For generations, the export of wisdom teeth was a rite of passage. Picking your third -party molars was one of the milestones of young adulthood – probably not as exciting as your first beer, but if your dentist uses gas laughter, possibly drunkenness. However, removing wisdom’s teeth is less common today than they once was.
In recent decades, there have been increasing evidence that removing non -intensive wisdom teeth can cost more than the benefits. The National Institute of Clinical Excellence of the United Kingdom began to discourage the removal of the teeth of ordinary wisdom in 2000. In 2008, the American Public Health Association was released a similar statement Contrary to the removal of unchanging third -party molares, although other US organs, including the American Dental Union, have not made similar changes to their recommendations.
In a recent study, Yougov found that while most older adults in the United States had been removed their wisdom teeth, most young adults have no adults. The removal of wisdom teeth is widespread between Americans 45 years or older, with about two -thirds of the report that all their wisdom teeth have been removed. For younger Americans, removing wisdom’s teeth is less common. Less than half of Americans between 35 and 44 have been removed their wisdom teeth (49% of 40 to 44 years and 46% of 35 to 39 years). This percentage is even lower among the younger adults: 36% of 30 to 34 years and 26% of adults under 30 years.
Part of this age voltage can be easily explained: Many younger adults didn’t have enough time to show their wisdom teeth or cause problems. However, inequality of age distribution – with visible jumps around the ages of 30, 35 and 45 – suggests that something more complex than aging can help explain the lower rates of wisdom tooth removal among the younger American adults.
Differences in all age groups are aligned with the evolving scientific views on the third molecular extraction. Most wisdom teeth were removed at the end of the adolescence of a patient or in the early 1920s. Americans who were in the early age of wisdom tooth extraction during different seasons may have received different dental recommendations. Two -thirds (67%) of Americans who were converted 20 before 2000 have removed their wisdom teeth. Prior to 2000, the removal of the usual wisdom teeth is recommended by large dental compounds in both the US and other countries. On the contrary, only half (48%) of the Americans who were converted 20 between 2000 and 2008 had been removed their wisdom teeth. This group probably had the wisdom teeth to appear after scientific publications began to question the effectiveness of the removal of the routine, but before the US organizations began to discourage it. Only about one third (35%) of Americans who turned 20 between 2009 and 2015 had their wisdom teeth removed. This group arrived at the age of 20, after the US Public Health Association began to discourage the removal of the teeth of the usual wisdom. And the removal of wisdom’s teeth is even less common (29%) among Americans who have turned 20 in 2016 or later, although this share may increase as more than the group have their wisdom teeth appear. 14% say they haven’t yet.
Our research also found that other factors are linked to the prevalence of removing the wisdom of wisdom. Women (58%) are more likely than men (46%) have been removed their wisdom teeth, which may reflect that women are somewhat more likely to suffer from tooth crowding. There are also regional differences. Americans Midwestern (60%) are likely to remove their wisdom teeth, while northeast Americans (47%) are less likely. These relationships match those mentioned in Published dental research.
Despite the lack of scientific consensus on removing wisdom teeth, most Americans trust that dentists have a good judgment on when to remove wisdom teeth. The majority (57%) of Americans say that when dentists remove wisdom teeth, they are always or usually medically necessary. On the contrary, 28% say it is only sometimes necessary, and only 7% say they are rare or never necessary. Americans who had been removed their own wisdom are more likely to say that these relocations are always or usually medically necessary (65%), but the majority (55%) of those who still have wisdom teeth also say that most or all removal are necessary.
Demographic differences in this question are generally aligned with demographic differences in the removal of wisdom teeth. Elderly Americans are more likely to say that remote remote wisdom teeth are usually or always medically necessary: 60% of Americans 45 or older say this, while 57% of people between 30 and 44 and 50% of adults under 30 say the same. Politically, the Democrats show most dentist recommendations on the removal of wisdom teeth: 64% of Democrats say they are usually or always medically necessary when dentists remove wisdom teeth, while 54% of independent and 56% of Republicans themselves.
Expanding tooth removal outside wisdom, the majority of Americans with a similar size (56%) of Americans believe that the processes recommended by dentists are usually or always medically necessary, while 32% believe that they are sometimes necessary and 6% are not necessary. Unlike views on removing wisdom teeth, Americans who have been removed their wisdom teeth are slightly less confidence in the total recommendations of dentists than those who still have wisdom teeth: 55% of those whose teeth have teeth.
Democrats are more likely than independent and Republicans to trust dentist recommendations: 64% of Democrats say that the procedures they are always or usually necessary, compared to 54% of independent and 55% of Republicans.
– Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the results of this poll:
Methodology: The day -to -day survey was conducted online on December 10, 2024 among 6,308 US adults. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, US census area and the political party. The error margin for research is about 1.5%.
Picture: Getty
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