There seems to be a mindset in conventional dentistry that
wisdom teeth are superfluous. That they should be extracted at a young age
before they can cause a problem. These
teeth are believed to have the potential to create anterior tooth crowding and
infections in the mouth. They are difficult
to keep clean since they are way back in the far corners of your mouth, and you
should get them out NOW, before the troubles start.
This mentality is definitely not what I would call holistic
thinking. It is analogous to a dentist
placing fillings in the grooves of non-carious teeth, only because they have a high
potential to develop a cavity. Sounds farfetched, but I have seen this done in
one office I worked in many years ago.
Rational thinking would show that all of your teeth are
important, wisdom included.
According to Chinese medicine, all teeth run through meridians in your body, affecting other organs and body parts.
According to Chinese medicine, all teeth run through meridians in your body, affecting other organs and body parts.
Wisdom teeth, specifically, are connected to the heart and
intestine meridians. Is it no wonder that chronic illness in both of these
organs are on the rise? Of course there may be other contributing factors to
these chronic health issues, such as diet, but wisdom teeth extractions, as well
as the residual cavitations at the extraction site, may also be contributing to
these systemic health conditions. It is
also not uncommon to have some ear issues (hearing problems, vertigo) or even
nerve damage (paraesthesia) after wisdom tooth extraction.
Even though your orthodontist may have advised removing
these teeth, or your regular dentist said that they were coming in sideways and
should be removed to prevent future problems, I would still get a second
opinion. I have seen these teeth often upright over time even when they were
way out of alignment.
I have also placed fillings in wisdom teeth with cavities that
other dentists ignored since the premise is why bother filling a tooth that
should be extracted anyway. Let’s just wait until the cavity gets big enough to
create a toothache and then we can just extract it. Sounds absurd but this
mindset is fairly common in the dental community.
Of course there are many times when wisdom teeth should be
extracted for the betterment of the oral condition. But routinely removing them just because of
your age, presence of small decay, or coming in crooked, is not a valid reason.
At least not until an attempt is made to remedy the situation.
The bottom line to all this: get a second opinion before you
go and remove these “useless” wisdom teeth.
The
rest of your body will thank you for it. Just for the record, I still have all my
wisdom teeth, even though it was highly suggested that I have them extracted. From
my own experience, I have found that it is always best to keep all of your body
parts, teeth included.
If you like this post, you may also like: Choosing a Holistic Dentist
If you like this post, you may also like: Choosing a Holistic Dentist
Dr. Amisha was one of the kindest people I have ever had Expert in tooth Extractions and Root Canal
ReplyDeleteI have all my wisdom teeth and I plan to keep it that way. This blog is so supportive of my decision.
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