What Are
Wisdom teeth are simply your third set of molars. While some people have enough room for these teeth to grow in, most do not. Wisdom teeth can present a problem particularly due to their location in the mouth.
Often, they will need to be extracted if there is an inability to properly clean them, pain, or if there is not enough room for them. Most of the time, we recommend young adults remove their wisdom teeth sometime around their college years.
Why Do I Need My Wisdom Teeth
You may have asked yourself, “why do I need my wisdom teeth removed?” We are here to answer that question for you. Put simply, for most people there is not enough space in their mouths to allow these teeth to erupt and be in a position that makes them easily cleanable.
The back teeth that erupt prior to wisdom teeth block them out and preclude them from erupting because of the limited space. Sometimes, wisdom teeth will even be “partially erupted,” meaning that you can see some of the tooth in the mouth, but not all of it. These are particularly dangerous as they are virtually impossible to clean and can lead to infection.
In general, unless the wisdom teeth are in a position where you can easily keep them clean, we recommend removing them before problems occur.
