Way back in the eons before the wisdom teeth came in handy. How better to grind and soften the raw meet than with a full complement of built –in choppers (ie Molars). Nowadays, wisdom teeth can be a pain in the jaw, and in the neighboring teeth and sinuses. Being the last to develop in the jaw, at around age 10, these molars can get crowded out even before they surface during our late teens and early 20s. In fact many do not surface at all. The reason for this crowding is that tour jaws have grown progressively smaller either due to changing head shape to accommodate our large brains or diminishing use of our teeth to process food.

Their eruption can compromise orthodontic results and can interfere with dentures. What’s more s a response to irritation, cysts may develop in the soft tissue surrounding impacted wisdom teeth that haven’t fully emerged into their expected position. Untended, they can lead to bone destruction, jaw expansion and damage to nearby teeth.