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.
I had plenty of room for all four of my wisdom teeth to come in, but my problem was I couldn’t reach back there to properly care for them. I was getting cavity after cavity, even when using a fancy electric toothbrush and flossing (not only on the wisdom teeth, but on the molars next to them). So I had them yanked. No cavities ever since.
