Do wisdom teeth really need to come out, or is my dentist trying to hustle me?
I think the answer to “do wisdom teeth really need to come out” is “sometimes yes, sometimes no.” But I don’t think you can become one of the people who get to keep theirs out of sheer will. Basically, if your dentist is a creep, get a new dentist regardless. Try not to judge the new guy based only on whether he thinks they should come out. I still haven’t decided on mine, mainly because my dentist wavers between a non-urgent “I don’t like the look of those, here’s a card for an oral surgeon” and “those look like they’re coming in OK, don’t worry about it.” If I’m honest with myself, the reason I don’t want mine out is that I had a gap as a kid and I don’t want it to come back.
My dad is a dentist, and I am still in possession at 42 of two of my wisdom teeth. His explanation to me has always been – you want to hang on to your wisdom teeth as long as you reasonably can, since having back teeth is the prerequisite for not having to have dentures later on (and dentures are awful). The logic is that you would far prefer to have a crown/bridge combo in the future and you need some back teeth to hang them off of. If you have no pain, and you can afford it, you can take a conservative approach of having the bad stuff filled or root canal-ed as necessary – but then you really need to do proper dental maintenance in the future. One additional reason some dentists recommend removal of wisdom teeth – they are just plain hard to work on, seeing as how they are very far back in your mouth. Cavities on the back side of your wisdom teeth develop because you don’t reach there with your toothbrush, and your dentist has trouble reaching there too. You can find a dentist who is
