Excuse me, am I still teething when I am forty years old?

Hello! According to your description, it should be wisdom teeth.

Wisdom tooth refers to the innermost third molar tooth on alveolar bone in human mouth, which is just the eighth tooth from the central incisor. Because it broke out very late, it usually broke out between 16 and 25 years old. At this time, people's physical and psychological development is close to maturity, which symbolizes the arrival of wisdom, so it is commonly known as "wisdom teeth". In the growth of wisdom teeth, there are great differences among individuals. Usually there should be four teeth that are symmetrical up and down, some have less than four or none, and very few people will have more than four teeth. The eruption age also varies greatly. Some people break out before the age of 20, while others are in their forties or fifties or have a short life span. This is a normal phenomenon.

If wisdom teeth don't grow out, they grow horizontally in the gums, which is called transverse impacted wisdom teeth. Generally, they will squeeze into the lateral teeth, making the lateral teeth extremely crowded and prone to toothache. Due to lack of space, impacted wisdom teeth grow in different directions and generally form an angle with adjacent teeth. It can grow to adjacent teeth (impacted at an angle in the middle), grow far away from adjacent teeth (impacted at an angle in the far middle), or be impacted horizontally or vertically.

Incomplete eruption of wisdom teeth, a part of the crown is surrounded by gums, forming a blind pocket, and food residues are easy to enter but difficult to exit, which leads to swelling of soft tissues around the crown and pus accumulation in the blind pocket, and patients will have symptoms such as pain, difficulty in opening their mouths and fever.

Long wisdom teeth are often ectopic or impacted due to insufficient eruption position, and the crown is partially exposed outside the gum and partially covered by the gum. A narrow and deep blind bag is formed between the gums and teeth, which is easy to accumulate food residues and bacteria, and it is difficult to clean up after brushing and gargling. In addition, the crown and gums are easily damaged by chewing food, forming ulcers and other symptoms.

Wisdom teeth are not good for your health, so it is recommended to pull them out.