Fred Joyal: Wisdom teeth are essentially third molars. They're the last permanent teeth to come in and many times they do not come in properly. Where you will hear the phrase "impacted wisdom teeth."
If a wisdom tooth would come in properly it would just come up normally in the back of the mouth in the upper and lower areas. But, many times it impacts the tooth next to it and comes in at an angle.
Most of the time a dentist can see on an x-ray at what angle your wisdom teeth are coming in. They can cause pain, they can cause cysts, and they can cause other problems if they are not coming in properly. Normally they would be removed by an oral surgeon generally under some type of sedation.
It's best to see a dentist and assume at some point in your life between 17-25 usually you are going to have to remove your wisdom teeth.
