It is disturbing to think about, but lots of people have gotten, are getting or are going to get absolutely perfect wisdom teeth removed. Teeth that aren’t even impacted. Teeth with no pathology and in a right position. Teeth that already came in and are taking part in chewing. Or that can be clearly expected to do so in the future.

This is wrong on so many levels, and I already wrote an entire article condemning these outrageous mutilations. I invite you, my dear reader, to read it if you haven’t.

As for this one, we will delve into this problem, and we will do it by seeing two clinical cases of mutilations that I encountered.

I know I encountered many more, actually. In France, many general dentists, surgeons and especially orthodontists recommend the removal of wisdom teeth systematically, or almost. So, I can safely affirm that many of my poor French patients were mutilated. Meaning: they got their perfectly fine and normal wisdom teeth removed for no reason. Remember that I don’t use this tough word for the removal of impacted wisdom teeth, even if I also oppose it for the most part.

The thing is that I typically don’t have the x-rays from before they underwent the removal. Therefore, even if I feel that they were mutilated, I can’t prove it. And one has to be serious. That is why the number of clinical cases of mutilations that I can actually present is limited.

If you suspect you were mutilated and have your x-ray from before the surgery, don’t hesitate to contact me. I am very interested in documenting, analyzing and describing more cases of mutilations. Your case can serve as a warning for others.

For now, I will present two cases that I can confidently condemn as mutilations. Without further ado, here goes the first one. We’ll call her CL:

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CL, an American female, was 21 when these intaoral pictures were taken. When she was 17, she was a victim of something similar to what I would describe as “insurance-induced pressure”, and that I talked about on a dedicated article. In her case, however, it wasn’t her insurance that “encouraged” her to get her wisdom teeth removed, but rather her oral surgeon, by making her mother a “one time offer” to remove her daughter’s wisdom teeth. Her mother hurriedly accepted, and forced CL to get her wisdom teeth removed while it was cheaper. CL herself didn’t want to, but what was she going to do, as a minor that trusted her dentist and her mother?

This is wrong, absurd, unjustified, brutal. Heartbreaking, I would say. And an absolutely unacceptable way to consider healthcare. A phrase that I often repeat: a dental clinic is a healthcare facility, not an all-you-can eat buffet, and patients should receive strictly what they need, based on what it’s best for their health. And not “as much as possible”.

And no, CL didn’t need to get her wisdom teeth removed under any lenses, not even under the most invasive and pro-extraction point of view. This is why I say that she was mutilated.

Her wisdom teeth hadn’t erupted yet. She was not in pain. She had no infections and no pathologies of any kind. She had never even felt that her wisdom teeth were there. Her dentist simply saw during a regular check-up that her third molars were “about to come in”, and he recommended her the removal automatically, without further reflection. Apparently, many American people have gone through the exact same absurd thing. CL’s dentist failed to understand that wisdom teeth are teeth like any other, and not some sort of defect of nature or pathology on their own.

Most importantly, and here is the heart of the matter: her wisdom teeth were also perfectly positioned and had plenty of space to come in. And they still recommended her to get them removed! Just look at how wide and large her retromolar spaces look on the intraoral photos. And also look at her panoramic x-ray from a few years before, when she finished her orthodontic treatment as a young teenager:

There you go. These are nothing more and nothing less than normally developing third molars. Looking directly at the mouth can be deceiving (very deceiving actually) of how much space a wisdom tooth has. But this x-ray leaves no room for doubt: she did have plenty of space for them to erupt. And they were all forming with a correct inclination.

So, to sum it up: she had no pathology nor symptoms, she had plenty of space for her wisdom teeth, and the only reason to recommend the removal was... an offer? In other words: CL was mutilated. She lost perfectly normal teeth for no reason.

You know that on this website I am only sharing my personal opinion. And that just like Fina Casalderrey is not a better writer than Richard Adams was, I am not a better dentist than yours. However, if your dentist recommends the removal of normal teeth for no reason, for once, I might actually be better than him.

Let’s now see another case. Let’s call this other patient RT:

RT, from Spain, was 31 years old at the time of these pictures. His wisdom teeth were removed when he was 17 years old too. As you can see, unjustified removals also happen in Spain, even if less frequently than in the USA or France.

RT’s retromolar spaces are equally large. This is very clear in his upper arch. However, the big size is not as evident behind his lower second molars, because the gum there didn’t heal properly after the removal. Can you see the little bumps of flesh behind the last molars? While (usually) not annoying, they are not ideal either. I consider them an undesired side effect of the removal of third molars.

Having examined RT’s mouth directly, I can confirm that his bottom retromolar spaces are large enough to hold an extra molar. But beyond my personal impression, the panoramic x-ray taken when he was 16 years old leaves no room for doubt:

He was about to get treated for an orthodontic problem: a retained upper left canine that required traction to make it erupt into a proper position.

As far as we are concerned here, his third molars were all in an ideal and correct position to erupt. Their inclination is also correct. No superposition is visible between any of his third and second molars, which would appear on the x-ray as a whiter area, and may indicate an impaction. No pathology is visible on the x-ray. No, his lower right (left on the picture) third molar doesn’t have a cyst! That’s just the normal form of the bone around the tooth. His lower wisdom teeth were already half erupted by the time he got them removed, and RT had never experienced any kind of pain, discomfort, infection or symptom related to them.

His subsequent orthodontic treatment did not involve anything related to the third molars or their space. In fact, he only got them removed once his canine had already erupted, and right before getting braces… that went from his first molar to his first molar on each side, and didn’t even attatch to his second molars. There was no way for his third molars to be affected by the treatment, or to affect it. You may want to check out the article about orthodontics and the removal of wisdom teeth, for further insight.

I have had access to RT’s orthodontic dossier, and I have to say it was nothing short of deplorable. His orthodontist noted little information about the whole procedure, she decided to remove RT’s third molars without having planned it beforehand, and she didn’t even take a photo of his bottom teeth!

Regarding the third molars, she simply noted that they were “present, without evident space to erupt”, whatever that means. This was a completely wrong diagnosis. Some dentists diagnose impacted wisdom teeth excessively and wrongly, and RT’s case is a textbook case. He did have plenty of space for his wisdom teeth.

So, to sum it up: no symptoms, no pathology, normal development, adequate space, a wrong diagnosis, and a poorly planned orthodontic treatment. In other words: RT was mutilated. He lost perfectly normal teeth for no reason.

And as a reference, here is his panoramic x-ray nowadays:

Clearly, something is missing. We don’t see the second molars stuck to the mandibular ramus. We see enough space for the extra, normal teeth that got extracted for no reason.

Both CL and RT reported going through an extremely painful and tough post-operatory period, and so did FA, the other case of mutilation that I described on the main article about this issue. And I think this is perfectly logical, because the removal of healthy teeth is necessarily much more traumatic and invasive than the removal of more mature and erupted teeth that have inflammation or other problems around them. As covered on the dedicated article, a later removal is frequently an easier removal

This is a shame. Nobody should have to get healthy teeth removed for no reason and suffer so much. I condemn these awful cases as malpractice, and in the name of the whole profession, I offer my apologies to anybody that suffered something similar.

Don’t let this be your case, my dear reader. I invite you to always be skeptical about invasive procedures, and to get done only, strictly, what you need. If you have any questions, know that I am here for you.

And if this has already been your case… again, sorry. Feel free to contact me too, and to tell me what happened to you. And don’t hesitate to share these articles with anybody you think might find them useful.

CL and RT were both 17 when their wisdom teeth were extracted, and FA was 15. So, I will also recommend you to read the article I wrote about why the removal of wisdom teeth in young patients is, almost always, pure madness. And I will bid farewell with this phrase by Gregorio Marañón, Spanish doctor and writer: El adulto debe guardar ante el niño, por pequeño que sea, el mismo respeto que ante su Dios. Meaning: The adult must show the same respect for the child, no matter how young, as he shows for his God.

Saludos cordales.