Wisdom Teeth

My teeth came out naturally. No braces, so there were no space problems. I have all my teeth. I have one hell of an overbite and fangs. No kidding.

@Bad_Princess So as a vampire how do you feel about going out in the daylight? 😎

@alan20cm I am a cat girl silly! I am not a Vampire.

My wisdom teeth were surgically removed on July 19, 1976, when I was 19. The bottom ones were impacted and the upper ones were fully developed and never erupted. I was out for over two hours and the oral surgeon remarked I was his case of the month. He had to break up the bottom ones and extract them piece by piece while the upper ones came out in one piece. For all the work he did, there were no complications. To his credit, he called each day over the next few days after I was released from the hospital just to see if I had any questions, and he took his time to answer each one. It paved the way for my tooth straightening in the early 80s, now that there was room in the back of my jaw.

@Steve B You and I had very similar experiences with our wisdom teeth. I was also in the hospital for three days in the summer of 1968 to have mine surgically removed. My lowers never erupted but just kept getting re-infected below the gum line. My Uppers, however, fully erupted but managed to push my upper arch outward which gave me a rather “nice” overbite. For several years after that, I also had TMJ issues (jaw pain). Finally in 1990, at the age of 42, I had dental insurance which partially covered expensive orthodontic procedures so I had full metal braces installed for nearly three years — complete with 24/7 headgear, power chains, rubber bands, etc . I’m now 78 and still wear retainers a couple nights a week to keep everything in its proper place.

I got all 4 impacted, but they never caused me a trouble. Had some bravery to remove the upper pair as they are, complete in one piece. Situation with lower pair is different, splitting them in half for the best result is required. It gives shivers to my spine even at a thought. While clinic often persuades max profit and aligning always requires removing impacted wisdom tooth, the surgeon had a second opinion. As long as you care for oral hygiene and do not have any troubles with impacted teeth, you can make it till the end of your life. Problems at specifically old age is a danger, cause anesthetics are more dangerous to use for this patient group and wound heal significantly longer.

@Bad_Princess Cat girl huh? That's fine but I was kind of wishing you might come fluttering at my bedroom window in the moonlight so I could clear the garlic away & invite you in....🌹

My wisdom teeth have never really emerged apart from a tiny spot. Back at about age 13 I was offered to have four rear molars removed + some braces after. Seemed about as appealing as sticking my knob in the blender. Fifty years later I now have somewhat overcrowded & crooked teeth compounded by a high speed motorcycle crash a few years after. I like to think it's given me a certain lopsided charm! 😕