve a purpose. One of the reasons that so many wisdom teeth become impacted is because they no longer fit into our modern world. However, travel back in time a hundred thousand years or so and things were completely different.
As a prehistoric woman or man, you would be subsisting largely on a diet of raw meat, leaves, and roots. Therefore you would need some pretty powerful teeth to chew food. That’s where the third molars –otherwise known as wisdom teeth come in.
Fast forward to the present day and our diets have changed completely. We now eat softer, easy-to-chew foods which make our wisdom teeth practically redundant.
Moreover, when humans started to develop larger brains (approximately 100,000 years ago) the back part of the skull changed, causing the dental arcade to shorten. This meant that in many cases, there was no longer sufficient room for wisdom teeth to grow naturally. This is why many people suffer from impacted wisdom teeth.
Not all impacted wisdom teeth are problematic
While it’s true that impacted wisdom teeth occur with alarming regularity, they don’t always cause problems.
An impacted wisdom tooth occurs when the third molar starts to emerge at an angle, only partially emerges, or gets stuck. While it was universally thought that wisdom teeth were better off removed rather than left to cause possible complications later on down the line, modern (and to a certain extent, controversial) thinking in some countries, suggests that there is no proven benefit to removing them if they aren’t currently causing any problems.
Even third molars that are impacted don’t necessarily need to be removed unless the patient is having issues. This is because removing them can carry a risk of complications.
Impacted Wisdom Teeth Problems
That said, impacted wisdom teeth can cause a whole host of issues. So, what problems can impacted wisdom teeth cause?
Damage to adjacent teeth – an impacted wisdom tooth can push against adjacent teeth. This may cause crowding and make them difficult to clean, thus increasing the risk of infection.- Cysts – The wisdom tooth develops in a sac located in the jawbone. On occasions, the sac can fill with fluid which in turn can form into a cyst. This can be problematic to the jawbone, teeth and (rather painfully) the nerves.
- Decay and gum disease – Because impacted wisdom teeth don’t erupt straight, they become harder to clean and floss. Also, the space between the gum and partially erupted tooth makes the perfect hiding place for bacteria and food particles to thrive. Because of accessibility issues, gum disease and tooth decay can quickly and easily develop.
Damage to adjacent teeth – an impacted wisdom tooth can push against adjacent teeth. This may cause crowding and make them difficult to clean, thus increasing the risk of infection.For these reasons, it’s easy to see why there is concern around impacted wisdom teeth.
To remove or not to remove – That is the question!
In many countries, including Australia, wisdom teeth removal remains a standard procedure. One of the reasons cited is that patients are simply delaying the inevitable by not removing them. While there is evidence to suggest that leaving impacted wisdom teeth in place does lead to complications down the line, other studies suggest that 83% of patients remained symptom-free one year or more after the study ended.
Wisdom teeth can erupt (or not) at any time
While in most cases wisdom teeth choose to partially or fully erupt by the time the patient reaches their late teens or early twenties, this isn’t always the case. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest person ever to grow a wisdom tooth was the grand old age of 94. Cases are also common when dentures start to become uncomfortable in older denture patients due to impacted wisdom teeth which are only now starting to poke through the gum.
Lineage may affect the number of impacted wisdom teeth you produce
While it’s well known that jaw size can affect the number of wisdom teeth a person develops, what is less known is that lineage may also play a part.
Aboriginal Tasmanians, for example, are thought to develop practically no wisdom teeth while 100% of indigenous Mexicans are thought to develop at least 1 wisdom tooth. Conversely, Asian and African Americans are more likely to develop fewer wisdom teeth than people of European descent. So for Aboriginal Tasmanians and some Asian/African Americans at least, impacted wisdom teeth may be less of a problem.
The key takeaway
Wisdom teeth (whether they are impacted or not) don’t always cause problems, but because they don’t really serve a purpose in the modern world, there is a big debate on whether they should be removed anyway. While some evidence suggests that wisdom teeth will go on to cause further issues, other evidence suggests that this isn’t always the case.
Both lineage and jaw size may also affect how many (if any) wisdom teeth are likely to be produced and while third molars typically erupt during a person’s late teens or early twenties. This isn’t always the case though.
Here at No Gaps Dental, we treat all cases of impacted wisdom teeth on an individual case-by-case basis. Our patients can rest assured that should the decision be made to remove a tooth, we use the latest gentle dentistry, coupled with state-of-the-art technology across our multiple locations. This ensures all our patients have as comfortable an experience as possible. To find out more, contact us on (02) 8007 6727 today.
Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks.