A wisdom tooth that appears, disappears under the gum, then shows up again months later is genuinely confusing to live with. The question it raises is a fair one, and the answer turns on something you have probably never been told: which jaw the tooth is sitting in. There is also a second explanation for the disappearing act, and it has nothing to do with the tooth moving. Booking a check-up is how you find out what yours are doing beneath the surface. In this blog post, we look at the direction they travel, why human jaws struggle to fit them, what a partial eruption feels like, and when they cause trouble.
Quick Overview
- Upper wisdom teeth push downwards, and lower ones push upwards, so the set moves in both directions.
- An individual tooth travels one way only, and it cannot sink back into the jaw.
- Swelling in the gum above a partly emerged tooth creates the impression of a tooth sinking back.
- Not everyone forms all four, and some people develop none at all.
Which jaw a tooth sits in decides its direction, and that is the clearest place to start.
Which Direction Wisdom Teeth Travel
Position and Timing
Your third molars sit at the back of the mouth in the rearmost position, immediately behind the second molars. Nothing else follows them, so they are the final adult teeth to arrive. Wisdom teeth typically erupt between the late teens and the early twenties. Where wisdom teeth erupt at all, that window sits squarely in early adulthood.
Four wisdom teeth is the usual count, split evenly between the jaws, though not everyone reaches that figure. Some individuals form only one, two or three. Not all of us grow the full set, and a number grow none at all, which carries no consequence either way.
Up, Down, or Neither
Wisdom teeth develop inside the jawbone long before anything shows, and how they erupt follows position. A tooth sitting in the upper jaw travels downwards towards the bite, and a tooth in the lower jaw travels upwards. Both are working their way out from inside the bone towards the surface. So the shorthand answer to whether wisdom teeth go up and down is yes, though never the same tooth doing both.
Why Movement Only Goes One Way
Reversal is the part that does not happen, so when wisdom teeth start coming through, the direction is set. Once a tooth has started moving towards the surface, nothing exists that could draw it back into the bone. Eruption can slow, and it can halt for good, though it cannot run backwards.
Why Modern Jaws Struggle to Fit Them
This is where the question of why third molars exist at all becomes relevant.
What They Were Originally For
Wisdom teeth are often described as vestigial organs, meaning structures that served a purpose in earlier humans and now serve little. Earlier human diets involved considerably more chewing of coarse, tough food, and a third set of molars earned its place. Jaws were larger to match.
The Space Problem
Human jaws have grown smaller over time while the number of teeth has stayed the same, and those smaller jaws are the root of the problem. The result is a mismatch, where a full set of thirty-two teeth is asked to fit into a jaw built for fewer. Wisdom teeth arrive last, so they inherit whatever space is left, and frequently there is not enough room.
That shortage is why so many wisdom teeth become impacted. Something physically blocks the path, and the tooth stops partway. Occasionally the opposite happens, and someone develops extra teeth beyond the standard set, which compounds the crowding.
None of this means every wisdom tooth is a problem. Where the jaw has space, and the tooth arrives straight, it functions like any other molar and needs nothing done to it. At least one tooth erupting cleanly is the outcome for a good many of us.
What Partial Eruption Looks and Feels Like
Growing wisdom teeth announce themselves in ways that are commonly misread.
The First Signs
Pressure right at the rear of the jaw is the usual first sign, and you may feel pain there before anything is visible. A partly erupted wisdom tooth often leaves a flap of gum tissue over part of the crown, and that flap is where the trouble usually starts. Food collects underneath it, cleaning cannot reach properly, and the gum becomes inflamed.
What to Mention at Your Appointment
Wisdom tooth pain is only one of the ways they announce themselves. Wisdom teeth symptoms worth mentioning to your dentist include:
- Swollen gums around the last tooth, particularly when the swelling comes and goes.
- Bleeding gums in that area during brushing or flossing.
- Bad breath or a persistent unpleasant taste that cleaning does not resolve.
- Pain on biting down, often a sign the loose gum is being pinched between the upper and lower teeth.
- Difficulty opening your jaw fully, or stiffness on one side.
- Swelling of the face or a fever, which warrants same-day attention alongside any other symptoms that worry you.
Identical situations cause pain in one person and nothing in another. Feeling nothing does not confirm that nothing is happening, and this is precisely why X-rays form part of routine appointments through those years.
Why Progress Seems to Stall and Restart
Here is the explanation for what you have been noticing.
The gum over a partly emerged tooth changes shape constantly. Inflame it, and it puffs up, hiding more of the crown beneath. Let the inflammation settle, and it flattens, exposing what it was covering. It is natural to read that rise and fall as the tooth itself travelling, while the tooth has stayed exactly where it was.
This has a name. Pericoronitis is an infection in the gum overlying a tooth that has only partly emerged. What characterises it is the way it comes back. An episode clears, weeks pass, and illness or a stretch of rushed brushing sets it off again, bringing the swelling and the taste with it.
Emergence runs in fits and starts too. A millimetre of movement, half a year of nothing, then another millimetre. Layer that irregular progress underneath a gum that keeps swelling and settling, and the impression of a tooth coming and going across a year becomes understandable. Discomfort tends to track the gum instead of the tooth.
What Goes Wrong, and Where
Impacted wisdom teeth generate dental problems irrespective of whether you notice them, and wisdom teeth can cause damage well beyond the tooth itself.
Decay in the second molar. Of all the possible outcomes, this one does the lasting damage. A wisdom tooth angled forwards traps food against the tooth in front, and tooth decay develops on a healthy molar you will need indefinitely.
Recurrent infection. The gum flap harbours bacteria, and the risk of infection stays elevated for as long as the flap remains.
Gum disease around the area. Adjacent teeth and nearby teeth become harder to clean, so gum disease establishes itself at the gum line where a brush cannot reach. Surrounding teeth are affected before the wisdom tooth itself shows any change.
Cysts. A fluid-filled sac can form around an unerupted tooth, and left untreated, it damages surrounding bone.
Crowding. A common belief is that wisdom teeth push the front teeth out of line, particularly after orthodontic treatment. The sensation of pressure is genuine enough, yet no evidence supports the idea that third molars crowd the teeth in front.
Anyone carrying a higher risk of decay or gum trouble sees problems sooner, though wisdom tooth complications generally build slowly. Wisdom teeth may sit quietly for a decade before anything changes. This is why they are monitored at routine appointments instead of being left until something hurts.
What an Assessment Involves
Deciding what to do with a wisdom tooth requires seeing what is beneath the gum.
What Imaging Reveals
An examination establishes how much of each tooth has erupted, the state of the surrounding gum, and whether the second molar shows early damage. X-rays supply what the eye cannot. They show the angle of the roots, how much bone covers the crown, and where the nerve runs through the lower jaw.
The Cases That Call for Taking One Out
That imaging determines whether to remove wisdom teeth or monitor them, and the recommendation follows from what it shows about your dental health. Teeth that fully erupt upright, sit somewhere a brush can reach, and give no trouble are kept under review, with no action taken. Wisdom teeth removed unnecessarily help nobody. The case for taking one out arises in four situations. It is impacted with nowhere to go, the overlying gum keeps becoming infected, decay has started in the third molar or its neighbour, or a cyst has formed around it.
The Case for Not Waiting
Roots are shorter, and bone is less dense in younger patients. A problematic third molar taken out before the mid-twenties therefore tends to involve a more straightforward procedure than the same tooth a decade later.
Wisdom tooth extraction is usually carried out by your dentist. Where a tooth sits in a particularly difficult position, your dentist will explain whether a referral suits your case better. Having molars removed is a decision made on the imaging, not on symptoms alone, and wisdom teeth removal is never automatic.
Book an Assessment for Your Wisdom Teeth
A tooth that appears to surface and submerge deserves a proper look, since that pattern nearly always signals overlying gum and repeat infection instead of anything settled. At Kensington Smiles, we assess and remove wisdom teeth, using advanced 3D scanning to show the position and angle clearly before anything is decided. Happy gas and IV sedation are available if dental visits make you uneasy. If you have swelling, pain or a tooth that keeps flaring up, we are glad to take a look. To arrange an appointment, please call us on 03 7302 8099.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does recovery take if one is removed?
Around a week for the initial healing, though it varies with how involved the extraction was. Swelling and tenderness peak in the first couple of days, then ease. Your dentist will give you aftercare instructions covering what to eat and how to clean the area while it settles.
Do I need a referral to have wisdom teeth removed?
Not usually. You can book an assessment directly, and the imaging taken there determines what happens next. A referral only applies when the position of a tooth calls for a different setting.
Do all four need removing if one is causing trouble?
Not automatically. Each tooth is assessed separately, and it is common to remove one or two while leaving the others in place. Removing all four in a single appointment is sometimes suggested where several are problematic, mainly to consolidate the recovery into one period.
Will removal affect my bite or my other teeth?
Not in the way you might expect. Wisdom teeth sit right at the back of the row and contribute little to chewing, so the bite remains functional without them. The teeth in front do not shift into the space the way they would after losing a front or middle tooth.
Why does only one side hurt?
Because the four teeth run on independent schedules and sit at independent angles. One can be pushing hard against a neighbour while its opposite number emerges cleanly, so symptoms on a single side are entirely expected and signal nothing untoward.
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
References
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22296-impacted-wisdom-teeth
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/wisdom-tooth-extraction/about/pac-20395268