September 8, 2026
Why do we get wisdom teeth removed?
There is a good chance you or someone you know has had wisdom teeth removed. Wisdom teeth are also known as third molars and are commonly removed in the mid to late teenage years. But why?
A common thought that many people mention in our office is that they are concerned about wisdom teeth pushing and causing crowding to occur after orthodontic treatment or even throughout life. While it may be true that the wisdom teeth push with some amount of force, it is largely unknown as to how much force they push with. If they were to cause crowding on the front teeth they would have to push with enough force to move second molars, first molars, two sets of premolars and canines before the incisors started to become crowded. In reality they probably do exhibit some push, but in my opinion probably not enough to cause the crowding we blame them for.
Instead of a concern of crowding, we typically are concerned more with the fact that they often do not have room to fully erupt. When a tooth does not erupt, we say it is impacted. Impaction is problematic for a couple of reason. First, if it partially erupts, but not fully, often there is gum tissue still covering a portion of the tooth. This gum tissue may trap food and make things difficult to clean. This increases the risk for cavities or periodontal problems. Secondly, if the position of the tooth is tilted towards adjacent teeth, there is potential for interaction with adjacent teeth, causing damage to adjacent roots. This is not a common problem, but it could happen.
Instead of leaving things to chance, we typically recommend having third molars extracted if we determine there is not a reasonable chance that they will have room to erupt into a favorable position. You might say we remove them for prophylactic reasons.
Consider the following radiograph: The blue circles show third molars (wisdom teeth) that likely do not have room to come in. The lower ones are stuck behind the lower second molars. The upper ones may be able to develop but if lowers are being removed it makes sense to remove uppers as well to never have to worry about any of them again. In this case the recommendation would likely be to have them removed to prevent future problems.
Are you looking to have some orthodontic treatment done? Do you have some concerns about your wisdom teeth? Check out our New Patients page, Explore what services we offer, or Request an appointment today.