Wisdom teeth are located on each side of the upper and lower jaws, and are the third and last molars. Usually being the final teeth to erupt, wisdom teeth appear in a person’s late teens or early twenties. Mentioned below are five wisdom teeth facts you should know:

  • Wisdom teeth that come in crooked or surface only partially can result in painful crowding and even disease. Since teeth detached before the age of 20 tend to cause fewer complications and less developed roots, the American Dental Association (ADA) suggests that individuals between the ages of 16 to 19 have a wisdom teeth examination to see if they require removal.
  • Generally, people develop four wisdom teeth, where each tooth emerges behind the molars of both the lower and upper jaw, and appear between the ages of 17 to 21, according to the ADA.
  • Wisdom teeth do not begin growing just before or at birth unlike other teeth, and start developing around the age of seven. When they are fully developed and start appearing, wisdom teeth can bring along a great degree of discomfort and pain, tooth decay, gum disease and infections.
  • Wisdom teeth may need to be extracted if they don’t have sufficient space to erupt. In such a case, they become impacted, lying on its side and pressing against the tooth in front of it instead of coming in straight. This usually results in several oral problems like improper bite alignment, crowding, etc.
  • It is quite rare to see wisdom teeth grow back once they have been removed. However, it is not so quite uncommon for people to have more than four wisdom teeth. In this case, extra extractions will be needed once the first set has been removed.

These are 5 things you should keep in mind about wisdom teeth.