Will Wisdom Teeth Make Other Teeth Shift?

Can wisdom teeth cause other teeth to move? One of the reasons for wisdom tooth extraction is from the fact that as they try to come in, they give off chemical messages to the surrounding teeth and bone making them more open to shifting. There are many other factors that enter into this, such as the positioning of the other teeth and the bite. All of the teeth in our mouth naturally come into the bite and shift forward. When the teeth are actively erupting during the formative years, having extra teeth in the bite or crowding of the teeth tends to make this problem worse. Even in the adult we will see teeth shift if an opposing tooth or an adjacent tooth is missing.

Will Wisdom Teeth Make Other Teeth Shift?

Teeth form in a soft tissue sack that is around the crown of the tooth and this forms first followed by the enamel, the rest of the crown, and then the root structure. As this formation takes place, we see movement of either the impacted tooth or the next tooth relating to expansion of the follicle and also with expansion of the roots. In some case, this expansion will progressively intrude the impacted tooth such as with cyst formation. When there is not enough room for wisdom teeth to come into the bite, it will become trapped behind the second molar tooth and as it develops the follicle and then the root structure will cause it to push against that tooth. This force can be transferred up the line and possibly contribute to shifting of the other lower teeth.

Once wisdom teeth have fully developed and if there are no problems with the follicle, the wisdom tooth is thought to be dormant and is no longer actively pushing. However, it still can cause other problems.

Suffering from Wisdom Teeth Pain or a Wisdom Tooth Infection?

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