Wisdom teeth are the toughest third molars that grow in your later years after all of your other teeth have surfaced. In this article, we try to understand their meaning, possible questions surrounding them, and their possibility of growing back after having been removed. And one of the most common questions is: can wisdom teeth grow back?
What are wisdom teeth?
When looking to answer the question ‘can wisdom teeth grow back’, it helps to understand a few things about these teeth first.
Wisdom teeth are the extra set of molars that grow in the very back of your mouth. They typically grow around age 17-21. While they were once essential for human evolution for grinding food they are now no longer necessary and are often a nuisance and can result in painful crowding of teeth. If you have wisdom teeth you can get it removed by a dentist.
Why do they need to be removed?
Many dentists suggest getting wisdom teeth removed. This is because there is not enough space in our mouths to accommodate them. Also, once they start growing they can cause pain, irritation, gum diseases, tumors, infections, etc.
Wisdom teeth are recommended to be removed even if they aren’t causing any problems for you for future safety and precautions. You should also get it removed at a rather young age as when you get older the bones in our mouths tend to become harder and it becomes increasingly difficult to remove wisdom teeth from your mouth.
Can wisdom teeth grow back after you’ve had them removed?
The short answer to the question can wisdom teeth grow back once removed? No. But, it is possible if you are a person with more than 4 wisdom teeth. These extra teeth are called “supernumerary teeth”.
They can occur anywhere in your oral cavity and are prone to appear twice as often in adult males as compared to adult females.
Hyperdontia
Hyperdontia is one of the medical conditions which occurs in patients having supernumerary teeth. They usually appear close to your primary adult teeth and can be easily detected by a dental care professional by digital X-rays.
Hyperdontia is usually suspected to be seen in people with Gardner’s syndrome and Cleidocranial dysostosis where multiple teeth are affected. Having digital x-rays of your teeth will not only help you see if you have hyperdontia but it might help know if you have any genetic conditions as we can see that it occurs in people with genetic or hereditary conditions.
Most people who have hyperdontia don’t really need treatment but in some cases, people may need to remove their extra teeth due to health problems.
So make sure to tell your doctor if you have any pain or feeling discomfort in your mouth as it may be because of hyperdontia.
Final Thoughts
Usually, when asking can wisdom teeth grow back after they’ve been removed, it helps to know that people don’t grow their wisdom teeth back after they’ve removed them through surgery. But if you are one of the rare people who have more than 4 wisdom teeth then you can surgically remove these supernumerary teeth too.