In 2013 I underwent a minor dental surgical procedure known as ‘cavitation surgery’. I was having pain in my lower left jaw and couldn’t figure out what was causing the pain. It felt like a nagging throb behind my last molar, where my wisdom tooth had been.
Maybe a little backstory would help…
Like many people here in the US and around the world, I had my wisdom teeth removed when I was 18 because “that’s when you have wisdom teeth removed”, right?
What I didn’t know back then was that it’s rather common for the site where a wisdom tooth is removed to become infected and develop what is called a ‘cavitation’. While not recognized by mainstream dentistry (yet), cavitations are another lurking ‘dark corner’ of dentistry that many in the profession know exist but don’t want to admit.
You see, if mainstream dentistry officially recognizes cavitations as real problems, they would essentially be admitting guilt for causing them based on the practices they teach for wisdom tooth extractions. The well respected Weston A Price Foundation has publicly recognized the risks of cavitations.
A cavitation is an infection in the jaw bone where a tooth was extracted. In the dental literature, this is called ONJ, osteonecrosis of the jaw, and it’s a very real issue.
Dr Hal Huggins shared with us during an interview before his death that almost all wisdom teeth extraction sites cavitate. In other words, the site of the extraction becomes infected, then heals over with gum tissue. This infected tissue in the jaw bone continues to rot (yes, rot) over the years.
As you can imagine, the results of cavitations aren’t good.
Just looking ‘locally’, cavitations can cause the jaw bone to rot away. This lessening of the jaw bone is closely related to advanced gum disease, tooth loss, tooth decay, and chronic sinus issues, just to name a few.
The Whole-Body Risks of Cavitations
When we look broader at the impact of jaw infections throughout the whole body, the result of cavitations is similar to what can happen with root canals, where the dead tooth becomes an ‘enemy inside the gates’ of our bodies that can dump toxins into the bloodstream.
We believe that in the coming years, more and more of us will awaken to realize the profound impact that these small, chronic infections play in taxing our immune system and wearing down our adrenal function as the body continuously has to mount an immune response to the pathogenic microbes these diseased tissues harbor. (What we mean by ‘small infections’ is they aren’t going to kill us tomorrow, but they have a chronic draining impact over time.)
Chronic infections like cavitations are a major contributor to chronic systemic inflammation in our global culture. As we’ve discussed in other articles, chronic inflammation is never a healthy situation. In fact, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the only cause of disease is stagnation. Inflammation is the western medical way to say ‘stagnation’.
In fact, some experts consider chronic infections in the mouth to be the cause of many common diseases these days.
Dr Josef Issels, perhaps the most famous integrated oncologist (whole-body cancer doctor) of the last century once said, “97% of all cancers have a causal relationship with the mouth, teeth, jaw and tonsils.” If you ponder that quote for a moment, it’s a rather heavy statement suggesting that almost all cancers are actually caused by problems in the mouth first.
Thankfully, I felt something brewing…
When I finally had the cavitation surgery, the dentist confirmed that indeed the lower left wisdom tooth site oozed a green fluid with a very foul smell (sorry for the graphics, but it’s true). Clearly, this was an infected zone buried under the gum tissue, in my jawbone!
So, what happened?
The dentist cleaned out the site with what is called a burr drill to remove any infected bone and gum tissue, then thoroughly cleansed the site with ozonated water several times to make sure that no infection remained prior to closing up the site. Our understanding of this procedure is to simply remove the infected tissue, cleanse the site well, and close it up.
The key to healing…
Like so many problems, once we remove the insult, the body does what it’s designed to do, it heals itself.
Within a few days, my jaw felt pain-free and has stayed so ever since. Interestingly, even right after the minor surgery, my jaw already felt better because the pressure was no longer throbbing (even though the discomfort of the recent surgery was present). The infection had been removed.
Do you have to have surgery to address cavitations?
No. We believe that chronic infections like this can be addressed by systemic immune support. It’s not necessary to have cavitation surgery. However, if you have a sense that an infection has been ‘cooking’ your system for many years, it’s definitely in your best interest to get some help to determine if an infection really is present.
How to identify if you have a chronic infection brewing in your mouth…
We recently wrote an article about a fairly new use for an emerging diagnostic technology called thermography. Thermography, also called thermal imaging, has been most notably used as an early screening tool for breast cancer.
However, this emerging technology also offers substantial benefit in identifying chronic heat patterns in the face. (Chronic heat is highly suggestive of chronic inflammation and infection.) While the focus of the article is on root canals, since cavitations are essentially the same chronic infection, there’s definitely common ground.
Here’s the article titled, “Is Thermal Imaging the Solution to Screen for Problem Root Canals”
How to find a dentist to help address a potential cavitation…
The most important tool a dentist can use to help properly cleanse the cavitation site is ozone. You can find a list of dentists who use ozone in their practice in our article detailing how to find a qualified dentist to help you.
You might also find benefit from our article on the 3 questions to ask your dentist about root canals, as this covers lots of similar issues as cavitations.
You can also download our FREE eBook, the OraWellness Guide to Safe Dentistry, where we propose several questions you can ask your dental team to determine whether they are ideally suited to assist you and your family to optimal oral (and whole body) health.
Subjects in this free eBook include: proper procedures to safely remove mercury fillings, questions about root canals, crowns and bridges, and a special chapter on children’s oral health including sealants. Download the OraWellness Guide to Safe Dentistry here.
Last, here’s a link to our meridian tooth chart, which is a powerful tool to help understand how each tooth is linked to various internal organs and body parts. A few minutes on this interactive chart can be very eye opening to help put the pieces of the puzzle together. (Ironically, on the meridian tooth chart, the wisdom teeth relate to the heart. Could having wisdom teeth removed be a contributing aspect to the risk of heart disease?)
In the end, we don’t know what we don’t know. We hope this article has helped you understand a bit more about the real but not often-discussed problem with having wisdom teeth removed.
In a future article, we will detail more of the pros and cons on the hotly debated subject of whether to have wisdom teeth removed or not…
Until next time, may your bright, healthy smile bless your life and the lives of those around you in many ways today!
Helpful, Related Resources:
The OraWellness Guide to Safe Dentistry [FREE eBook]
Weston A Price Foundation Dental Cavitation Surgery [article]
Is Thermal Imaging the Solution to Screen for Problem Root Canals? [article]
How to Find a Qualified Dentist to Help You [article]
3 Questions to Ask Your Dentist About Root Canals [article]
OraWellness Meridian Tooth Chart [interactive chart]
Is it Really Wise to Have Your Wisdom Teeth Removed? [article]
I am really enjoying your articles, thanks! I wanted to add that biological dentists have other ways to treat cavitations. I had a back molar that kept abscessing even after a root canal. After the third time, my dentist sent me to an endodontist who wanted to cut off the top of the root and seal it with cement (apicoectomy). By then, I knew how awful sealing infection into teeth was and had it extracted instead. The oral surgeon did me a “favor” and packed cow bone into the hole in preparation for an implant. Well, the bone was still infected and he sealed it in. I got a fourth abscess! I gave up on allopathic dentistry and found a fantastic biological dentist. He injected a pleomorphic remedy directly into the bone, treated the bone with laser and the infection was cured. It was absolutely amazing. And you can be sure I’m not getting an implant!
Great read, Thank’s for sharing information.
It’s been several years since I’ve had my wisdom teeth removed and haven’t had pain but as of late my right side lower jaw has been painful
Removal of symptomless wisdom teeth is an American procedure, but in most countries the wisdom teeth are not extracted unless causing problems. It is difficult to make hard and fast rules for wisdom tooth removal but leaving them untouched can lead to difficult surgery and nerve damage.
Hi there,
I’ve been happily following you guys since 2014 and have been so grateful for your help, information, and brushes & tooth oil! My family just got a new brush order this week and the little ones love the new sea turtles and dolphin designs on some!
Today I have questions based on this article (thank you, preemptively, for sharing any thoughts- I promise not to consider them as ‘medical advice’). I’ve always felt uncomfortable with the idea of removing any body parts, so I have 4 wisdom teeth, but the top 2 grew in slightly sideways toward the cheeks, creating little ‘shelfs’ that I didn’t realize weren’t able to be brushed as well as needed back there, so both apparently turned brown on their outter sides (which face upward, against the cheek, on me). One got bad enough and broke before I found there was this problem.
I understand this article is about why it’s unnecessary to remove *healthy* wisdom teeth. But once one has broken and exposed the inner, softer ‘stuff’ I assume it must be removed (despite my general wishes to keep my mouth ‘intact’), would you generally assume the same?
I obviously have concerns about what could happen with my body after the removal though – so could you clarify what you would suggest, when removal is needed, to best maintain a holistically healthy mouth/body in the absence of a big tooth? Is the advice simply to make sure the dr. is good at fully removing any decayed tissues, and cleans well with ozone? Is that enough to [theoretically] not have problems in empty jaw space, from missing teeth?
I had a consult with a local oral surgeon, but I’m in a smaller city where the only holistic dentist that has ozone is not a surgeon and usually refers to surgeons for wisdom tooth extractions – so I skipped seeing the preferred holistic dentist here 1st. I wonder if I could visit him after surgical extractions – Can ozone still be useful in post-op, since the local surgeons don’t have it? (Maybe I ought to consider driving a few hours to find more holistic surgical options.)
Lastly, when part of a wisdom tooth has actually turned brown but is still whole (the other top tooth)- is that considered past the point of healing, and [if it were you] would extract; or is a painfree and whole, but sortof-halfdead-looking, tooth salvageable and worth keeping, with my newly found knowledge that it needs closer, extra diligent work to keep clean? I guess I’m unsure of the general ‘point of no return’ on healable teeth.
Thank you so much for your time and thoughts. Blessings and a happy Thursday : )
Sorry for that long comment. And you can ignore my last paragraph’s question about the intact tooth, because I just read all of your interview w/ Dr. Julian Holmes:
“The Use of Ozone in Dentistry” and found this hopeful bit below, which has led me to want to go visit the praised, local, holistic dentist who uses ozone, and seek his opinions before operation with the surgeon.
In case others find this useful here is my shorthand of a tiny part of the interview: ‘It’s possible to remineralize + heal that weaker area…set up the biology within that cavity to become stable/hard/glassy. Under neutral/basic ph conditions, minerals will reflow into the tooth. So, you can harden it…can’t rebuild what’s been lost…but harden it to where decay process can never start in that hardened lesion again.’
So maybe my whole, but ugly, wisdom tooth can still stay useful under the right dental help.
store.orawellness.com/pages/expert-interviews?utm_source=summit%20sign%20up&utm_medium=summit%20sign%20up&utm_campaign=sign%20up
Aloha K,
Thank you for your comments. We’re happy to know that our products and information have helped your family. 🙂
We here at OraWellness aren’t medical or dental professionals, so we can’t treat, diagnose, advise, etc.
So, we would definitely encourage you to work with a competent holistic dental professional who is equipped with the knowledge and resources needed to support you as you ponder the best path forward for your oral health.
A good dentist can be hard to find, but once you find one, they can be a dream for answering questions on stuff like this. Remember that these professionals are here to serve you, and you can choose who you are willing to work with.
Here’s an article that explains how to find a good dentist: Helpful Resources to Find a Qualified Dentist to Assist You.
Aloha! 🙂
Will rinsing my gums in the shower push more bacteria deeper into the gum pocketsi do this I with my morning shower before I brush my teeth,
Aloha Kevin,
Thanks for stopping by.
If it were me, I wouldn’t be inclined to rinse my gums in the shower for a couple of reasons.
First, it’s my understanding that if the water pressure is high, we could risk harming our delicate gum tissue. So for example, when folks are using oral irrigators (aka water flossers), we encourage them to always use the device on the lowest possible setting and to point the stream horizontally along the gum line rather than directly down into their gum pockets. Using these devices in this way should create a ‘venturi effect’ that helps to swap out the fluid that’s been hanging out in gum pockets for fresh water instead.
Second, I wouldn’t personally be inclined to rinse my mouth in the shower because it’s my understanding that unless they’re cleaned inside and out very, very regularly, shower heads can harbor mold and bacteria.
I hope that helps!
This article suddenly explains so much. When I was younger, about 10 or 11 years old, my parents took me to an orthodontist because I was having my teeth shift all over the place, and didn’t have a very good bite. My parents felt he just wasn’t helping me at all, telling my parents to just wait for months to see “how I’d progress as I got older”. We ended up moving when I was 13 to a new state (from USA) and started seeing a new Orthodontist who immediately told my parents I would need surgery to remove 4 adult teeth, 2 lower and 2 upper, as I had a really tiny jawline, and the reason my teeth were so messed up was because of it. Later I got braces, and slowly my teeth were straightened out. When I turned about 16 years old, another orthodontist later, recommended that I get my wisdom teeth removed, as they were coming in, and completely impacted, turned sideways. They pulled those shortly after making the recommendation.
The back of my jaw and gums hurt every now and then, and are over all pretty sensitive. The roof of my mouth where the former teeth had moved to when I was 13 that they pulled also has been sensitive and hurting at times. I never knew why, now it all makes sense.
My daughter’s 23 yr old boyfriend has very crooked teeth. He did have braces. I guess he doesn’t always wear his retainer if at all bec/I can’t imagine it fitting. Well, his Dentist just told him his teeth got all crooked from his wisdom teeth that came in. If it’s not healthy to have them removed, what’s the solution now? Leaving them in and putting on braces w/them in. Or will the teeth continue to shift w/the wisdom teeth in? Thank you!
Hi Cheryl,
Thanks for reaching out. Great questions.
Full disclosure, we can’t make any suggestions for treatment, especially speaking in a different direction than a dentist is suggesting. That said, when we get comments/questions like yours, we ponder, ‘What would we do in this situation?’ and share that with you. It’s in this spirit that we share the following. Please don’t take this as our advice.
Having one’s wisdom teeth removed isn’t inherently unhealthy. We think that there is a time and a place for this procedure. What we question is the default, one size fits all approach of having wisdom teeth removed.
Here are some pieces to ponder:
1. You are the boss of you. Or in this case, your daughter’s boyfriend is the boss of his journey. As such, he has the power to say no and leave. Yeah, medical/dental professionalss don’t like this, but the bottom line is we hire them to help us navigate the best path for us. And only we can determine what that best path is.
2. It’s our understanding that the sense of wisdom teeth causing molars to shift is overblown. It’s a bit of a myth. So, we encourage anyone who is told this as ‘the reason’ why they need to have their wisdom teeth removed to challenge this story because, from our view, the facts aren’t strong enough to back it up.
I hope this helps you or anyone else reading this thread.
Thanks again for asking such a great question!
If the spot where the wisdom tooth used to be feels a bit sore, can this be a sign of a cavitation? It’s on the left.
I found out this is why I automatically chew with my right molars most of the time. This has lead to asymmetry in my face (lip hangs on the left, eye looks smaller but that could have another cause). Hence why I’m now trying to chew with the left side more.
Hi Kelly,
Thank you for reaching out.
Yes, I certainly think that having soreness at the site where a wisdom tooth was extracted is a very good sign that something could be problematic there. And yes, I think you are right on the mark with your thinking that the low level soreness on the left caused you to habituate chewing on the right, which is a real problem for sure.
I think you are on this Kelly. We encourage you to have it looked at by a dentist who uses ozone gas in their practice.
Is there any way to prevent a cavitation when you get a wisdom tooth extracted or is it just inevitable?
Aloha Sireesha,
Thanks for stopping by.
Great question!
We’re not medical or dental professionals, but it’s our understanding that to help reduce the risk of a cavitation after a tooth extraction, one big thing we can do is find a good dentist to do the procedure. In particular, we would look to work with someone who will ensure that they fully remove the periodontal ligament, clean out the site with a burr drill to remove any infected bone and gum tissue, and then thoroughly cleanse the site with ozone several times to make sure that no infection remains prior to closing it.
Here’s an article that explains how to find a good dentist, and here’s an article that explains 3 reasons why you want your dentist to use ozone in their practice.
It might also be helpful to work with an integrative or functional medical practitioner, an ayurvedic doctor, or a homeopath to see what options they might have for helping to support the body before, during, and after the tooth extraction.
We hope that helps!
Every dentist I have seen since my early twenties always wanted to yank my wisdom teeth, usually stating they can become infected do to them being harder to keep clean and the fact some are only partially exposed. Well I turn 41 in a couple months and I’ve had very few issues over the years, the odd irritating stint from usually the same one which is very manageable without any meds or special treatment. Oh and my teeth are also extremely straight, top and bottom without ever having any corrections!
After two years of chronic illness where I visited every doctor you can imagine I was finally diagnosed with cavitations about 2 weeks ago. Just like your article mentions I had my lower wisdom teeth removed 18 years ago and couldn’t figure out why I was so unwell. I had depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, adrenal fatigue, fibromyalgia, balance problems, eye pain, horrendous facial pain, and gastrointestinal problems. I had cavitation surgery on my left side last week but I also need the other side doing in a few weeks once my body recovers. This has been the most horrendous experience of my life and can’t believe that my teeth have caused all these problems. Ironically, I found a photograph the other day, which was taken after I had my wisdom teeth removed all those years ago. I look like I’ve been beaten up the bruising was so bad.
Thanks,
Martin
I have had the same problems as you with my wisdom teeth. I made a filling on them which was not recommended by my first dentist but I was so scared of removing them seeing what everyone else has said/been through so I thought I could take the easy way.. Boy..I regret it. It did not even start with tootache. I wish it had. It started with ear pressure, eye pain, balance problem, sensitive to light and sound. All the doctors I saw thought I was going mad/or I was stressed that I needed a break. After 2 months, I contacted a specialist and he told me these devils caused these problems. All 3 had to get out asp. I took 2 out and 7th of Jan. Ill be taking out the last one. I did not expect that wisdom teeth could do this.. I also got infection in both of them after the fillings and had to take antibiotics 2 times post to surgery. I never seen such hell in my entire life
How many years after your wisdom teeth were removed did you have the infection? I had my wisdom teeth removed over 20 years ago and I’m having similar symptoms as described in your article. I’ve been to so many doctors with my pain and nobody can figure out what is going on. I want to explore this problem to see if it could be what is going on with me…
Aloha Aimee,
Thank you for reaching out here. In my case, the infection was addressed around 25 years after extraction! So, similar situation. I encourage you to take this as a potential lead for your issues. What we have found is infections in jaw bone tissue are kind of ‘between professions’. What I mean by that is most doctors don’t address this because it’s in the mouth, therefore a dental issue. And most dentists don’t address this because it’s not tooth decay. Thus, a blind spot between the specialties in medicine/dentistry.
There are however many dentists aware of this issue and effectively addressing cavitations. It really does fall into the realm of dentistry from our view, as dentists are literally doctors of the mouth. DDS is ‘doctor of dental surgery’, so they are taught dental surgery but for many, it’s not a common practice, so outside their comfort zones.
I hope this helps!
Is it possible to have implants in the room of wisdom teeth extracted?
Hello William,
I understand your opinion and i respect .
According to my practice, i saw many people has not any issues with their wisdom teeth and they may not uproot any of them. They might be used to with certain amount of pain. However, some scenario is worst than what we can imagine. Some people has worst bonding of wisdom teeth with unbearable pain. For these case, wisdom teeth removal can be best option for them.
N:B- i do not agree to take out any natural teeth as long as they are well enough.
Cheers
Arran Smith
Hey Guys,
So me and my gf are taking our dental health back this year and have stumbled upon your site. Great info.
Question,
I have a wisdom tooth that is erupted and impacted. It is growing towards the front diagonally, have not done X-rays.
It has never hurt before but now i feel slight discomfort in me jaw from the bottom towards the back of my ear. Recently I noticed it sometimes pops when I move my mouth.
Is this normal? Is there anyway to realign the teeth?
Thanks
I just found out today that I have a fractured wisdom tooth on the bottom. The Dentist recommended removal. Thoughts?
Aloha Kathy,
I’m sorry to hear about your situation.
Hmm, it’s probably the best thing to do if it’s truly fractured. It’s always worth getting a second opinion prior to having a piece of one’s body permanently removed however. Just a thought…
Too bad I didn’t read this article before I removed my impacted tooth in the lower jaw bone. I had one wisdom tooth in the upper jaw bone which had a cavity and had to be removed. The oral surgeon recommended me to remove the impacted tooth from lower jawbone on the same side, because it was impacted and pushing on other teeth. I had no problems with that impacted tooth, so I had some doubts but the doctor said not to worry and that everything will be ok. So I had this surgery 3 months ago. 3 days after the surgery I experienced massive pain in my lower jawbone and infection. I had to take antibiotics and then for the next month I was ok. 1 month after the surgery my infection came back and the doctor looked at my gums and jawbone and said everything looks “great” and prescribed antibiotics. The infection came back 2 weeks after I finished taking antibiotics. Another visit at the doctor, another statement that everything looks great and another prescription for antibiotics. In the meantime I told the doctor that I can feel with my fingers a small elevated surface, like a piece of tooth or piece of joint (it wasn’t hard, but I could clearly feel it and I knew every time I have an infection the pain starts from this little piece of tooth/joint which is under the gums). The doctor took an x-ray and said he can’t see anything there. Now after a week since the last visit and the last big dose of antibiotics I can feel the infection is coming back again. The doctor obviously does not seem concerned, but it is bothering me, because my face swells and I can’t move my jaw. Do you have any suggestions what else can I do? Should I change the doctor? Should I demand some examinations? I am really frustrated, because I have a full time job and a little toddler to take care of. I was thinking about having another child soon and with this situation I am afraid to get pregnant again. Could you please advise? Thank you!
I really appreciate this article. Im trying to get another opinion about what to do with a bad smelling wisdom tooth. I’m 31 and haven’t any wisdom teeth extracted. One of them has a bad smell when I touch it but no pain. I went to get it x-rayed so I could make a decision about getting it removed. All 4 teeth are impacted or partially erupted, the right top one is still in a very slow process of coming in. the bottom right that smells bad has grown in partially and is horizontal. There’s a noticeable gap between the teeth there and for the last year or so I have been trying to keep the area clean. Recently started including oil pulling… There’s no pain but I’m worried that the smell means it may be infected. Should I get it pulled? Can I get just one tooth pulled or do I need to do top and bottom together? Grateful for any insights. I don’t like to do any medical procedures without a reason… It I also don’t want to wait and have it fester if it’s rotting. The x-ray doesn’t show rotting and there’s no pain. Not sure what to do. THANKS!
Aloha Melissa,
Thank you for reaching out to us and sharing your story here.
You’re right on the mark regarding the smell from a wisdom tooth and the risk of infection. Given that it’s impacted and partially erupted, this almost guarantees to us that there’s infection around the tooth. Whether the tooth itself has decay or not is another factor.
It’s definitely worth getting a second opinion on it. Unfortunately, sometimes there is no really simple ‘right’ answer. Gather your info and look within for guidance. Listen to the ‘fear’ but don’t let it control your decisions. You’ll feel the right path for you!
Thank you Will, Susan, and you guests who share you thoughts and experiences. It has been most useful for me as I continue to recover from a wisdom tooth 16 back in 1995ish. I got deathly ill from it…meningitis and tetanus, to just name a few of the easy ones. I have been getting back in touch with Body Beautiful and am absolutely humbled to know that I haven’t reached middle age quite yet and know that she wasn’t going to be ignored. Full body Inflammation is an absolutely miserable spank, but I had it coming! But nice job on what you are doing here. Oral health is vital. Much beyond a white smile and straight teeth like it was driven in me in the 80s.
Aloha Lori,
Thank you for stopping by to share your story with us. I’m sorry to hear about the full body inflammation challenge.
We are so glad that our thoughts/insights help you. Please continue to share your experience with us as we are all in this together.
hello, I have had my wisdom teeth out now since September 2014, my bottom right tooth was a real pain to take out, surgeon said the nerve was heavily wrapped around the tooth. leading up to the surgery I could feel the nerve kind of throbbing against the wisdom tooth and I was told it would only get worse as the tooth would continue to come through. with that said, presently, every now and then, I start to feel that same throbbing, mainly notice it when I eat, I start to develop a slightly bad taste in my mouth, and just a slight little ache by ear, but nothing major, with that said I have had it checked out and they say it is nothing but I find that hard to believe. I am 27 years of age and overall I am worried that it can be some sort of infection, or is it in fact due to the nerve being so stubborn, I still feel it every now and then. I am hoping it is that, but cannot be certain because of the slightly bad taste in mouth and slight ear ache, which at times, is a bit pronounced than others. any response would be a big help. thank you!
Aloha Matthew,
Thank you for stopping by to ask us. Obviously, we can’t make any suggestions or diagnosis. I mean, we’re not dentists. That said, when someone like you comes by to ask us to think through a situation with them, I essentially share what comes to mind if I ponder, “If I were in Matthew’s position, what would I do?” Here’s what comes to mind given what you’ve shared.
I think you are right on the mark that there’s a lingering infection or nerve trauma in the region. This can very easily travel into the ear region and cause issues there. It’s a shame that you’ve been to practitioners who have not acknowledged your concerns with further testing to determine if indeed you have an infection. Like you read in this article, the risk of a cavitation is very real.
It’s also possible that the nerve became traumatized and there is no infection, just nerve damage. But the way you describe the coming and going quality of the discomfort makes me feel like you are most likely right about infection.
It’s been 18 months since you have the procedure. That’s plenty of time to me for a nerve to calm down if it’s just temporarily aggravated. If I were in your shoes, I would find a dentist who is willing to be real with me and tell me the truth. You could also consider having a thermal image taken of the jaw and see if there are markers for systemic inflammation which would further support your sense and feelings of discomfort.
Please feel free to holler with more questions on this one. And please let us know how it goes so we can all learn from one another’s experiences.
I’m so happy to read this! My whole life I regularly saw the dentist and never thought twice about the advice they gave or procedures they did. Luckily, I’m almost 24 and have only had a 1 cavity. My Sophomore year of college, I went home for break and had a check up with my dentist who ended up referring me to an oral surgeon to have my wisdom teeth out. I have two sisters who never even got them to the begin with, and I of course have all 4 of mine. I’ve never had to have an procedure of any kind and was literally terrified as my wisdom teeth appointment grew nearer. Two days before the appointment, j frantically told my mother that I was too scared and didn’t want them out yet. Lucky for me she told me that it was my health and my mouth and to do what I wanted to. That was almost 4 years ago and I can happily say that my top two wisdom teeth are almost 100% in and none of my top teeth shifted a bit. My bottom teeth have been crooked ever since I got my braces off in middle school, but my wisdom tooth on the bottom right broke through my gums a few months ago and has slowly been making its way out since. I’m so happy I didn’t have them out when I was told to! Depending on whether or not the last one on the bottom bothers me, I might have it out, but for now I’m letting them do their thing! Again, thanks for this. Everyone I know seems to think it’s nuts to not have them out.
Aloha Alyssa,
Yeah, when we take actions based on our internal feelings (guidance) that flies in the face of what the culture thinks is ‘right’, we can receive quite a bit of off comments. After all, when we question the cultural story, it causes doubt in the structure of the story in the minds of others. If they aren’t ready to question the story, it can cause some friction for sure. 🙂
Please know that you have community here. There are plenty of ‘us’ around the world who are willing to follow our intuition and seek real solutions. Keep on shining your Light! 🙂
I really appreciate these articles. I have lived my whole life with dental issues that the dentist always attributes to genetics due to the fact that I am very conscientious of my dental hygiene. I am in my mid thirties and have had more than a handful of dental surgeries. I have begun suspecting that some of these “routine” practices are unnecessary. No longer will I just listen to what the dentist says needs to be done without doing my own research on all of my options and risks involved. I shared your heartache Will when you underwent mercury removal only to find the dentist had done more than you would have permitted if you had not been under sedation. I too have oral tissue that I cannot get back and now I regret listening to the advise of my dentist. Thank you for all of these articles, they will help me make a more informed and empowered choice for my daughter’s oral health. Thank you also to the other readers who responded. I have taken pieces of their thoughts and advice also.
Aloha Wanda,
Thank YOU so much for posting. Hearing in your words that you find help being more informed and empowered gives us precious feedback that our efforts to provide this information to empower others is helping. In fact, truly our mission revolves around helping empower others with the knowledge how to better navigate this path to greater oral health.
Thank you and Aloha!
Thank you so much for this article! I had just one wisdom tooth removed about 4 months ago and have been having intense sinus problems ever since. My holistic dentist has looked at it and said he doesn’t see any problems and says that since there was no perforation to the sinuses, then I couldn’t have a sinus infection. But I know something is wrong. I’ve even been seeing a cranial osteopath to help realign the jaw/face muscles and bones in case something structurally was shifted. So my question is – if it is an infection in the jaw bone (or the sinuses), what do you recommend as the best immune support in order to hopefully avoid another surgery? Thanks!!
Great question Carrie. I kind of knew that this article would provoke this question from someone. 🙂
To really do this subject justice, it will require a much more thorough reply than I’m going to give here. Suffice it to say, we plan to elaborate on this subject soon…
To optimally support our immune response requires that we take a broad look at the many aspects that impact our health/wellness. Please don’t get blown out by this list, but as we see it, there are many, many parts to this puzzle, including:
Diet:
quality of food we eat, how we eat (what mood we intentionally cultivate while eating), how our food is prepared
also important within the context of diet is not only what we choose to eat, but how our bodies respond to that food (aka does our body react poorly to certain foods)
Rest:
Do we give ourselves rest time or do we burn the candle at both ends? How is the quality (and quantity) of our sleep? Do we celebrate and have fun times with friends and family? Do we give ourselves regular ‘time in’ time.
Exercise:
Do we exercise appropriately for our level of fitness and wellbeing? Do we exercise in natural ways that align with the body’s natural ways of movement?
Detox:
Do we eat plenty of green foods? Do we sweat regularly? More advanced aspects of detox would be protocols like coffee enemas and the use of ozone for cleansing the liver.
Hydration:
Do we drink enough quality water? Is the water that we drink as free from junk as possible (or are we adding to our ‘body burden’ with the quality of water)?
That’s a great start I think. 🙂
Check out our free video tutorial series, the 5 steps to a healthy mouth, to learn more about some of these aspects. I promise we will expound on them more in future work!
Hello! I was wondering if you had any articles continuing your response in the question above about optimizing your body’s immune response and kicking low grade infections before they require surgery. I have ‘needed’ dental work my whole life, starting when I was very young. I had many cavities in baby teeth. Thankfully my parents had the dentist only put non-mercury fillings in my adult teeth, but due to many cavities and continued decay I have had one tooth pulled, one root canal/crown and two other crowns with live teeth under them, and I honestly don’t know how many fillings I have in my mouth, at the age of 32. We have been working on our diet and lifestyle the last 3-4 years but I still seem to have the same rate of decay. I’d love to read your article to see if there may be something I’m missing. Also my youngest has my prop misty for cavities even though my oldest two don’t have any problems yet, and they all eat a varried ‘real food’ diet and have the same oral hygiene practices. ? why does this seem to be so much harder for some of us? My husband has never had a cavity, which is a blessing and I’m hoping my older two are able to follow his pattern.
Whoops! Didn’t finish my question, I was wondering about the immune support because I have developed constant low grade sinus issues (congestion/post nasal drip – sorry gross) over the last few years and reading your articles about removed wisdom teeth (all four of mine were removed in my teens) and root canals possibly causing other low grade infections made me wonder if the sinus issues could be related to those dental procedures (my root canal is on the top and of course the two top wisdom teeth).
At age 19, in 1974 I had four bony impaction wisdom teeth removed in one oral surgery operation. I was in agony from those wisdom teeth overcrowding. I believe they NEEDED to be removed. Flash forward, now I am 60 and in perfect health due to 45 years of organic plant based nutrition and 20% of my diet is Weston A Price Foundation type raw unpasteurized, fermented goat milk dairy kefir and pastured animal protein. I am fortunate I inherited very strong teeth from my father and have few dental problems. Up until modern dentistry in the early 20th century it was common to DIE from impacted wisdom teeth rupturing and going septic. In the olden days folks would die from rotting tooth creating blood poisoning and going septic. Modern dentistry is highly invasive with lack of emphasis on nutrition and bif focus on cosmetic dentistry, teeth bleaching. Due to horrible insurance companies it is VERY hard for dentists to earn a living! For example on $1,500 crown the dentist gets paid $200.00. 95% of dental insurance is worthless since it only pays for annual exam, two cleanings a year and stays. If you need work done on your teeth for fillings, crowns, etc you are forced to pay high monthly premiums for an entire YEAR until dental insurance will pay anything for dental work. That is why I stick to flossing, oil pulling, organic food, using younger scraper to clear gunk out of my mouth. I do not think conventional dentists are evil or greedy but more a societal problem that is OK with crappy diet, smoking and getting rotten teeth covered with veneers, partials, bridges, dentures. Take responsibility for your health every day and shop around for a decent dentist who understands Clinical Ecology and Biological Dentistry. I am 60 but my teeth and gums are in the condition of a 35 year old. I never smoked which is the WORST thing for oral health and I quit eating sugar in 1969 when I was 15.
Aloha Colleen,
Thank you for sharing your wisdom here. Agreed on all points. I love how you sum it up with “but more of a societal problem that is OK with crappy diet, etc.” Well said!
Thanks for sharing!
What is the best way to heal a rotting tooth at home without surgery? Thank you!
Aloha Alexander,
Thank you for reaching out to us.
With diligence, much can be done from home. I strongly suggest you put some time into reading articles on this blog as well as sign up to receive our free video tutorial series. In fact, I think I’ll go sign you up now to get it sent to you. We cover a lot of ground in the 5 steps to a healthy mouth video series. Learning the materials in the 5 steps video series will take you quite a ways along this path to greater oral health.
I hope this helps! 🙂
It is possible to reverse cavities, according to Dr. Weston A. Price in “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration,” pp. 259, 390 ff.). He writes: “This is frequently experienced as a result of reinforcing the diet with high-vitamin and high-activator butter [and cod liver oil], together with reducing the carbohydrate intake to a normal level as supplied by natural foods and by increasing the foods that provide body-building and tooth-forming minerals” (p. 393). On p. 392, Dr. Price did this for children with cavities by adding orange juice or tomato juice, butter/cod liver oil, a meat-vegetable stew made with bone broth, cooked fruit with minimal sweetening, whole milk, and whole wheat rolls with butter to their deficient diet; this poor diety included “a highly sweetened coffee and white bread, vegetable fat, pancakes made of a white flour and eaten with syrup and donuts fried in vegetable fat.”
Aloha,
Excellent quotes! I think Dr Price answered your question about 80 years ago! 🙂 Teeth can definitely remineralize provided that we give our bodies the necessary environment to do so. Diet plays a HUGE part in this process. If you take a look around our blog, you’ll find lots of articles that detail this process.
Like many people, I have impacted wisdom teeth, but they have never caused me any discomfort. When I went to see a new dentist, over 30 years ago, when I was about 35, he suggested that I have them removed, since, he said, if they started to bother me in my 60s, such surgery would be more complicated. Well, my general rule of thumb is that if something doesn’t bother me, I don’t bother it, and I never had such surgery. I’m now in my late 60s, and those teeth have never bothered me. Especially after reading an article like this one, I’m very glad I resisted the dentist’s suggestion!
Aloha Carole!
Thank you SO much for sharing your story with us here! I think your approach is an excellent one, if something doesn’t bother you, don’t bother it. 🙂 I love it!
Congratulations on having such dental self empowerment back in your 30s! We reap what we sow, but only every day. 🙂
Carole, you are wise 🙂 I would have never have mine removed if they had not caused actual problems! Unlike here in the US, where they want to extract all wisdom teeth, no matter what, and all 4 at one time to boot, I lived in Germany back then and after my first child the first tooth started to push against my other teeth and caused actual pain. I had it removed only to experience the same again about 6 months later. Then I had the second one removed. About a year later number 3 caused problems. None of them had ever emerged through the gum line and never had my dentist suggested to have them removed. Well, I was not about to wait for the 4th one to act up and got that one taken care of (the hardest one to get out!) I have not noticed any problems since, thankfully!
My one daughter, who was a thumb-sucker but has the straightest teeth and no braces, is getting the run around about her wisdom teeth now. She refuses to have them pulled and I only encourage her in that! If they do not bother you leave them alone, I so agree with you!
Well it may not be over yet. My 81 year old male friend started having severe jaw pain. He wears dentures and has for thirty years or so. After so much complaining, I looked into his mouth with a flashlight and lo and behold a wisdom tooth is clearly erupting. A visit to an oral surgeon will have to be made. He doesn’t mind having a new tooth, LOL, but the pain is unbearable.
I still have all my wisdom teeth. It never made any sense to me to have them removed. However, my current dentist (not holistic) says the crowding of my front lower teeth is becoming more pronounced because the wisdom teeth are “pushing” the rest of the teeth forward. Hmmm. I have always had crooked bottom front teeth and one is becoming turned more to 90 degrees. I don’t know what is going on, but I tend to disbelieve his premise. Another sign of aging at 64, who knows?? That one tooth will probably have to be pulled.
Aloha Suzanne,
Congratulations on still having your wisdom teeth! We plan to write another article which debunks the common myths around wisdom teeth soon. By a long shot, the most common myth is that they will crowd other teeth and cause them to shift and be crooked. It’s time for this myth to go. You see, the research doesn’t support the myth. It’s a story that’s been cultivated over the years that is not true. (perhaps innocently, but also perhaps to gain patient compliance) There’s plenty of of science that shows that the wisdom teeth don’t have the ‘force’ necessary to cause other teeth that are well rooted to shift.
That said, what’s causing your teeth to shift we don’t know, but it’s not from your choice to keep your wisdom teeth. 🙂
My dentist/ortho told me(when I was 36) that my crowding was from chewing. I was there to get braces for the third and last time.
He said as people age their teeth will start to crowd from the constant repetitive force of just simple chewing.
This is interesting since I have no wisdom teeth to “cause crowding”. lol I had them removed when I was 18.
I wonder now if it really is from simple chewing?
I have a permanent lower retainer now that will be removed very soon.
I’ve had it for about 10 years so my bottom teeth are still perfectly straight.
I am hoping that they stay this way! Finally. lol
BUT…if in years to come they do in fact crowd once again I will for CERTAIN know that it is NOT from wisdom teeth!
🙂
A note: I have also heard that teeth have a memory. Well, not the actual tooth itself, but the ligaments/muscles(?) attached to it.
This might have been what actually caused my lower crowding. My teeth were simply horrific before braces!
I guess they want to go back to their original position.
I traveled to Sri Lanka and I was very, very surprised to meet a lot of people there with perfect straight teeth, big jaw, really white teeth and a big and awesome smile. I spoke to a lady of 70 about teeth and she said: ” we all have our wisdom teeth” ! I was so surprised. No in Europe nobody has wisdom teeth anymore, and when people are getting older they have dental prothesis. We spoke about cavities, she said she wasn’t very careful with her teeth, she had 3 cavities in her life!
Their traditional food interested me a lot! They eat every day coconut! They make flat bread with, they use the milk for cooking veggies etc. Their food is really delicious, especially savory. Because it’s an island they eat a lot of small fish and a lot of spices. The breakfast is absolutely savory. To conclude: people there have wisdom teeth and absolutely straight teeth!!
When I ask my dentist why children now must have braces to have a nice smile, he couldn’t answer properly. Since I’m young I believe it’s not normal to have braces but I couldn’t find the answer. You helped me a lot with your knowledge and website. Thanks a lot!
I have the same situation as yours Suzanne, though it is not very pronounced. I feel this is more caused by the jaws having lost some of the bones density. So now I have improved my diet since some years but not seen much improvement on this tooth. So I’m adding more frequent facial gymnastic, and occasional trampoline to strengthen the back bones (connected to the teeth as well). Let’s see, I’m sure this will have a positive impact on that tooth…
I think ,this is the most secure way to diagnose finally the real origin of an old problem that only
begins in the mouth, than it can be spread all around
So what does one do when one is experiencing chronic pain from impacted wisdom teeth? I had pain that kept me up nights for years until I had my wisdom teeth removed. That certainly impacted my health as well.
Aloha Carrie,
Thank you for stopping by to ask this important question. We aren’t suggesting that all wisdom teeth stay in the mouth. And we completely agree with you that losing sleep has a huge impact on one’s health! What we are becoming clear on is that the routine removal of wisdom teeth may have negative ramifications. It’s one thing if the tooth (teeth) are damaged or infected (or keeps you up for years), but the routine removal of wisdom teeth simply because ‘it’s easier if we remove them now before they give you trouble’ may not be a wise choice.
Thanks!
Great article! I had my wisdom teeth removed because they had nagged me on and off for years. I never had pain – just an aching vagueness at times. The doctors in the UK recommended no action, as they are paid a fixed fee by the NHS. I came home to Ireland where dentists practice privately and thus make money from every procedure. I was told all of my wisdom teeth should be removed. At the time, I was naive and always did what medical professionals told me. Well, the surgery was horrific. I’ve had a laporoscopy, which women report as being very painful. Yet the wisdom teeth removal was about a billion times worse. I was in severe pain afterwards, and the swelling was horrific. I’ll never forget it.
I now tell everyone to avoid wisdom teeth surgery unless they are in extreme pain. Luckily, things are changing here in Ireland now, and dentists seem to only recommend it if one is having a lot of problems.
Aloha Lynn,
I’m sorry to hear your story. But I also find it fascinating to hear the differences from various styles of national health programs and how that resulted in different diagnoses. Very intriguing!
I’m glad all is well for you now. 🙂
I had mine removed months ago cause I was in extreme pain. Every few months I had to rush to the emergency room cause they were in terrible pain. Even got infected a few times. I even had to use a medicine to numb my gums back there a lot until the pain would fade away. But ever since I had them removed I haven’t had any pain in my gums. Expect now I’m getting cavities a lot. In the last few months I’ve gotten 5 cavities in my mouth. Is that caused by having my wisdom teeth removed?