Has anyone had their wisdom teeth out after age 40?

[rdm]

And if so, what was your experience like?

I am 42 and still have all four of my wisdom teeth and all are full bony impactions. Somehow I missed out on having them removed when I was a teenager and over the years I completely forgot about them as they caused me no trouble. Every few years a dentist would notice them on an X-ray and comment on them but never made a big deal about getting them out since they seemed to be asymptomatic. Now, I have switched to a new dentist and recently found out that I have to have my first molar on the bottom right removed by an oral surgeon. While telling me this he springs on me “Hey, while you’re there let’s get these wisdom teeth out” and “you know, you really don’t want to be a 65 year old diabetic with heart disease and need these out”. I wasn’t so sure about it but went to the consultation with the OS to see what he had to say. The OS looked at my X-Ray and concluded that it would be beneficial to have them all out since there are some “pockets” between the second molars and wisdom teeth that could cause some problems in the future. He then spent more time discussing the implant process and how I’m a great candidate for it. He did discuss that there were some slight risks involved, the nerves and sinus cavity but I got the impression that it wasn’t that big of a deal. So, I agreed to surgery to have all the wisdoms plus the other molar removed two days later. Later that evening I searched the internet for the risks and found out to my horror that I seem to have waited too long, that surgery after about age 35 or 40 has a huge risk of all complications and that the nerve damage could be permanent. I called the next morning and canceled the surgery and requested a cone beam CT scan so we could have more information about the nerve location. I had that done and a few days later the surgeon called with the results. Both of my upper wisdom teeth have roots so long that they extend into the sinus cavity. But the OS seems to think that it is no big deal and any holes would heal up or be repaired if necessary. My bottom left wisdom tooth is lying right on the nerve and we both agreed that it should probably be left alone for now. My bottom right wisdom tooth does have some separation from the nerve and he felt like it would be “low risk” to remove it. He gave me odds of 10% chance of temporary numbness and 1% chance of permanent numbness. So now I really don’t know what to do. I know that there is no surgery that is risk free and no surgeon can tell me that. But, to be honest, I’m scared to death and I’ve been completely consumed about making this decision. I don’t want to end up at 65 and need these out, but I don’t really want to live for years and years with any permanent damage either. Temporary stuff like pain, swelling, or dry socket I can handle, but I’ve never read any account from anyone over age 40 who has had an impacted wisdom tooth removed who didn’t have some type of nerve damage and here recently I haven’t been feeling very lucky. So, if you had the surgery for impacted wisdom teeth after 40, or know someone (spouse, friend, etc.) who did and didn’t suffer any lasting damage could you please post this and help put my mind at ease? Thanks.

 

[scared2bthere]

Hi, I'm almost 39 and just had a wisdom tooth out. It was a simple extraction done by my new dentist. The last dentist had planned on doing a surgical but this one was able to get it right out without any problems. It was a bottom right tooth and I had no complications. The extraction pain was tolerable with ibuprophen.

I try not to read much on the internet because it always seems like a horror story. Yes there are risks but I think your surgeon can let you know if they think it is something to really worry about.

 

[brit]

I have a friend who had them all out in her forties under i/v sedation with no ill -effects whatsoever.
I am puzzled by your account though, in USA they seem to be very keen to whip them out whereas in Europe we tend to only do it if there are symptoms/likely to be future problems.

How many implants are being proposed? Good on you for getting the bone scan. I think I'd probably get the one near the proposed implant removed and maybe leave the rest. Are you sure the molar being removed for the implant is not restorable with a root canal?

 

[rdm]

Brit: I am puzzled as well. I am in the U.S. but all these years no one has really pressed me to get them out and then all of a sudden I have to get this other tooth removed and there's a big push to get all of them out at once. Both the dentist and the OS used the same story of an old, sick diabetic man needing it done and that was very likely going to be me if I didn't do it.

I'm only getting one implant. The dentist was attempting to do a root canal after cutting off an old crown but when he starting taking out all the decay he said there wasn't enough to save and not even enough for him to extract it himself. That's when the hard sell began on the wisdom teeth. I am leaning toward what you said about just getting the one done but the possibility of nerve damage is pretty unsettling.

Scared2bthere: Yes, one of my problems is I read way too much stuff on the internet.

 

[brit]

Both the dentist and the OS used the same story of an old, sick diabetic man needing it done and that was very likely going to be me if I didn't do it.

Why do they assume diabetic? Don't see what difference this makes anyway to surgery...people who are diabetic have all sorts of stuff done. I do think younger people heal better probably but unnecessary surgery is unnecessary surgery.

If it helps I had 3 of my wisdom teeth removed under GA a long time ago..the surgeon wanted to leave the 4th as it was through. At the time I would have preferred to have got rid of it but I am glad he kept it now. Who knows maybe that was for nerve reasons.

If you need an implant, it makes sense to ensure you do not damage your investment by having a wisdom tooth come through etc etc.
Good luck

 

[leela]

Hi rdm - my husband is in the same situation and I meant to post the same thing you just did.

He had an appt. on May 8 to have all 4 wisdom teeth out, he is exactly the same age as you - 42. 5 minutes before surgery (no consultation was booked prior) the OS informed him (upon my prodding) that there was a 1:50 chance of nerve damage - which could be permanent, there was no way to tell if it would be temporary or permanent.

My husband opted to not have the surgery and left. He felt that unless there was an emergency situation, those odds were just too high and too risky. I can certainly relate to you cancelling.

I too would like to see what other results come back from people 40+ who have had this done.

BTW, we are in Canada and wisdom teeth are taken out here like they represent the plague. As soon as they show up on an x-ray, dentists want them OUT-OUT-OUT. My husband described a similar situation to yours, it was suggested/mentioned to him for years, but he never bothered until the dentist brought it up again recently.

If you come across any new info, please let me know, even by PM if you wish. We did all the internet research too, and while most of the time I tend to take everything with a grain of salt, the incidences of nerve damage from wisdom teeth extraction seemed to be quite consistent.

 

[mikey]

Hi rdm - my husband is in the same situation and I meant to post the same thing you just did.

He had an appt. on May 8 to have all 4 wisdom teeth out, he is exactly the same age as you - 42. 5 minutes before surgery (no consultation was booked prior) the OS informed him (upon my prodding) that there was a 1:50 chance of nerve damage - which could be permanent, there was no way to tell if it would be temporary or permanent.

My husband opted to not have the surgery and left. He felt that unless there was an emergency situation, those odds were just too high and too risky. I can certainly relate to you cancelling.

I too would like to see what other results come back from people 40+ who have had this done.

BTW, we are in Canada and wisdom teeth are taken out here like they represent the plague. As soon as they show up on an x-ray, dentists want them OUT-OUT-OUT. My husband described a similar situation to yours, it was suggested/mentioned to him for years, but he never bothered until the dentist brought it up again recently.

If you come across any new info, please let me know, even by PM if you wish. We did all the internet research too, and while most of the time I tend to take everything with a grain of salt, the incidences of nerve damage from wisdom teeth extraction seemed to be quite consistent.

Sadly most people only tell the world about the bad things that happen to them when getting their wisdom teeth out, so that is why you hear a lot more about nerve damage than success. (My opinion)

 

[chickenjen]

Hi, rdm
I had my upper wisdom teeth taken out last October at the age of 45. I have had no problems whatsoever. Mine were fully erupted, maybe that's why I had no problems with getting them removed. In fact, my dentist never even mentioned any sort of risks to me since I was over 40. I guess it depends on the teeth.
,
Jen

 

[leela]

Hey Mikey - do you mind if I ask how old you were, and if you know what your condition was - as in do you know if any of your wisdom teeth were particularly close to the nerve?

In my husband's case, the OS seemed a bit hesitant as well. He asked my husband why the dentist thought they should come out now, and my husband told him it was because he had a slight toothache in the tooth that is 3 teeth away from the wisdom teeth. The OS said, "well I can't even guarantee that getting wisdom teeth out will have any effect on a tooth that far away", and it was he that mentioned that this was an elective procedure not an emergent one, and that my husband should feel comfortable with the decision.

So it's hard to make a decision to go ahead with something where there could be serious complications when you are getting that kind of feedback from the OS - didn't leave us with a big vote of confidence.

He'll take it one day at a time now and see where he needs to go with this down the road.

 

[mikey]

I had myn removed at 16, they were already causing me headaches and jaw aches. All four of them were impacted completely. I'm not really sure how close to the nerve they were without asking my dentist.

 

[leela]

16??????????????? Well then your experience doesn't count. Hee Hee. Sorry, I'm just kidding about that - of course it does.

But my dentist and the oral surgeon confirmed that the older you get the riskier it is, so at 16 your roots hadn't been wrappng themselves around the nerve for 20+ years, so you were at much less risk of nerve damage than my husband at 42.

But a friend's daugher did have temporary nerve damage when she had hers out at 18, so it can happen even at a younger age, but it's much, much, less risky and the nerve damage is almost always termporary at that age - information given to me by the oral surgeon - not information I read on the internet.

 

[mikey]

16??????????????? Well then your experience doesn't count. Hee Hee. Sorry, I'm just kidding about that - of course it does.

But my dentist and the oral surgeon confirmed that the older you get the riskier it is, so at 16 your roots hadn't been wrappng themselves around the nerve for 20+ years, so you were at much less risk of nerve damage than my husband at 42.

But a friend's daugher did have temporary nerve damage when she had hers out at 18, so it can happen even at a younger age, but it's much, much, less risky and the nerve damage is almost always termporary at that age - information given to me by the oral surgeon - not information I read on the internet.

There goes me assuming again that when you said research it meant on the internet lol.

 

[leela]

Oh don't get me wrong - my research is multi-level. First I go directly to the dental professionals and insist on extracting every piece of information I can get from them. Next I hit the internet and find out every piece of information and/or mis-information I can find on said subject and then attempt to filter that into good, bad or completely ridiculous. Lastly I "interview" all my family, friends and co-workers looking for people who have had the procedure in question done, or know anyone who has.

Oh yes, and all during that process I'm posting questions on this board too.

Once I have gathered all that information together, I figure I can make a pretty good informed decision.

 

[mikey]

Oh don't get me wrong - my research is multi-level. First I go directly to the dental professionals and insist on extracting every piece of information I can get from them. Next I hit the internet and find out every piece of information and/or mis-information I can find on said subject and then attempt to filter that into good, bad or completely ridiculous. Lastly I "interview" all my family, friends and co-workers looking for people who have had the procedure in question done, or know anyone who has.

Oh yes, and all during that process I'm posting questions on this board too.

Once I have gathered all that information together, I figure I can make a pretty good informed decision.

Before I had myn removed I was looking at videos on youtube... bad idea. I also checked all over the internet, posted here and asked friends. Luckily I had no choice in the matter and had to go through with it or I probably would not have the first time either.

 

[leela]

And now you have it behind you - LUCKY YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A wonderful decision and now you never have to worry about this again - you sure made the right call getting it done at such a young age.

rdm - how are you doing, and did you find any more info to help you one way or the other? I didn't mean to be a downer on the wisdom teeth removal, but seeing as how my husband and you are in such similar situations, I just wanted you to know we understand where you are coming from. I just showed my husband your post and he really empathizes with you and completely understands your dilemma - he is facing the same one - although for now he plans to live with the status quo.

 

[rdm]

Hi leela. I'm doing okay, but I was going through a stressful time even before going in to see the dentist, and all of this has made it even worse. I'm really kind of mad at the dentist for throwing this on me. Plus, if nothing else I still have to go in to get the other molar out, and then an implant, so oral surgery is in my future no matter what.

I would say if your husband decides he wants to pursue his wisdom teeth again that he have a 3-D cone beam ct scan like I had done. That would give the surgeon a much better look at the nerves in relation to the roots than just a 2 dimensional panoramic x-ray. Based on that I know I will not have my lower left tooth extracted unless I have a cyst or something else really bad going on where the benefit will outweigh the risk. Even based on the scan though the "low risk" tooth has a 10% chance of nerve damage, most likely temporary. My wife says I should look at the positive, that is, the OS thinks that there's a 90% chance no damage at all will occur. I talked to family and friends too and my older brother said if it were him he would get all four out NOW without hesitation. While he had his wisdoms out at 20, he also had major elective jaw surgery when he was my age. He actually still has some numb spots on his chin from that but says they warned him at his age it would probably happen, but he didn't care, he wanted the surgery and a little numbness doesn't bother him at all. He thinks wisdom tooth surgery is nothing compared to what he did, and I suppose he's right. I guess some of this just boils down to what kind of a risk taker you are.

I will also say that I read somewhere out there that while the risks are high now, they continue to climb with age beyond your 40's so it's something to think about. While before I lived in blissful ignorance I now know that I have ticking time bombs in my mouth waiting to strike at any time.

I think it's interesting that your husband's surgeon was at least somewhat hesitant to do the surgery. Mine wasn't at all and almost had me in the operating room two days later. I could easily be sitting here with a numb lip and chin knowing what I know now from the ct scan. He did say that while they normally cut off preventative extractions at age 40, that at 42 I was still "on the cusp" and should consider it while I'm still healthy. Just more pressure you know.

 

[April]

Hi rdm

I had all four of my wisdom teeth out under GA at the grand old age of 47!

Not having the extractions was not an option for me and, once again, I allowed my mind to run away with me and with the help of the internet came to the conclusion that any nerve damage would leave me looking like I had had a stroke.

Of course I was wrong, I had a patch of nerve damage about the size of the top of a cup which started from my left cheek to under my chin and included my bottom lip. It felt like I had had an injection and I only realised it was there if I poked and prodded it. No one else knew it was there, there was no drooping and I didn't dribble when I ate. Slowly the numbness shrank until it disappeared, it took about 5 months.


Good luck

 

[leela]

April - can you describe a little more the numbness you had just so I can get a better understanding of it? Did it affect you emotionally at all? Were you still able to smile and eat and do all the same things you did before the surgery? Was it more something you were aware of but others were not? With my friend's daughter, she kept biting her tongue which was very bad, and she was really depressed for a long time, it really messed her up psychologically, she withdrew and isolated herself for months. Her mother was a psychologist, so she helped her through it, but it was a very upsetting time for her. I was just wondering if you had any similar experience.

Thank you for sharing.

rdm - I'm not sure if they do CT scans in Canada for teeth. I know they won't do MRI's for teeth. It's worth checking into though, but my gut feeling is no. Since every second person I know has had their wisdom teeth out, I think the system would be completely tied up with this, and I don't think our health care system would allow it. But still, it's worth checking into.

My husband's surgeon was kind of a weird guy. I think the only reason he said the things he did was to cover his you-know-what. My husband wanted to ask more questions, but the OS became very disinterested in him once he realized he may not get it done that day. And once we said so, we were swiftly escorted coldly out of there. If he ever does decide to get it done, we will be looking for a new OS. I should have clued in when he didn't book a consultation ahead of time, just straight into surgery. Looking back, that isn't a very good sign. We just had that big "cha ching" feeling - like the guy was only in it for the $$$.

 

[rdm]

leela: Was your friend's daughter's injury to the lingual nerve? That's another problem with the ct scan. From what I understand it only shows the IAN. I think I may fear the lingual nerve injury more because it's harder to recover from and the accounts of "burning tongue" and loss of taste are pretty scary compared to just a numb lip and chin.

The CT scan I had was not a regular CT scan but a specialized one used mainly just for dental. It is not the standard of care in the U.S. for wisdom teeth extractions but is used for more difficult cases and costs extra. The radiation is much less than a regular ct scan and is only about twice what you get with the regular panoramic x-ray. I don't know how far you are from the U.S. border but I'm sure you could get one done just about anywhere. Mine cost $325.

 

[leela]

hi rdm - I have no idea about the nerve issue with my friend's daughter except for what her mom told me. Now granted she was 16 years old when she went through this - and that is a very very emotional time for a young girl, so maybe it was more magnified for her that it would be for us grown ups. Not sure though, I can revert to the emotional state of a 16 year old in the face of dental fear.

Good to know about the CT scan and something to keep in mind if my husband does decide to proceed with this at some point.

I just keep thinking that wisdom teeth are such a huge example of evolution gone horribly wrong.