Dear Lucy,
Cats like me don’t have wisdom teeth. So, imagine my surprise to learn some of my human buddies get extra chompers.
I asked my friend David Carsten about it. He studied biochemistry at Washington State University. Now he’s a dentist who teaches about dental sedation and anesthesia at Oregon Health & Science University.
Dr. Carsten told me that humans can get three sets of permanent molars. Molars are the big grinding teeth in the back of your mouth. The third set—also called wisdom teeth—usually come in when you’re between 17 and 21 years old. If you get them at all.
Wisdom teeth are more prone to issues than the other molars.
“The vast majority of people are going to have a problem with their wisdom teeth at some point in their lives,” Carsten said.
It’s difficult to keep wisdom teeth clean and healthy because they’re hard to reach. Plus, many people don’t have room for them anyway. It’s possible that earlier humans had bigger jaws. They didn’t eat processed food, so they probably had to chew more—and all that chewing would have made their jaws bigger.
Now, many people get their wisdom teeth removed.
Some wisdom teeth fully erupt so they totally stick out of the gums. But more than 90% of people who get third molars have at least one impacted wisdom tooth. It’s stuck under the gums or under the bone. Sometimes an impacted wisdom tooth can be tipped or completely sideways.
The dentist will take an x-ray to see the tooth’s position and how close it is to the nerve that comes down from your brain and runs along your jaw. They’ll use that information—plus how nervous you are—to figure out if you need to see a dentist or dental surgeon.
They’ll figure out what you need to feel comfortable while you’re getting your wisdom teeth out. That could be numbing medicine called local anesthetic. It could be medicine to relax you like laughing gas—also called nitrous oxide. It could be medicine through a small needle called an IV. That can make you go to sleep or make you unaware of what’s happening.
If the wisdom tooth is fully erupted, the dentist will wiggle it until it slides out. If it’s impacted, it’s removed by surgery.
While you’re numb and can’t feel it, the dentist will make a small cut in the gums. They sometimes trim the tooth or bone a little bit. That helps them grip the tooth, especially if it’s tipped over or sideways. Then they wiggle it and loosen it until it’s ready to slip out.
After that, the dentist will sand any sharp edges and clean the area. They might put some medicine or material inside the opening. They may use dissolvable or silk stitches to close it up.
“Then you just let it heal on its own,” Carsten said. “Inside the mouth, the skin cells start to grow at the edges and along the bone. Then they’ll connect together, and the bone will fill in behind it. After maybe six or eight months, you won’t know it was ever there.”
Tooth be told, you’ll be just as wise no matter how many molars you have.
Sincerely,
Dr. Universe