Are there any visible effects to having your wisdom teeth removed? IE,
does your facial cheek structure change at all? I am 25 years old and
contemplating having the surgery as they are somewhat bothersome right
now, although it is not killing me so I could potentially leave them
in.

My wife and I both had all 4 wisdom teeth removed and I didnt notice
any difference at all.  Took a few weeks for the holes to completely
fill though.

I had mine taken out a few years ago, and the only facial change I
noted was the very temporary swelling of my face after the surgery.

Unless the surgeon breaks your jaw in the course of getting the teeth
out (not common, but not unheard of either), there shouldn't be any
change to the shape of your face at all.

(If they're bothering you, you really should have them out before they
really start to hurt.  If they're impacted, you could end up with an
abscess, then you'd be *forced* to get them out.  That's no fun.)

--Missy

If they are bothersome now, they will only get worse with time.  I had
all four of mine removed when they started bothering me in two
separate operations.  My face puffed up and my jaw was sore, but there
was no long term side effects.

Good luck.

Tom

Get rid of them, fast: they're nothing but a nuisance.

Me and my family, we have had all ours removed, on the dentist's advice.

There was absolutely no adverse effects, cosmetic or otherwise.

Therefore, the process is as low risk as any (although nothing is
entirely risk-free).

I've got no medical qualifications, so I'm only writing as a former patient.

This is right that one's jaw structure changes when any tooth is 
extracted, but frankly speaking it is most unusual case in Wisdom teeth, 
because they are the posterior most and just beside them 2nd molars are 
present, so one can't say that a person's face becomes smaller after 
removing their wisdom teeth. But person's face do change after extraction 
of any other teeth especially  for anteriors, i.e incisors, canine and 
sometimes for premolars as well.

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/aug2001/997918141.Dv.r.html

Regards, s3com

I am 27 years old - i had my wisdom tooth pulled out two weeks ago.
think long term and get rid of 'em for the sake of functionality
rather than ergonomic appeal (not that there is any noticeable change
in the facial cheek structure). Wisdom teeth are better when they are
gone - you might roam around with swollen cheek for a week (in the
worst case), but that might be the time to impersonate Don Corleone
and get it done with.

As a dental nurse working in an oral and facial surgery dept I would
definately say that there are no long term facial structure changes in
99.9% of patients. The other 0.01% of patients may experience some
numbness of the face which could cause a slight drooping effect. This
is a very rare occurence and this only happens if the teeth are lying
too close to a nerve in your jawbone and the nerve is damaged. This
would only happen with BOTTOM wisdom teeth, in my 9 years experience
most of the TOP wisdom teeth i've seen extracted have been the easiest
extractions i've witnessed.
 Hope this helps with your decision.

So, Mnatenshon, When are you going to have them extracted?

And do please let us know how you get on.

All the Very Best.

Bryan