About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Impacted wisdom teeth are third molars at the back of the mouth that don't have enough room to emerge or grow normally.
Wisdom teeth are the last adult teeth to come into the mouth (erupt). Most people have four wisdom teeth at the back of the mouth — two on the top, two on the bottom.
Impacted wisdom teeth can result in pain, damage to other teeth and other dental problems. In some cases, impacted wisdom teeth may cause no apparent or immediate problems, but they may be particularly vulnerable to disease.
Impacted wisdom teeth that cause pain or other dental complications are usually removed. Some dentists and oral surgeons also recommend removing impacted wisdom teeth that don't cause symptoms to prevent future problems.
- Wisdom teeth. American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. http://www.aaoms.org/wisdom_teeth.php. Accessed Feb. 22, 2010.
- Marciani RD. Third molar removal: An overview of indications, imaging, evaluation, and assessment of risk. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinics of North America. 2007;19:1.
- Bagheri SC, et al. Extraction versus nonextraction management of third molars. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinics of North America. 2007;19:15.
- Esposito M, et al. Impacted wisdom teeth. Clinical Evidence (Online). 2008. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=19450307. Accessed Feb. 22, 2010.
- Gingivitis. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec08/ch095/ch095c.html. Accessed March 3, 2010.
- Caries. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec08/ch095/ch095b.html. Accessed March 3, 2010.
- Pogrel MA, et al. White paper on third molar data (2007). American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. http://www.aaoms.org/media.php. Accessed Feb. 27, 2010.
- Farish SE, et al. General technique of third molar removal. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinics of North America. 2007;19:23.
- Postextraction problems. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. Accessed Feb. 22, 2010.
- Dental anxiety. American Dental Association. http://www.ada.org/public/topics/anxiety.asp. Accessed March 3, 2010.
- Carr AB (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 10, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on