July 19, 2021 – People who have had wisdom teeth removed have better sense of taste decades after surgery, according to a study that addresses concerns about the side effects of the procedure.
Wisdom teeth are the third and last molars that emerge from the gums in late teenage or early adulthood. When they are healthy and properly aligned in the mouth, they can be beneficial. However, if these molars are crowding adjacent teeth or not fully protruding from the gums, they will need to be removed.
Previous studies have focused on people who say dental treatments weaken their sense of taste, reports senior author Richard Doty, PhD, director of the Smell and Taste Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. However, these symptoms are believed to subside over time, he says.
To assess the long-term effects of the operation, he and his colleague, dentistry student Dane Kim, tracked more than 1,200 people for 20 years.
The couple evaluated 891 people who had a third molar extraction and 364 who did not. Everyone was asked to put different tasting solutions – sweet, sour, salty or bitter – in their mouths.
Overall, the taste test results in subjects who had their wisdom teeth removed were better than subjects with a full set of 32 adult teeth.
Why this happens remains a mystery. It’s possible that nerve damage to the taste buds during the extraction of the molars increases the sensitivity of the whole mouth, the researchers say. Or it could be that a nerve injury is causing some kind of oral hypersensitivity.
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