12/03/2018 10:33
Many patients come to our office for extraction of their wisdom teeth. This is such a common procedure that it is almost a rite of passage. The pain most patients endure when they have impacted wisdom teeth makes removal a good choice.
Our dentist in Van Nuys has years of experience caring for patients who need wisdom teeth removal. One of the most common questions our dentist hears is ‘why do we have wisdom teeth?’ That seems like a very reasonable question given the fact that the vast majority of people must have their wisdom teeth have surgery for removal.
Scientists have a few theories to explain why we have wisdom teeth.
• Many anthropologists believe that the third set of molars (the actual classification of what we call wisdom teeth) were once necessary because the foods our ancient ancestors ate was not processed or soft. Nuts, roots, tough meats, and hard grains needed significantly more chewing than our foods today.
• Another theory believes that because early man had poor dental hygiene, the third set of molars was a necessity and helped to replace teeth that were missing.
Our jaws are much smaller than that of early mankind. As a result, most people do not have enough space in their mouths for wisdom teeth to erupt correctly. For the majority, wisdom teeth are impacted, partially erupted, or growing in the wrong direction. All of these circumstances necessitates extraction of wisdom teeth in order to avoid damage to the teeth and jaws.
If you think that you may have a problem with your wisdom teeth, do not suffer needlessly. Our friendly staff can make an appointment for you to consult with our dentist. Should you and our dentist decide extraction is the best choice for you, we will schedule your outpatient procedure as soon as possible. The extraction is quick, and most patients manage their discomfort with over-the-counter pain medication. Once patients heal, they tell us how glad they are to have their wisdom teeth removed.
