I read that the older you get, the more chances there are for serious complications with wisdom tooth removal. I’m in my 30s and my wisdom teeth never bothered me so I never bothered getting them out. Two of them have decay right now, though the rest of my teeth are fine. I am wondering if it would be better to just let them decay and crumble away than it would be to risk the complications of removing them. What is your opinion about this?
Drew
Drew,
You have posed an interesting question. There are obviously risks either way. You’ve already read about the risks of complications so I will go over the risk of leaving this and you will be in a better position to make the choice that is right for you. I’ll give my opinion, but it is your body and your risk.
When the tooth is intact but the decay goes deep, you run a high risk of the pulp getting infected. That infection will continue to spread until it is physically removed. If you don’t remove it, you risk it spreading to your windpipe and closing off your throat or moving up toward your brain. Neither of those will have good outcomes for you. This is one of the reasons that tooth infections are considered dental emergencies.
If the tooth is decaying in a way where it breaks off, you are at less of a risk. However, be extremely careful about judging things simply by what you see. An x-ray would be a better gauge of the situation with your wisdom teeth.
Honestly, my recommendation if they are decayed is to have them extracted rather than stay in a situation where you have to be constantly evaluating the direction they are going.
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