By the time most people are 18 years old, they have all their teeth. However, “wisdom” teeth can start coming in from about 19 and a half years old up to 24 or 25. Wisdom teeth are located at the back of the mouth and are molars. Many people do not have room in their mouths for these teeth to emerge, and wisdom teeth removal is often necessary.
Wisdom teeth are the third set of molars that try to emerge in the back of the mouth. These teeth earned the name because they emerge later in life than other teeth when people are wiser, supposedly. Four wisdom teeth can develop, with about 25 percent of people being born with as many as three of them. About 30 percent of the population doesn’t get any.
Most people have problems with these molars because their mouths are too short, and their wisdom teeth don’t have the room they need to emerge from the gums. Also, due to lack of space, wisdom teeth may grow beneath the other molars. These are known as impacted teeth.
Some impacted teeth grow at an angle or parallel to other teeth and cannot emerge. This issue, which happens to nine out of every 10 patients that get third molars, is that impacted teeth are very painful. If you have impacted teeth, you will need to make an appointment with a tooth removal dentist.
Usually, our dentist in Pearland, TX will handle wisdom tooth extraction. They will examine your teeth x-rays to determine how the teeth are growing and if they can do the surgery. For more complicated cases, our dentist may refer you to an oral surgeon.
In these cases, the surgery is scheduled for a hospital or oral surgery office because you may need general anesthesia. However, our dentist near you can do most extractions in their office. If you have swollen, tender gums, jaw pain, bad breath, or jaw stiffness, then you may have wisdom teeth that need removal.
Call or book an appointment with our tooth removal dentist for an examination to determine if wisdom tooth removal is necessary.