Oral surgeon's advice welcomed here. I have a very tough decision to make.
I have no problems with my wisdom teeth. They are sideways and up against the 12 year molars, but aren't growing, moving. Right now, everything is fine. A guy my dad went to high school with told me that I was not needing to get them removed. "Leave them right where they are, they aren't hurting anything," he would say every 6 months.
Well, he died, so I have to go see a new dentist. I've been to Mint Dentistry and two other private practices, and all three dentists have told me I need to get them removed.
Finally after being told to leave them by my original dentist, Mint telling me to remove them and I refused, then a 3rd dentist telling me to remove them, I went to an oral surgeon. During the consult, he took his xrays and said "I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole. They aren't moving, they aren't causing pain, they'd leave a huge hole in your jaw and it would be susceptible to breaking, not to mention it's highly risky due to the location of the root next to the nerve. It's not worth the risk and you would hate me the rest of your life."
I was confident that my decision to avoid getting them taken out and the advice of my first dentist was correct. I had made the right decision.
Well, dentist number 4 comes along, I really like this guy, and he says I need to go to an orthodontist due to a cross bite and some other stuff that will get worse if I don't get it corrected. So I go to the orthodontist and he says he can't really work on my teeth as he has no real estate. He also warns me that they'll end up killing the 12 year molars and I'm going to be losing those teeth later in life. He recommends a 2nd opinion from an oral surgeon in Arlington. This guy seems very good - Dr Ismaili. Very confident.
Ismaili has recognized everything that I've said previously and agrees this is a risky procedure. He acknowledged that there is a "20% chance of nerve damage that could be permanent." (The type of nerve damage is the same feeling of the novacane injections when you get a crown. Imagine that for the rest of your life. I'm 31.) The longer I wait, the more likely my nerve will be damaged and will not recover.
So what would you guys do? Ortho is a good friend and is praying for me. He doesn't know what he'd do and agrees it's a tough call. He said if I were his son, he would suggest I do it.
Doing it now is the least riskiest, but there's a significant 20% chance I have a numb lip the rest of my life. Doing it later increases the risk dramatically. Surgeon said 35% chance at age 40. So it's more likely to happen but my lifespan is shorter. Not doing the surgery poses the risk of losing multiple teeth and forcing the removal, thus damaging the nerve.
Guys, I'm lost on this one. There's a lot of negatives that could happen. I don't want to end up slobbering all over myself the next 50 years.
I have no problems with my wisdom teeth. They are sideways and up against the 12 year molars, but aren't growing, moving. Right now, everything is fine. A guy my dad went to high school with told me that I was not needing to get them removed. "Leave them right where they are, they aren't hurting anything," he would say every 6 months.
Well, he died, so I have to go see a new dentist. I've been to Mint Dentistry and two other private practices, and all three dentists have told me I need to get them removed.
Finally after being told to leave them by my original dentist, Mint telling me to remove them and I refused, then a 3rd dentist telling me to remove them, I went to an oral surgeon. During the consult, he took his xrays and said "I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole. They aren't moving, they aren't causing pain, they'd leave a huge hole in your jaw and it would be susceptible to breaking, not to mention it's highly risky due to the location of the root next to the nerve. It's not worth the risk and you would hate me the rest of your life."
I was confident that my decision to avoid getting them taken out and the advice of my first dentist was correct. I had made the right decision.
Well, dentist number 4 comes along, I really like this guy, and he says I need to go to an orthodontist due to a cross bite and some other stuff that will get worse if I don't get it corrected. So I go to the orthodontist and he says he can't really work on my teeth as he has no real estate. He also warns me that they'll end up killing the 12 year molars and I'm going to be losing those teeth later in life. He recommends a 2nd opinion from an oral surgeon in Arlington. This guy seems very good - Dr Ismaili. Very confident.
Ismaili has recognized everything that I've said previously and agrees this is a risky procedure. He acknowledged that there is a "20% chance of nerve damage that could be permanent." (The type of nerve damage is the same feeling of the novacane injections when you get a crown. Imagine that for the rest of your life. I'm 31.) The longer I wait, the more likely my nerve will be damaged and will not recover.
So what would you guys do? Ortho is a good friend and is praying for me. He doesn't know what he'd do and agrees it's a tough call. He said if I were his son, he would suggest I do it.
Doing it now is the least riskiest, but there's a significant 20% chance I have a numb lip the rest of my life. Doing it later increases the risk dramatically. Surgeon said 35% chance at age 40. So it's more likely to happen but my lifespan is shorter. Not doing the surgery poses the risk of losing multiple teeth and forcing the removal, thus damaging the nerve.
Guys, I'm lost on this one. There's a lot of negatives that could happen. I don't want to end up slobbering all over myself the next 50 years.
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