Is it necessary to remove a wisdom tooth even if it’s growing straight?

Doctor's Answer

Yes, but not all the time.

If you remove the lower wisdom tooth (maybe due to impact or decay), super eruption will occur. Naturally, teeth will move when there is space in the mouth as they do not like space. When there is nothing on the bottom after the extraction, the top teeth will grow downwards. This is a natural thing for teeth to do.

Did you know that the tongue gets bigger as you grow older? When you have fewer teeth, the tongue will grow further into the spaces. Everything in your mouth does not like space and they will move to fill space in.

When the bottom teeth are taken out, the top teeth will grow till it touches the gum so that it can use the bone and gum to bite against. When you do that, it will hurt your gum with every bite you take. To fix that, you might also be encouraged to remove the top teeth as well. Super eruption can occur at a different speeds as it varies from person to person.

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