Several months ago, probably at the beginning of Summer, I went in for a routine cleaning and check-up at my dentist. I told them that I had been having slight discomfort and pressure, and was worried that my wisdom teeth may be causing some of my other teeth to get pushed around. Roughly two years before that, I had x-rays taken, and my wisdom teeth appeared to be coming in fine (though slowly).
So, they took new x-rays. The top left (#16) tooth had broken through and seemed to be coming in ok. The top right was iffy, and the bottom two were starting to push up against the crown of the molars next to them. So, they said that it wasn't an emergency, but it was time for them to come out.
Fast forward to yesterday. I went to a consultation with an oral surgeon, fully expecting to have them say that this would be a quick and simple procedure. I had been to the same office twice in the past year to give both my fiancee and her sister a ride home after they had their wisdom teeth removed, and in both cases, it seemed like a fairly painless, low-risk ordeal. No big deal, right?
To my shock, the oral surgeon looked at the x-ray, and them looked around in my mouth for a minute, and immediately started talking about risks of screwing up a series of nerves that provide feeling to the jaw, lower lip, and tongue. He said that I was at a higher risk of running into issues with the nerve, with a 10-15% chance of temporary or permanent damage. That makes me nervous - the last thing I want is to lose control over or feeling in those places, especially considering that it might cause me to slur, drool, bite my lip / cheeks / tongue, etc. No thanks.
The oral surgeon said that I absolutely had to get the top left (#16) tooth removed due to a cavity (I've had two cavities in my life, I guess it's quite possible, but I'm surprised the dentist didn't pick up on this...), but he said that if I wasn't in major pain or discomfort, he would recommend against doing anything with the others. I made an appointment to get the #16 tooth removed later this month with just Novocaine / laughing gas, but said that I would hold off with the others for now.
To make matters more complicated, my insurance runs out in February. They assured me that if I changed my mind in a month or two, they could get me in before that time. They also told me that the later in life that you wait, the harder they are to get out. I'm 25 now, so I'm not horrible concerned. My biggest concern about leaving them in right now is that it could potentially mess up my other teeth, which the oral surgeon said there's no conclusive evidence that they could do that.
Finally, let's thicken the plot. As I was scheduling to have the #16 tooth removed, one of the receptionists told me that my insurance had only agreed to pay for one extraction. The others would probably come out of pocket (!). It just seemed a bit too coincidental to me that the oral surgeon was so insistent that the one tooth (the already protruding one) HAD to come out due to a cavity, and that the others carried an elevated risk. He didn't even talk about the top right tooth.
So, to make a long story short, I'm going to go get a second opinion somewhere. Something about the way the oral surgeon pushed so hard about the #16 tooth and seemed to urge me not to do anything with the other teeth just irked me. I would prefer just to leave everything alone since it's not causing me any major pain or discomfort right now, but I also don't want to end up with crooked teeth or other problems later down the line by making this decision now.
What would you guys do?
Cliffs:
- During routine cleaning earlier this year, had x-rays done, found that some of the wisdom teeth are pusing up against crowns of adjacent teeth
- Experiencing slight pressure in my mouth / jaw, but no pain or major discomfort; I can easily live with this as it stands right now
- Went to oral surgeon, was told that the one protruding wisdom tooth needs to come out due to a cavity, but the two lower wisdom teeth run a risk of screwing up the nerve that provides feeling to the jaw, bottom lip, and tongue
- Discovered that my insurance only agreed to cover one extraction, the others would mysteriously have to be paid out of pocket
- Made appt to have the one tooth removed, but haven't made a decision about the others yet; concerned that they could cause pain or crooked teeth later in life
- Insurance runs out in February
- Going to get second opinion, but still irked over the situation
So, they took new x-rays. The top left (#16) tooth had broken through and seemed to be coming in ok. The top right was iffy, and the bottom two were starting to push up against the crown of the molars next to them. So, they said that it wasn't an emergency, but it was time for them to come out.
Fast forward to yesterday. I went to a consultation with an oral surgeon, fully expecting to have them say that this would be a quick and simple procedure. I had been to the same office twice in the past year to give both my fiancee and her sister a ride home after they had their wisdom teeth removed, and in both cases, it seemed like a fairly painless, low-risk ordeal. No big deal, right?
To my shock, the oral surgeon looked at the x-ray, and them looked around in my mouth for a minute, and immediately started talking about risks of screwing up a series of nerves that provide feeling to the jaw, lower lip, and tongue. He said that I was at a higher risk of running into issues with the nerve, with a 10-15% chance of temporary or permanent damage. That makes me nervous - the last thing I want is to lose control over or feeling in those places, especially considering that it might cause me to slur, drool, bite my lip / cheeks / tongue, etc. No thanks.
The oral surgeon said that I absolutely had to get the top left (#16) tooth removed due to a cavity (I've had two cavities in my life, I guess it's quite possible, but I'm surprised the dentist didn't pick up on this...), but he said that if I wasn't in major pain or discomfort, he would recommend against doing anything with the others. I made an appointment to get the #16 tooth removed later this month with just Novocaine / laughing gas, but said that I would hold off with the others for now.
To make matters more complicated, my insurance runs out in February. They assured me that if I changed my mind in a month or two, they could get me in before that time. They also told me that the later in life that you wait, the harder they are to get out. I'm 25 now, so I'm not horrible concerned. My biggest concern about leaving them in right now is that it could potentially mess up my other teeth, which the oral surgeon said there's no conclusive evidence that they could do that.
Finally, let's thicken the plot. As I was scheduling to have the #16 tooth removed, one of the receptionists told me that my insurance had only agreed to pay for one extraction. The others would probably come out of pocket (!). It just seemed a bit too coincidental to me that the oral surgeon was so insistent that the one tooth (the already protruding one) HAD to come out due to a cavity, and that the others carried an elevated risk. He didn't even talk about the top right tooth.
So, to make a long story short, I'm going to go get a second opinion somewhere. Something about the way the oral surgeon pushed so hard about the #16 tooth and seemed to urge me not to do anything with the other teeth just irked me. I would prefer just to leave everything alone since it's not causing me any major pain or discomfort right now, but I also don't want to end up with crooked teeth or other problems later down the line by making this decision now.
What would you guys do?
Cliffs:
- During routine cleaning earlier this year, had x-rays done, found that some of the wisdom teeth are pusing up against crowns of adjacent teeth
- Experiencing slight pressure in my mouth / jaw, but no pain or major discomfort; I can easily live with this as it stands right now
- Went to oral surgeon, was told that the one protruding wisdom tooth needs to come out due to a cavity, but the two lower wisdom teeth run a risk of screwing up the nerve that provides feeling to the jaw, bottom lip, and tongue
- Discovered that my insurance only agreed to cover one extraction, the others would mysteriously have to be paid out of pocket
- Made appt to have the one tooth removed, but haven't made a decision about the others yet; concerned that they could cause pain or crooked teeth later in life
- Insurance runs out in February
- Going to get second opinion, but still irked over the situation
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