Why Do Many People Have Their Wisdom Teeth Extracted?

Question

I'm just curious to know why it is so common for people to have their wisdom teeth extracted? Are they really not that significant, and why do they usually grow out so dysfunctional?

Answer 1

The reason I had all of mine removed:

There was not enough room in my mouth, yet I refused to get them removed out of fear.  I waited about five years and they eventually became severely impacted on my bottom jaw and even infected.  They HAD to come out because they were becoming a problem.

Answer 2

Evolution has shortened our jawbones. Some lucky folks are born with less than normal or none at all.Most have the wisdom teeth removed because they come in on an angle and are too hard to keep clean and decay.If you have plenty of room and can clean them well, most dentists will leave them .

Answer 3

because most people do not have room in their mouths for them, hard to clean, they do not come in straightk, can move other teeth.

they are more problems then they are good.

Answer 4

Third molars are designed to replace missing teeth. But these days most of us haven't lost any. Often there isn't enough space for them, as people's jaws are relatively small compared to years and years ago. There are two schools of thought on what should be done with them. One is that we should remove them young (18-24) when complications are less likely, to avoid any future issues with them. Plus, they're hard to clean. The other school says that they should be left alone until they cause trouble, because they may be fine, and that way we avoid the cost and risk associated with removing them. Often teeth will grow beneath the second molar, not have room to erupt, or they'll grow facing inward (which affects the second molar) or outward.  

Answer 5

They aren't significant really, just more molar-like teeth, we get by with the molars we have why do we need another set. For most people the problem is that wisdom teeth are too big, and their mouth doesn't have the room for to be in there, for others its a matter of pain. For others, their wisdom teeth give them no trouble, its really odd to say the least.

Answer 6

Usually it's at the urging of a Dentist or Orthodontist because they are either coming in wrong or are affecting your bite.  If they ask you to remove them then I would say do it, otherwise if they aren't bothering you leave them alone.  In my case 3 of my 4 wisdom teeth have fully erupted and I'm actually USING them!