Many patients come to see me for a second opinion on their wisdom teeth. Often the question/statement is, “I just saw a dentist recently and he/she recommended me to have my wisdom teeth removed but they’re not causing me any pain or problems! Are they just trying to make more money?”
This loaded question can be answered many ways but here’s my two cents on the topic.
Wisdom tooth extraction in Joondalup has always been a complex, controversial issue in our profJoondalup doubt its going to go away any time soon either.
Before I answer that question asked by many of my patients, here’s some interesting points.
• The food that we are eating in modern times from historical times is becoming “softer” and requiring less chewing to eat thus it appears that we are needing less molars than our predecessors.
• Our jaws on a large-scale population level appear to be getting a little bit smaller. Perhaps this is linked to the food point above. We don’t really know.
• Some people don’t even develop 3rd molars. The author himself only developed 3 wisdom teeth. One was thankfully entirely absent which meant less surgical trauma, quicker healing time and 25% cheaper!
The conclusion that can be drawn from the above points is that humans are still evolving, they haven’t stopped. The human body is adapting to changing in the environment. People’s diets are different. People have different biology to each other.
So no wonder, the recommendations for wisdom tooth extraction can have some degree of variability as well. It’s not surprising that dentists will have a different view on the same topic. If they didn’t, they’d be robots with no independent thinking capacity (which is a good thing!). Imagine if robots made black/white decisions without taking into account your age, anxiety, fear or a myriad of other concerns you may have.
Now, let’s examine that question in the first paragraph of this blog post.
“They’re not causing me any pain or problems!”
Unfortunately for us dentists, most dental problems don’t present with pain until they are at a really bad stage. I remember that I didn’t take my own dentists’ advice when I was at dental school (yes, really!) to have them removed. Wouldn’t you know it, right in the middle of my second semester exams, the wisdom teeth pain flared up so badly that I had to see my dentist who prescribed me antibiotics and painkillers. As a result, I missed about 2 days of study which made my exam study really difficult. Straight after the exams were finished, I booked in to have my wisdom teeth removed and have never looked back since.
The lesson is, if you don’t decide to have your wisdom teeth removed, the pain will decide for you at some stage.
“Are they just trying to make more money?”
I would like to say that our profession is completely devoid of unscrupulous practitioners but the honest reality is that there is a high likelihood that there are a few rogue clinicians who are more cost-driven than patient-health driven. That is unfortunately, human nature in a capitalist society.
The good news is that we also live in a free-market economy. That means, that you can seek the opinion of however many other dentists you want.
So, if ever unsure, get a second opinion. Heck, get a 3rd opinion if it makes you feel better! Most of our patients are referred by mouth so if they can trust us to refer their family and friends, so can you. Go with the dentist that explains things clearly and concisely who you can trust. Ask your friends and family as to who they see and take it from there. At the end of the day, you have to trust a dentist because…well…you’re probably just not good enough to take out your own wisdom teeth…unless…you’re a dentist of course!
This loaded question can be answered many ways but here’s my two cents on the topic.
Wisdom tooth extraction in Joondalup has always been a complex, controversial issue in our profJoondalup doubt its going to go away any time soon either.
Before I answer that question asked by many of my patients, here’s some interesting points.
• The food that we are eating in modern times from historical times is becoming “softer” and requiring less chewing to eat thus it appears that we are needing less molars than our predecessors.
• Our jaws on a large-scale population level appear to be getting a little bit smaller. Perhaps this is linked to the food point above. We don’t really know.
• Some people don’t even develop 3rd molars. The author himself only developed 3 wisdom teeth. One was thankfully entirely absent which meant less surgical trauma, quicker healing time and 25% cheaper!
The conclusion that can be drawn from the above points is that humans are still evolving, they haven’t stopped. The human body is adapting to changing in the environment. People’s diets are different. People have different biology to each other.
So no wonder, the recommendations for wisdom tooth extraction can have some degree of variability as well. It’s not surprising that dentists will have a different view on the same topic. If they didn’t, they’d be robots with no independent thinking capacity (which is a good thing!). Imagine if robots made black/white decisions without taking into account your age, anxiety, fear or a myriad of other concerns you may have.
Now, let’s examine that question in the first paragraph of this blog post.
“They’re not causing me any pain or problems!”
Unfortunately for us dentists, most dental problems don’t present with pain until they are at a really bad stage. I remember that I didn’t take my own dentists’ advice when I was at dental school (yes, really!) to have them removed. Wouldn’t you know it, right in the middle of my second semester exams, the wisdom teeth pain flared up so badly that I had to see my dentist who prescribed me antibiotics and painkillers. As a result, I missed about 2 days of study which made my exam study really difficult. Straight after the exams were finished, I booked in to have my wisdom teeth removed and have never looked back since.
The lesson is, if you don’t decide to have your wisdom teeth removed, the pain will decide for you at some stage.
“Are they just trying to make more money?”
I would like to say that our profession is completely devoid of unscrupulous practitioners but the honest reality is that there is a high likelihood that there are a few rogue clinicians who are more cost-driven than patient-health driven. That is unfortunately, human nature in a capitalist society.
The good news is that we also live in a free-market economy. That means, that you can seek the opinion of however many other dentists you want.
So, if ever unsure, get a second opinion. Heck, get a 3rd opinion if it makes you feel better! Most of our patients are referred by mouth so if they can trust us to refer their family and friends, so can you. Go with the dentist that explains things clearly and concisely who you can trust. Ask your friends and family as to who they see and take it from there. At the end of the day, you have to trust a dentist because…well…you’re probably just not good enough to take out your own wisdom teeth…unless…you’re a dentist of course!
