What are wisdom teeth? Wisdom teeth refer to the third molar in the upper and lower jaws, counting inward from the center incisors to just the eighth tooth. Because they usually erupt between the ages of 18 and 25, a time when people are growing wiser, learning, and being smarter, the teeth that erupt during this time are called wisdom teeth. Wisdom tooth growth, there is a big difference between individuals, usually there should be four teeth symmetrical top and bottom, left and right, some less than four or even no, very few people will have more than four. The age of eruption also varies a lot, some people erupt before the age of 20, while some people grow only at the age of 40 or 50 or never grow, which are all normal phenomena. Should wisdom teeth be removed? According to modern medicine, wisdom teeth are a remnant of human evolution like the appendix. Wisdom teeth are seldom used when we eat, and their eruption often causes problems in cleaning our teeth. Because wisdom teeth are in the innermost part of the alveolar bone in the mouth, it is difficult for a toothbrush to have enough room to move around to accomplish cleaning. Over time, the food debris that builds up around the teeth often causes oral inflammation, such as wisdom tooth pericoronitis. Since wisdom teeth are basically unused when eating and chewing, and are troublesome to clean and protect, most people are advised to have them removed directly to avoid oral diseases caused by them. Whether wisdom teeth are removed or not should be considered in the following situations: 1. Obstructed wisdom teeth with repeated episodes of pericoronitis should be removed. However, if the vertical obstruction, and there is a pair of teeth, the patient is in the age of eruption, there is enough space, it is estimated that can be erupted, can also be considered for the distal mesial gingival flap excision, do not need to be extracted. 2.Wisdom teeth themselves have caries or cause second molar caries, or cause food impaction need to be removed. However, if the destruction of the second molar is large, and the loosening is obvious and cannot be retained, the extraction of the second molar can be considered. If the wisdom teeth are not fully erupted at this time, it is possible to move to the middle of the proximal eruption and replace the second molar; if the wisdom teeth have erupted, it is possible to be used as a denture base teeth, can also be retained. 3, orthodontic treatment, in order to prevent crowding of anterior teeth or recurrence of deformity after orthodontic treatment, wisdom teeth should be extracted. 4. Wisdom teeth that are completely bone-embedded and blocked should be removed when they are suspected of causing certain neurological symptoms. 5, may become the cause of temporomandibular joint disorder syndrome of blocked wisdom teeth, should be removed. Danger of wisdom teeth Difficulty in the eruption of wisdom teeth is called “blocked teeth” or “ambidextrous teeth”. As the other teeth are already lined up before eruption, when the wisdom tooth grows out, it will be crowded out by the other teeth, so it is difficult to erupt, forming a blocked tooth or a buried tooth, which is called a “blocked wisdom tooth”. Obstructed wisdom teeth will produce great harm: 1, pericoronitis: wisdom teeth due to the obstruction of the crown of the tooth can not be completely exposed, the gums around the crown into a pocket, it is very easy to accumulate food, nourishing bacteria. When the systemic resistance is reduced, acute pericoronitis is caused. 2.Interstitial infection: the inflammation of pericoronitis may further spread to the muscle interspace causing interspace infection. 3.Second molar caries: Forward tilted impacted wisdom teeth are prone to caries of neighboring teeth (mandibular second molar) due to frequent accumulation of food between neighboring teeth. 4, other: blocked wisdom teeth may also form odontogenic jaw cysts, osteomyelitis, temporomandibular joint disease. The best age for wisdom teeth extraction: 13-30 years old 13-30 years old is the best time for wisdom teeth extraction. Generally speaking, it is more appropriate to extract wisdom teeth before the age of 30, and the trauma will increase after the age of 40. Many people come to have their wisdom teeth extracted only when they “have to have them extracted”, and even some elderly people come to have their wisdom teeth extracted when they are over the age of old, but often they cannot do so because they are not physically fit for it, and it is difficult to eradicate the problems caused by their wisdom teeth at that time, and it sometimes even affects the wearing of dentures by the elderly, which seriously impairs their quality of life. In some cases, the wisdom teeth have already caused the surrounding teeth to break down, and then two or three teeth have to be extracted together, which will cause even more damage. In principle, wisdom teeth should be removed as soon as they are found to be underdeveloped. Will wisdom teeth extraction cook my face? It’s not that simple! From an anatomical and physiological point of view, wisdom teeth extraction can not play the role of “thin face”. The upper part of the face is supported by the zygomatic bone and the maxillary bone, and the widest part is in the zygomatic bone. The maxillary wisdom teeth are located in the maxilla, even if slightly tilted outward, but also located in the zygomatic bone, it is obvious that their role in supporting the face can be ignored. The structures that affect the width of the lower part of a person’s face are mainly the angle of the mandible and the biting muscle. The biting muscles are the muscles that attach to the zygomatic process of the maxilla, the zygomatic arch and the angle of the jaw. If a person has an enlarged jaw angle and a well-developed bite muscle, the face will appear wide. In plastic surgery, a change in face width and shape can be achieved through jaw angle osteotomy and jawbone grinding. The saying “wisdom teeth removal slims down the face” has been around for a long time, which on one hand expresses everyone’s good intentions, but on the other hand, it may just be an illusion. Three to five days after the removal of wisdom teeth, the face will generally be swollen, at this time is the “swollen face”, rather than “thin face”; but when the swelling of the face subsides, to restore the original shape, there is a “goodbye three days when the eyes look at each other However, when the swelling subsides and the face returns to its original shape, there will be a sense of “looking different after three days”, and this change may give people the illusion of a “slimmer face”.