12-30-2008, 06:28 AM
deckeda wrote:
[quote=Wags]
... but two never really appeared.
A recent full X-Ray would reveal them. Hate to tell you this but they are there somewhere, probably like my lowers --- grew horizontally. There's just enough of a gap between crowns and back molars to create a hazard for the molars, where stuff could get in and threaten gums. But it's my uppers which have poked though, pointed partly outwards. One side I can't tell, the other side I've been conscious of it for many years but got used to it. Both are difficult to clean around.
Not what my dentist told me. Two are in the xrays under the surface, but the others are absent. He said it was fairly common, known as hypodontia. There is genetic variability between different human populations that controls the likelihood of forming wisdom teeth. 30 years ago my dentist insisted they should come out. I ignored his advice, mostly because of cowardice and cheapskatery, and they have never caused my any trouble. My current dentist doesn't think I'll have a problem unless I start to suffer reverse aging. If hair starts filling in on my bald spot I'll worry.