Almost always a better idea to avoid anything preemptive. You never really know that you’re going to need it done anyway (see bbleeker’s comment), even if you might need it done in 5 or 10 years you might be dead of other things by that time anyway, and medical techniques improve over time (so surgery in 5 or 10 years is likely enough to be safer and less painful than surgery now.)
I guess that would depend on how likely your dentist thinks they’re going to cause problems. Personal anecdata: I had to have a back molar extracted one time, and a wisdom tooth started growing right into the vacant spot, giving me a brand-new tooth. :-) I still have a wisdom tooth on the other side; I can feel the point under my gums, but it’s not causing any problems so far (I’m 61).
Here’s an instrumental rationality problem:
Wisdom teeth—preemptively remove them or not?
(risks of surgery / risks of having wisdom teeth / potential benefits of retaining them?)
Almost always a better idea to avoid anything preemptive. You never really know that you’re going to need it done anyway (see bbleeker’s comment), even if you might need it done in 5 or 10 years you might be dead of other things by that time anyway, and medical techniques improve over time (so surgery in 5 or 10 years is likely enough to be safer and less painful than surgery now.)
I guess that would depend on how likely your dentist thinks they’re going to cause problems. Personal anecdata: I had to have a back molar extracted one time, and a wisdom tooth started growing right into the vacant spot, giving me a brand-new tooth. :-) I still have a wisdom tooth on the other side; I can feel the point under my gums, but it’s not causing any problems so far (I’m 61).