Yesterday I had a consultation with an oral surgeon regarding the possible extraction of my wisdom teeth. Why possible? Well, I'm not sure if I need it--or if I want to do it.
My wisdom teeth have fully grown into my mouth and don't cause me any pain, unlike some people, so I count myself lucky in that regard. Nevertheless, both my dentist and my oral surgeon have recommended I get them removed. There are some compelling reasons to do this. Firstly, it's possible they'll crowd my jaw in painful ways in the future (I didn't really follow this part of the discussion, so I'm not sure if they are crowding my jaw right now or not). Secondly, if I ever need to get jaw surgery, my wisdom teeth will have to be removed anyway. Lastly, the teeth do make it harder for me to brush and floss, which can lead to oral hygiene complications--I already have a cavity in one wisdom tooth.
So with all of this compelling data, why am I ambivalent? To put it simply, I don't like the idea of surgery. I've never had surgery before, and I'd rather avoid it unless it's really necessary. The…
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