Wisdom Teeth Removal: What Are the Health Benefits?

So many teenagers and young adults have their wisdom teeth removed that it’s almost become like a rite of passage. However, when making the decision to undergo the extraction procedure, it’s important to understand the health benefits that you may gain from it.

While the large third molars certainly served our ancient ancestors well by helping them process their rough diets and replacing teeth lost to wear and tear, modern humans don’t have as much of a need for their wisdom teeth. Furthermore, our jaws are smaller now, and there’s no room for the third molars, which often become impacted as a result.

Impacted wisdom teeth can have significantly detrimental effects on your smile’s appearances and your oral health. The area at the rear of the jaw, where the third molars are located, is very difficult to keep clean under the best circumstances and partially erupted wisdom teeth can present another obstacle to this effort.

Therefore, impacted wisdom teeth can increase your risk of tooth decay in the area, and these teeth are also more susceptible to developing abscesses. The bacteria found in abscesses can easily spread throughout the rest of the body, potentially causing sepsis, a very serious, sometimes fatal, infection.

Additionally, the wisdom teeth can damage neighboring teeth as they continue to attempt to emerge. This too can create the possibility of tooth loss, another health risk.

When an oral surgeon removes your wisdom teeth, you can reduce your risk of suffering from many of these negative consequences and gain a number of health benefits as a result.

Many patients choose to have an oral surgeon extract the third molars even before they become symptomatic. In fact, the surgery is less complex in younger patients and the recovery period tends to be shorter. This is why so many patients choose to have these teeth extracted before age 25.

Wisdom teeth extraction requires an oral surgery procedure to remove the entire tooth, so when making the decision whether to have them removed, it’s important to be fully informed on all of the risks and benefits associated with the surgery. Don’t hesitate to discuss any concerns with your surgeon or ask any questions that you may have.

For more information or to schedule your wisdom tooth consultation, contact our skilled team at Stonebriar Facial & Oral Surgery today.