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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1852 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 21, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

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What's the verdict on prophylactic wisdom tooth excraction?

My dentist told me that he thought I should leave them alone until they start bothering me. Like @FiveHourMarathon, they were intermittently painful for small periods of time, so I eventually decided to get them out. Other than a couple days of pain, I don't miss them or anything. Weirdly, only 3 came in. The two on the bottom were in there good and they have to be broken up with a drill, and they were quite painful afterwards. The one on the top left side was a clean yank. They probably could have left that one in just fine. Unlike other people I've talked to, the dentist gave me a choice between laughing gas and just novocaine; I chose the latter, so I had the unique experience of being awake during the operation.

I have three that came in fine and one that was growing sideways. Was told by my dentist I should get them removed because a partially emerged wisdom tooth is hard to clean and prone to disease. I procrastinated on that for years, and it eventually fully emerged, though slightly shorter than my other molars. My current dentist thinks they're fine as they are.

Mine came in painfully when I was 18, and the doc said I should get them out, but it was the middle of spring rowing training for Dad Vail so I put it off and lived off protein shakes. After two months the pain went away and I forgot about it. Since then they've gotten painful about once every two years, but it goes away after a week or so.

I probably should have had one removed - it grew in sideways and shattered the roots of the molar in front of it.

If you have insurance and regular appointments, consistent monitoring is probably fine.

I'm pushing 50 and still have mine -- they are... not particularly straight, only partially emerged and conventional dental advice is certainly to remove them.

I haven't got any solid impression of the consequences of not doing so though, and therefore haven't -- seems fine. YMMV.

I haven't got any solid impression of the consequences of not doing so though, and therefore haven't

I mean, it's not uncommon for one of my wisdom teeth to catch on the side of my cheek while I'm chewing, which is always aggravating, but that alone isn't worth the hassle of extraction in my book.

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