<p>Yep. One good thing about having teachers for parents is that our son has already done millions of bulletin boards! :)</p>
<p>I am an Army dentist and would like to give you clarity on this subject. It is extremely difficult to diagnose wothout an exam and most of the replies probably do not apply to your specific case. Generally speaking third molars in the experienced hands of a well trained general dentist or an oral surgeon are no particular challenge. If you have dental insurance it may be a consideration to have them out now before your real schooling starts at the Academy. Based on what you are telling me it sounds as if these teeth could wait a bit, but not too long as bone really begins to calcify by your mid 20's. By then you will have had an opportunity to get them out at your duty station. Contrary to popular belief there are no studies to support the claims that wisdom teeth will cause crowding of your other teeth. There are other very good reasons to extract them, most significantly infections that could result in tonsillar abscess', and in extreme cases Ludwig's angina or cyst development later in life.
If you don't have dental insurance, I might be tempted to wait until after USNA to have them out, unless they start to erupt. In that case for those of you listening, a little hydrogen peroxide on the toothbrush tip and gentle thorough cleansing is key! Brush and floss daily!</p>
<p>Mildad, I find what you say so interesting & will pass it along to my Plebe at USMMA. His academy informed me point blank that it is required for the kids to have them out. Tooth trouble or no, they were pretty clear about it but that was only after another parent told me about it & I called to confirm. They said nothing in the paper work or verbally about it before he went in. Is it that they just don't want the kids to have any problems as they go out to sea for months at a time if you had to guess at their reasoning? Floss you kids floss!</p>