My wife is a dentist. She told me that you really should have your wisdom teeth removed in two general instances:<p>* The teeth are growing in a strange orientation.<p>* You have cavities on them and your jaw shape is such that you can&#x27;t brush them properly.<p>---<p>The major problem with the molars is that they are notoriously difficult to keep clean. They all eventually become abscessed (on a long enough timeline). Might as well remove them. So removing wisdom teeth is not really a scam, it&#x27;s something you will need sooner or later unless you&#x27;re really anal about keeping your wisdom teeth clean. Can you brush all the way back there? How about behind the wisdom tooth?<p>I have also noticed a trend here in the US that dentists put you under general anesthetic for this procedure. When in reality, unless you -really- need surgery, it&#x27;s just overkill. For example, when I had my wisdom teeth removed in Bolivia, I was entirely awake, they only used local lidocaine (or similar) using a syringe, and they pull them out using hand tools and levers. Some antibiotics for a couple of days, and I was on my way.