Impacted wisdom teeth no longer a problem

The following article appears at: http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/teen_columnists/article/0,2821,TCP_24458_5433411,00.html

Last week, I had the pleasure of having two impacted wisdom teeth removed.

Fortunately, I only had two of these nuisances on the bottom that, by the way, happened to be growing sideways, whereas most people have four wisdom teeth, two on the bottom and two on the top.

Wisdom teeth are believed to have been present in earlier humans because humans had a larger jaw (to accommodate them) and the wisdom teeth helped chew tougher foods (grinding raw foods) in the diet, according to Mayo Clinic (mayoclinic.com).

It also has been theorized that earlier humans may have a lost a few teeth around early adulthood because of tooth decay and wisdom teeth replaced these lost teeth.

However, nowadays, since humans have smaller jaws, there is a problem for spatially accommodating four wisdom teeth. (The human mandible, or lower jaw, is becoming shorter and shorter not allowing enough space for the wisdom teeth.)

And, today's food choices are much softer and cooking techniques are much different, according to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (aaoms.org).

The name developed because of the particular age at which wisdom teeth emerge. Around the ages of 17-25 are when wisdom teeth come in and this age has been considered the "Age of Wisdom," hence the name wisdom teeth, according to the AAOMS.

I discovered that wisdom teeth are actually absent from the jaw at birth. They develop like other teeth, but they take longer to develop and they are the last teeth to emerge.

Everyone I talked to before my surgery and even after had a personal story about their own wisdom teeth. How many came in, what age did they come in, what happened then?

As I grew more and more anxious before the day of the surgery, I realized that many people in the world can't even afford or don't have access to good dental care. So, I considered myself one of the lucky ones.

Dr. Israel and his staff could not have been any nicer or more professional and they made my experience of oral surgery as positive as I could have hoped for. The entire surgical process only took about half an hour and it went quickly. The pain was minimal.

I really admire Dr. Israel's career choice, as I cannot imagine removing people's teeth for a living. I guess someone has to do it. Thanks Dr. Israel!

And, I think I have had enough pudding and mashed potatoes for a lifetime!

This is C.J. Whelan and you stay classy Sebastian.

C.J. Whelan, 16, of Sebastian, writes the Generation Next column every other week.