Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - My dentist is after my smart wisdom teeth...scary...WAH!!!

Rodney · 02-09-2005, 06:41 AM

Why does he want to take your wisdom teeth? Is there not enough room?

I still have my wisdom teeth, almost 50 years on, though more than one dentist really wanted to pull them. There are a couple of bad reasons why dentists want to pull wisdom teeth:

*They're old-fashioned. I had orthodontistry in my teens to correct a bad overbite; my teeth were perfect. Then the wisdom teeth came in and pushed one of my incisors on the lower jaw partway in front of another. The dentist said, your wisdom teeth have to go! I went back to the orthodontist, who looked them over and said that my teeth might not look quite as good but were perfectly functional in alignment and so forth. He advised that I keep them in, and I did. There've bee no consequences.

*They want money. I went to a dentist who told me he'd have to pull my wisdom teeth because "I wasn't keeping them clean enough." Not that there was any problem, but there was too much plaque back there, and that could cause problems, so they'd have to go. I changed dentists. Told the new dentist what the old dentist had said, and he said, "Sometimes, some dentists: you know, it's the holidays, and a few hundred dollars would be nice..." Then he gave one of the most expressive shrugs I've ever seen.

So my advice is.... get a second opinion. Do they really need to go? Do they _all_ need to go? Is there enough space?

Many people need to get their wisdom teeth pulled, but not everybody does. If you can't always trust auto mechanics, why should you always trust dentists? If you really don't want to do this, verify whether it's really necessary or not.

02-09-2005, 06:41 AM	#2 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	Why does he want to take your wisdom teeth? Is there not enough room? I still have my wisdom teeth, almost 50 years on, though more than one dentist really wanted to pull them. There are a couple of bad reasons why dentists want to pull wisdom teeth: They're old-fashioned. I had orthodontistry in my teens to correct a bad overbite; my teeth were perfect. Then the wisdom teeth came in and pushed one of my incisors on the lower jaw partway in front of another. The dentist said, your wisdom teeth have to go! I went back to the orthodontist, who looked them over and said that my teeth might not look quite as good but were perfectly functional in alignment and so forth. He advised that I keep them in, and I did. There've bee no consequences. They want money. I went to a dentist who told me he'd have to pull my wisdom teeth because "I wasn't keeping them clean enough." Not that there was any problem, but there was too much plaque back there, and that could cause problems, so they'd have to go. I changed dentists. Told the new dentist what the old dentist had said, and he said, "Sometimes, some dentists: you know, it's the holidays, and a few hundred dollars would be nice..." Then he gave one of the most expressive shrugs I've ever seen. So my advice is.... get a second opinion. Do they really need to go? Do they _all_ need to go? Is there enough space? Many people need to get their wisdom teeth pulled, but not everybody does. If you can't always trust auto mechanics, why should you always trust dentists? If you really don't want to do this, verify whether it's really necessary or not.