Thank you for your enquiry. We see this very commonly in many adults, who notice their lower teeth becoming more crooked or shifting especially in their early 20s. This is termed as late lower incisor crowding.
The cause of this is unfortunately not as straight forward, and years of studies show that it could be due to many reasons. Here are some of the possible causes:
1) Erupting wisdom teeth pushing the lower teeth forward - however, there have been studies where patients with no wisdom teeth have also experienced this late crowding of the lower teeth.
2) Lack of retainer wear - this would be for patients who have worn braces before but did not wear their retainers well after treatment. I always say, we should all wear retainers for as long as we want our teeth to be straight.
3) Late growth of the lower jaw - the lower jaw grows more and longer than the upper jaw, resulting in the upper teeth creating a force on the lower teeth as they move slightly forward with the lower jaw, and this causes the shifting
Shakiness of the first molar should not be due to the wisdom teeth. You may wish to have it checked out by your dentist, for any other possible causes, such as gum disease. Removing the wisdom teeth will not rectify the teeth that have already shifted.
You may need orthodontic/braces treatment to straighten them out. If the shifting is mild, all you may need is just a few brackets for a few months to correct it! It would be best to seek a consultation from your dentist or orthodontist with regards to this.
Hope this helps! Thanks!
Warm regards,
Dr Geraldine Lee
