Do I need to extract wisdom teeth to correct my teeth?

Wisdom teeth are an adverse reaction to people's tooth development. When wisdom teeth appear, the entire tooth framework becomes loose and may even cause some inflammation or bleeding gums. It poses a great threat to people's physical condition and dental safety. When people are getting their teeth straightened, they will have a systematic examination of the teeth as a whole. So when you correct your teeth yourself, if you find that there are wisdom teeth in your teeth that need to be removed, then you can correct them better?

In fact, whether to remove wisdom teeth depends on the condition of the wisdom teeth. Because wisdom teeth include normal wisdom teeth and impacted wisdom teeth. The doctor will consider all aspects and will not use the fact that the wisdom tooth does not hurt or has not grown out as the criterion for not removing it.

Because tooth extraction during the orthodontic process requires sufficient space for tooth movement and alveolar bone reconstruction, some wisdom teeth may occupy the space for movement, or because braces need to be worn for about 2-3 years, wisdom teeth may grow out during this period and cannot be extracted while wearing braces, or the teeth may become decayed.

In mild cases, it will affect the progress of orthodontics. In severe cases, if the wisdom tooth becomes inflamed due to heat, it will be so painful that it cannot be removed.

In other words, wisdom teeth don’t actually play a big role, so it’s not a pity to extract them. Moreover, many people feel pain when their wisdom teeth grow. This is because insufficient space for eruption leads to ectopic eruption or even impacted teeth. Even if someone's wisdom teeth erupt successfully, they often suffer from pericoronitis of wisdom teeth.

Back to orthodontics, if the doctor recommends that you remove your wisdom teeth, it is most likely because the wisdom teeth occupy the space of the jaw, causing crowded teeth, and you have to remove the wisdom teeth to obtain enough space for correction. Of course, this is just a guess. The specific reason can only be concluded after seeing your dental X-ray or diagnosis.

I have also encountered cases of resistance to tooth extraction, which was ultimately achieved through interproximal glaze removal. (Interproximal deglazing refers to the process of grinding down the enamel of the adjacent surfaces of the teeth and reshaping them to create space between teeth or adjust the size of teeth).

Generally speaking, the thickness of tooth enamel on the interproximal surfaces is between 0.75 and 1.25 mm. Only 0.2 to 0.5 mm of enamel can be removed between each interproximal space. Any more will easily lead to secondary caries, which is not good for dental health.

In other words, the tooth spacing that can be obtained through interproximal enamel removal is limited, and the indications are very demanding. It is mostly suitable for mild to moderate crowding, mild anterior crossbite, etc.

There are indeed cases where tooth extraction is necessary to achieve the correction goal, and tooth extraction is not as scary as everyone imagines. Of course, we are not encouraging you to have your wisdom teeth removed. All orthodontic decisions should be made after full communication with your doctor.