Wisdom teeth partially left in (or my molars are very sharp)

October 9, 2016 11:25 PM

I had my wisdom teeth out 15 years ago and I've always thought my back molars felt sharp or like there was some jagged tooth behind my molars. I perpetually forget to do my dentist about it but aren't sure if they would see left over wisdom teeth bits in an x-ray or visual exam.

I do plan on talking to my dentist about this at my regular appointment next month but I want to gage if left over wisdom teeth are even a thing (or if sharp molars are a common issue).

To expand on my blurb, when I had my wisdom teeth out it was at an oral surgeon and not the pediatric dentist I saw regularly. I noticed after surgery that on one side of my mouth the molars were kind of sharp and would sometimes irritate my tongue. I can't remember if I brought this up to the dentist I was seeing or if I assumed they would know if my teeth were weird.

After high school I didn't have dental coverage for a few years and when I got it again I just didn't go to the dentist for a decade. Now I'm back in the swing of regular cleaning and x-rays and the dentist hasn't mentioned that I have leftover wisdom teeth but I haven't complained about my molars being uncomfortable or weirdly sharp (it doesn't bother me all the time so I just forget when I'm there).

Questions:
-Do wisdom teeth get left partially in sometimes?
-Would this be obvious to a dentist looking at x-rays or the teeth?
-If my teeth are just sharp and irritating by tongue what can they do to prevent that?

posted by toomanycurls to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

It is possible for wisdom teeth to be left partially in, or for fragments of bone fractured during the extraction to work their way out; see article. It sometimes is painful, but it sounds like it's also possible not to be painful.

Certainly if it's just a sharp spot on your tooth, the dentist can file the sharp spot a bit to stop it hurting you. I'd say this is all totally reasonable to bring up at your next checkup.
posted by the marble index at 11:48 PM on October 9, 2016

Best answer: Some parts of your teeth get hardly any wear when you chew and remain sharp; other parts get worn in ways that make them sharp.
Your dentist can absolutely see fragments of bone, root or tooth in an exam or on an xray.

Tell your dentist that these sharp areas bother you and he/she will smooth them. I do this all the time in my practice, it's no big deal, but I don't know if a sharp spot (on an otherwise fine tooth) is irritating unless a patient says something.
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:54 PM on October 9, 2016 [6 favorites]

I recently got a panoramic X-ray at my dentist and he noticed that a bit of one of my wisdom teeth (which was extracted a few years ago) was left, so at least in my case it was definitely visible on the X-ray. I hadn't noticed it, and he didn't think it would cause any trouble, so not taking any action.
posted by borsboom at 5:39 AM on October 10, 2016

Yeah, they can clean these up, whatever they are! Whenever there's sharp or poky things, they can sand 'em down. Pipe up! "Hey, I don't know what this is, but it bothers me and feels sharp, can you tell me what it is?"

Also I had the bottom shards of a wisdom tooth hanging out in my mouth for about four or five years. One day it all fell out in pieces. No bigs.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 6:37 AM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

Did you have all 4 removed? One of my wisdom teeth was a "peg tooth" that was really sharp feeling and irritating to my tongue. My dentist told me about a patient of his with a peg tooth that kept growing back after it was removed... multiple times! I'm assuming this is uncommon, but you never know.
posted by raspberrE at 7:32 PM on October 10, 2016