A.C.
Hi! I wonder if that's the same thing as reabsorption. My husband had that happen to one of his permanent molars and had to have it pulled. The dentist pulled it because once a tooth starts to reabsorb, it because a hotbed for housing infection. Now hubby has a hole in his mouth that we're trying to decide if it's worth spending $2000+ to fill or if he should just leave it alone. Of course, dentists and dental specialists all state you "should" get a crown or bridge put in. Sometimes I think it's just about the money, but there is a legitimate issue with shifting teeth, both on the top and bottom. However, he's already 42 years old. I know that the older you get, the harder it is to get the teeth to move (look at people who get braces when they're adults; it takes them years to get them back off again. Or all the people who lose teeth/have them pulled who have no insurance to have any reconstructive work done, like crowns or bridges. Sometimes, they live for years with holes in their mouths with never any problems).
We're still trying to decide on what to do about his tooth.
According to Mayo Clinic:
"Wisdom teeth removal may be necessary — according to the American Dental Association — if:
* Wisdom teeth partially emerge through the gums. This increases the chance of a bacterial infection called pericoronitis.
* Unerupted wisdom teeth are expected to grow crooked and damage other teeth.
* A fluid-filled sac (cyst) develops around an unerupted wisdom tooth, which can damage surrounding tissue or bone.
The decision to remove wisdom teeth isn't always clear. Talk to your dentist or an oral surgeon about the position and health of your wisdom teeth and what's best for your situation."
On Amazon, The book Oral Roentgenology; a Roentgen Study of the Anatomy and Pathology of the ... by Kurt Hermann Thoma (1917; old, but very practical info) on pp 52-53 talks about impacted and unerupted wisdom teeth and what can happen if left inside the mouth.
I was able to read these two pages on the Amazon Web site. The 2 most common reasons cited for taking out wisdom teeth that are unerupted is that they will 1) continue to move over time, trying to come down into the mouth/where they should be, therefore causing intermittent pain, and 2) they can cause internal infection in the soft tissues, or grow crooked and impact the roots of other teeth, causing pain and infection.
The problem with internal infection is that you don't know that you have an infection. You could have a low-grade inflammatory response in your body that can/will produce a myriad of other inflammatory issues and never suspect or correlate your sudden health concerns with the fact that your wisdom teeth could be infected and that infection is what is making you sick.
That--chronic, unexplained systemic inflammation--is what I would consider to be the main reason for why the unerupted wisdom teeth should be removed. People would be amazed at how many of their medical symptoms are because of issues in their mouths--issues that can't be seen because they are silent/hiding inside (like inside soft tissue or around the tooth root or inside the tooth itself (like when root canals or bridges are done; lots of bacteria can be left behind), where they can't be seen.
This is one of those situations where you go and visit an oral surgeon and get his opinion and then carefully weigh your options.