wisdom teeth growing - over 25

[mokles]

Hi,

I'm 25, and my two lower wisdoms grew fully in around the age of 19. There is no sign of the upper ones (yet!!), but I haven't found out if they are actually there or not. There appears to be quite a bit of room at the end of my gums for them - unless they are growing at angles!

Anyway, I know that they say the average age for wisdoms to grow through is about 17-25, and I also understand that some may grow before or after that. However, since the lower ones grew in so quickly together in my late teens, would it follow (from dentists experience) that in general the others should also be through by now if they were going to show?

My second question is (curiosity again!) - On average, how common is it to have missing wisdom teeth (not sure if it makes any difference, but I have another adult tooth missing)?

Thanks!

 

[annie778]

well my mum only had two and a friend had none. I have all four. They started coming out when I was 20/21 and carried on growing in my twenties.

 

[annie778]

you should be able to see whether you have any more on dental x rays when you have a check up.

 

[Zzzdentist]

Wisdom teeth can be funny things. Not funny ha ha, but funny as in variable in eruption times, ability to erupt, root and crown anatomy, and presence. If you have other adult teeth missing, you could possibly be missing the other wisdom teeth. As Annie mentioned, an xray would tell you pretty quickly whether they were still present or not. Some get stuck and just don't erupt.

 

[annie778]

cheese gromit????!

 

[Joyce Sullivan]

The process is VERY SIMPLE. They give you Local aneasthetic. The tooth is then extracted. (Wiggled out).....Extractions are normally only done where the condition of the tooth is so bad that it cannot be fixed, or where it is necessary to create more space on gum for other teeth.

 

[Zzzdentist]

cheese gromit????!

We have plenty of cheese over at Dentalminds if you fancy a nibble.

 

[annie778]

oh you mean wallace & gromit! I thought you meant an ear grommet but made of cheese....or do you mean a cheesey sense of humour...

 

[mokles]

I have always been too afraid to ask for an xray on the missing wisdoms and my dentist has never mentioned it. My logic has been that if I know they're there but haven't come through yet, I would just think about them all the time and work myself up over there being problems and having to have surgery etc.
I know that on the other hand they might not even be there, but... I don't want to cope with all that yet as I'm still waiting for an extraction another tooth just thinking about having impacted wisdoms makes me feel sick

 

[Zzzdentist]

Sometimes not knowing can be a comfort I suppose. Wisdom teeth extractions aren't actually too bad for the most part. Sure it's not something I'd have done every day, but you heal up. The body has amazing regenerative abilities, and when you're young it just goes that much better.

I thought all UKers were raised on Wallace and Gromit as well as cheesey senses of humour (ah dare I mention Monty Python?)!? I would have thought the little avatar and location might have given it away . I've added in a small punctuation mark for clarity though. Yes, I know, my English teacher is rolling in her grave, the poor soul. I must have made a small contribution to her demise.

 

[Gordon]

I hope you've got the right trousers on

Funny things wisdom teeth, I got a fancy new OPG x-ray machine in my practice and my Dad fancied having a shot on it (boys with toys!!!) so we took a film of him and discovered to both our surprise that Dad had 2 previously completely unexpected buried upper wisdom teeth. He thought that he'd had all his upper teeth extracted in the navy in 1952! They never caused him any bother at all for the rest of his life.