If you have ever had wisdom tooth pain, you know it is one of the most unbearable pains of all time. You wouldn’t take a break before removing them through dental surgery, and that raises the question of what wisdom teeth are for.
According to anthropologists, the last molars or wisdom teeth were provisions for our ancestors to help them chew rough and rough foods like hard objects like nuts, roots, encounters and leaves. You don’t have to be an anthropologist to know that these teeth have survived their purpose. Today we have softer foods and modern tools like knives, forks and spoons. Evolutionary biologists categorize wisdom teeth into residual organs. This is another way of describing organs that are now unusable due to evolution.
Since the child’s developmental years, teeth have grown systematically – from temporary or milk teeth to permanent teeth. The first and second molar sets are formed at 6 and 12 years old, respectively. Wisdom teeth begin to develop at around 10 years of age, but do not erupt until 17 years of age and, in some cases, can be up to 25 years old before they erupt. As they form the moment you become more intelligent, they are called wisdom teeth. Not everyone develops wisdom teeth, but when they form, they usually have one to four or, in exceptional cases, more than four. There is still little explanation as to why the number of teeth is inconsistent for anyone. When strange growths appear, it can lead to a series of dental problems until they are removed.
The human jaw has shrunk over time, which can lead to compression or blocking of wisdom teeth by adjacent teeth. If the teeth are not fully formed, leftover food can accumulate in the surrounding gingival tissue, causing the growth of bacteria and potentially serious infections. When wisdom teeth do not form but recede, oral problems can occur, including overcrowding or displacement of permanent teeth. In some rare situations, a cyst can develop in the soft tissues near the affected molar. The cyst can cause the jaw to expand or damage the surrounding bone or teeth. In some cases, tumors may form in the cyst that, if they are too large, will break the jaw.
Some people have wisdom teeth that serve a purpose similar to that of the rest of the teeth and therefore may not need to be extracted. It is difficult to predict when problems with wisdom teeth will arise and, according to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, wisdom teeth should be extracted more than 85% of the time.
If you are considering wisdom teeth removal, dentists recommend performing the procedure at a young age (usually between the ages of 15 and 18) to increase your chances of a full recovery and avoid future complications. Typically, people who undergo oral surgery after the age of 35 are at risk of complications and prolonged healing periods.
Wisdom teeth grow at the back of the mouth, behind the molars. There is a set below and above. Wisdom teeth tend to grow crooked, sideways or otherwise misaligned. As they grow, they can press on other teeth, causing problems of overcrowding and misalignment.
Wisdom teeth are considered “evolutionary relics” and were useful for our distant ancestors who ate diets that consisted of rougher foods, such as toothpicks and rushes. When the teeth were worn or fell, the wisdom teeth were replaced. Nowadays, with modern advances in oral hygiene and smoother diets, we don’t need these replacement teeth, but they still grow. Basically, our mouth can contain 28 teeth, but including wisdom teeth, we have about 32 teeth, all competing for space. Symptoms of wisdom teeth can occur, such as overcrowding, damage to bones and nerves, infections, etc.
Are your wisdom teeth showing? Symptoms of wisdom teeth can include:
The affected wisdom teeth tend to develop cysts (fluid pockets) around them that can damage the tooth and surrounding tissues, including bone. In rare cases, tumors can form around these cysts, making it difficult to extract wisdom teeth. The longer you withdraw in search of wisdom tooth pain relief, the more likely you are to need a more invasive surgical extraction procedure or that the problematic teeth will permanently damage the surrounding tissues.
It is also possible that the wisdom teeth are partly protruding under the gum. In this position, bacteria can enter through the opening around the tooth relatively easily. Unless you are looking for wisdom relief for toothache, you are more likely to get an infection. The infection leads to increased wisdom tooth pain, redness, swelling, jaw pain, stiffness and general illness. Oral infections can easily enter the bloodstream and affect the entire body.
The most common treatment for wisdom teeth symptoms is tooth extraction. Extraction of wisdom teeth is usually done in the practice of a dentist or oral surgeon, under local or general anesthesia. These options and any complications are discussed before the extraction procedure. If your wisdom teeth have already appeared on the gum surface, they can be removed relatively easily, as if it were another tooth. The affected wisdom teeth, however, can be a little more complicated to remove. An incision is made on the surface of the gum above the tooth. After that, any bone that covers the tooth must be removed. Then, the tooth itself is extracted; Sometimes your dentist or surgeon needs to cut the tooth into several pieces to save as much bone as possible and avoid unnecessary bone cuts or the risk of delicate nerves and tissues. Extraction of wisdom teeth is a common procedure and probably the best solution to help relieve symptoms of wisdom teeth.
In recent years, it has become less and less common for wisdom teeth to appear before they are removed. Dentists and oral surgeons are more likely to recommend removing wisdom teeth before they become an oral health problem. Even so, wisdom tooth symptoms can occur. In that case, you should immediately pass this information on to your dentist.
The truth is that we don’t really need wisdom teeth, which is why dentists often recommend wisdom tooth extraction to treat wisdom tooth infection. You may be wondering why we have wisdom teeth when we don’t actually need them. Anthropologists believe that wisdom teeth were the answer of evolution to the early diets of our ancestors, with rough foods, such as roots, nuts and meat, which require a lot of chewing force. Since today’s diets consist of softer foods, evolutionary biologists have classified wisdom teeth as having no function due to evolution.
Wisdom teeth are generally between 17 and 21 years old. If you are thinking of postponing the surgery, think again. When you are young, the roots are not fully formed and the surrounding bone is softer, reducing the chance of damage to nearby nerves. Its roots continue to grow as they age, making wisdom teeth surgery more painful and more prone to complications as they age. The older you get, the more difficult the wisdom tooth surgery becomes.