Are everyone's wisdom teeth pulled out?

[Logan7817]

Does everyones wisdom teeth get pulled out or only if they have grown out?  My daughter is a bit concerned she heard someone say they pulled everyones wisdom teeth out. 

[BunkerQB]

I believe based on a quick trip down N4M memory lane of comments posted over the last three years, we three are in the minority on a number of issues. But it may be a reflection of our age bracket, than any special about us. Hahaha. LOL  Hard to believe my son has been a civilian for almost 18 months. Once in a while, I comment to him how quickly his 5 years of service sped by. He laughs and replies, "When you are on a sub, it's like 100 years."  The broad range of responsibilities and training during his service helped him landed a job within 2 months. No regrets for him. I still get together with other local N4M moms/families.

[lenrose]

This was one of my biggest concerns too....but my son survived. Not too many complaints about it in his letters. He only had two pulled for some reason. He had never had anything like that done before and to be away from mommy.....it broke my heart. Our boys are becoming men!! Two more weeks and I get to see my son PIR!! STAY STRONG.

[Cassie's-momShip4Div380]

If they think that you wisdom teeth is going to give you problem later they will pull it out.  They pulled 3 of my SR's wisdom teeth and she said it was very quick and no problem at all.  She had 2 days to recover and she said she was well rested.  She also said she was fine and no trouble going back to normal routine. 

[Concernedad]

We also had our son's wisdom teeth pulled before he left. 

Yes, it's true that the Navy dentists don't ALWAYS pull them, but if they suspect there may be a future problem they will.

Yes, it is true they have much practice at this, but then again, they are more about expediency than comfort.

Our thinking was, our son would have enough to deal with, without possibly being laid up for a couple days to recuperate, or having something go more wrong like infection or dry socket.

I always try to err to the sign of caution and preparedness. I'd have it done before they left for Boot Camp.  

[NausetMom]

My sailor had all 4 wisdom teeth removed in Sept 2013 at BC.   He said they did it very quickly, and then had 2 days of light workouts.  He was very pleased with the Dentist and the care he received.  I think you will find that the SR's have more problems with blisters and their feet hurting.

[jrzgirl61]

My son had his pulled.  He was happy to get 2 days rest!

[Sierrascrapper (ETN2)]

We took my FS to our family dentist and he said they needed to come out. Our dentist was trained in the Navy, so I feel confident with his diagnosis. We have chosen to have them taken out in a couple weeks. I have read though that this changes their medical status. I talked with the recruiter once regarding this, but now I'm concerned a little. Will he have to go back to MEPS or is it just updated in their file until they ship out? My FS doesn't leave for 9 months. I'm going to put a call into the recruiter again this week to confirm there aren't any issues.

We want them out now so that nothing interferes with his training at BC. He is hoping to be picked up for the 900 division and doesn't want that to slow him down.

[Anti M]

He does need to get it cleared through MEPS, especially if he takes painkillers.  Nine months is plenty of time but cover every angle.

[Sierrascrapper (ETN2)]

I talked with the recruiter again and he called MEPS to give me a definitive answer regarding pain meds. He told me to avoid giving any narcotic pain killers if at all possible. He said that even though they send paperwork to MEPS, they might possibly DQ him for 3 months. Since my son joined DEP over the summer of his Junior year, I sure wouldn't want this to change his ship date. Not that I know if it would change his ship date, but just hearing DQ worries me. We still plan on getting his wisdom teeth pulled, but he is just going to have to manage with strong Ibuprofen.

[Concernedad]

It was my son's recruiter who suggested he get it done before shipping out. I think he did it about 2 months prior and there was no problem.

[cartersmom]

Being a nurse and someone who doesn't believe in unnecessary medical procedures, I don't think the US Navy should take the chance of something happening to the recruits.  Figure the odds, it (infection, excessive bleeding, anesth reaction) will happen to a certain percentage.  Why "fix" something that isn't broken?  Why don't we just take everyone's appendix out while we're at it?  If your dentist thinks they might become a problem, I would have it done well before with adequate anesthesia and time to recover.  Didn't read about the "routine" extraction until he was about to leave.  I wish our recruiter had suggested it, we would have had plenty of time during DEP  I was not a happy mother when I heard they had done that on his P days without my permission.  Oh, that's right he is 18, belongs to the Navy, and an adult, but he doesn't stop being my son! 

[lemonelephant]

The Navy only does dental work that is needed. The dentists at the RTC consider if there may be a problem in the future and remove one, two, three, or all four of the wisdom teeth if needed. If there is a question, they may indicate that the teeth are to be checked at "A" School and removed then if needed. They also may put off removal of wisdom teeth until later if there is dental work that needs to be taken care of first. Some may not need any wisdom teeth removed; my Sailor still has his wisdom teeth over 5 years later. If it is determined that the recruit does need to have one or more wisdom teeth removed, this is scheduled at a time that will be the least disruptive to training and often several in the division have it done on the same day so they are recovering together. The recruits have 2 days SIQ and have someone who checks to see that the recruits are taking their pain meds and drinking plenty of water as directed. They then have at least one day of LLD and must be checked before returning to full training. We often hear that recruits have the wisdom teeth removed on Thursday or Friday, so they have the weekend to recover when no new training takes place. This is similar to the recovery time given in the civilian world. They are well taken care of and there have been recruits who were happy to have the time to rest and others who didn't have to have the teeth removed who wished that they had once they saw how their shipmates were treated while they had to clean the head or do other jobs in the compartment and continue with PT.The percentage of those who experience problems is very small, probably much smaller than for the civilian community given the number of extractions that are performed at the RTC. The Navy doctors and dentists are well trained and very experienced in doing this and do an excelent job. Your recruit will be fine. As far as the Navy doing it without your permission, your son is now an adult and is able to make his own decisions (he actually could have asked for a second opinion if he had chosen to; my Sailor did) and he will be making many decisions from now on without consulting you.