Impacted wisdom teeth / wisdom tooth extractions

Impacted wisdom teeth / wisdom tooth extractions
Animated-Teeth.com

At what age should wisdom teeth be extracted?
There are no firm rules regarding a specific age by which a person's wisdom teeth have to be extracted. Wisdom tooth extractions can be performed successfully and uneventfully at any age. However, from a standpoint of statistics, there are certain factors that do correlate with age that do place the dental patient at greater risk for complications.

As a rule of thumb, the younger the age of the person having the wisdom teeth extractions the less potential they will have for experiencing complications. Studies have shown that the number of complications, related to both healing as well as the procedure itself, that occur in association with wisdom tooth extractions increases once a patient has passed into their mid to late 20's.

At the other end of the scale, a dentist will typically want to delay wisdom tooth extractions until that point in time when about two thirds of the root structure of the teeth has had a chance to form. This stage of development might occur by age 18 or so, but will certainly vary from patient to patient. Dentists typically want to wait for this stage because if the tooth is ...