Dr. Hall,
I recently had my bottom 2 wisdom teeth extracted, but my top 2 wisdom teeth are healthy, they just point out instead of down. The back of my wisdom teeth is in line with the front of my molar. Should they be removed for this reason, even if there is no decay?
– Stacy from California

Stacy,
So you are telling me that your upper wisdom teeth are useless. Instead of meeting with any lower teeth, they point sideways, toward your cheek. And that brings up the question, “How do you feel about useless things?” Do you like things clean and tidy, or do you like clutter and hanging onto stuff? Because these teeth are truly useless and they are clutter.

I say this as a dentist who is fervent about saving teeth. I would go to great lengths to save the teeth of my patients, but I would spend my efforts on teeth that fulfilled some purpose.

I’m not sure why the dentist who took out your lower wisdom teeth didn’t urge you to have the uppers taken out at the same time. Even if your upper wisdom teeth were pointed in the right direction, with no companion teeth in the lower arch to chew against, they don’t do anyone any good. And the younger you are, the easier the wisdom tooth removal goes, the less pain and swelling, and the fewer complications. And I would dare say that had you had them extracted with the lowers, it would have added maybe five minutes to the procedure and would have added nothing to your healing time. You see, there is a down side to retaining them – they make it harder to clean your second molars and can promote decay and/or gum disease on your second molars. They create a nifty food trap there in a place that is hard to clean.

Dr. Hall