Teeth are an essential and permanent part of our adult lives. We grow a set of milk teeth as kids and lose them in the following years, growing a new and permanent set if adult teeth by the age of 12 and 14 according to NHS Informs. A full set of teeth has 32 in total, which includes wisdom teeth. But these grow much later in life, and they can cause a lot of trouble as well.

They can cause pain and swelling, infections in your gum, tooth decay, gum disease, buildup of fluid, or a dental abscess. The risk factors of wisdom teeth being so much caused this to become a standard procedure for people. But should you get them removed when they are causing you so much issue?

Do You Need To Remove Wisdom Teeth?

Even if you don't feel pain, your wisdom teeth could still cause trouble and there can be multiple reasons for that.

One of the reasons can be that your wisdom tooth is "impacted," meaning they're stuck under your gums and can't come in properly. This can happen if your jaw is too small or if it's growing at a bad angle. Impacted teeth can damage the teeth next to them.

Some dentists recommend removing healthy wisdom teeth to avoid future problems. As you get older, your jawbone hardens, making removal more difficult. Waiting can lead to complications after surgery, like heavy bleeding, broken teeth, severe numbness, or limited jaw movement. These issues can last for days or even a lifetime.

Why Should You Remove Your Wisdom Teeth?

WebMD explains that wisdom teeth need to be removed when they're causing problems, or if X-rays show they're likely to in the future. Specific reasons include

Damage to other teeth

Your wisdom teeth might shove your other teeth, making them crooked. This can cause pain when you bite and make it hard to chew.

Jaw damage

Sometimes, bags of fluid called cysts grow around stuck wisdom teeth. These cysts can eat away at your jawbone and hurt your nerves.

Sinus problems

Problems with your upper wisdom teeth can cause pain in your sinuses, like a stuffy nose or pressure in your face.

Gum inflammation

The gums around wisdom teeth can get puffy and red. It's hard to brush or floss these areas, so they get irritated easily.

Cavities

When gums swell, they make little pockets where food gets trapped. This food attracts germs that cause holes in your teeth.

Alignment issues

Stuck wisdom teeth can push your other teeth together. This crowding can mess up braces or make it harder to straighten your teeth.

Understanding The Procedure of Wisdom Teeth Removal

Wisdom teeth removal means taking out one or more of your back teeth. Sometimes, these teeth are stuck under your gums. During the surgery, you'll get medicine to make you sleepy or numb. You might get local numbing, strong sleep medicine, or something in between. Most people go back to work in a few days, but it takes a few weeks to fully heal. It's important to know what to expect.

• Mayo Clinic explains the procedure, the oral surgeon will first cut the gum tissue that exposes the tooth and the bone
• They will then remove the bone that blocks access to the tooth.
• After dividing the tooth into sections for easier access, they remove the tooth and clean up.
• They will then stitch up the wound and place a gauze to control the bleeding

What Are The Risks Of Wisdom Teeth Removal?

Doctors say wisdom tooth extraction, while often beneficial, is a surgical procedure that carries potential risks. Understanding the risk can help you make an informed decision regarding whether you wish to get the surgery.

- Following extraction, a blood clot should form in the socket. A "dry socket" comes loose or doesn't form, it's called a dry socket. This causes a lot of pain. Luckily, a dentist can fix this problem.

- Like any surgery, with wisdom tooth removal there's a chance of getting an infection. Keeping your mouth clean and following your dentist's advice helps prevent this.

- Though uncommon, nerve damage can happen during extraction. This damage to the nerves near the wisdom tooth might be short-term or last longer.

- Some people take longer to heal after surgery. How hard the removal was and how well you heal naturally affect recovery time.

The Before And After Considerations

American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons explain that before your surgery, buy soft foods. Your doctor will give you a list of foods you can eat. Good choices are yogurt, soup, applesauce, ice cream, blended foods, and smoothies. Don’t use straws, because they can cause a painful problem called dry socket.

On the day of your surgery, follow your doctor’s instructions exactly. They’ll tell you when to stop eating and drinking. This depends on the medicine you’ll get. Brush your teeth before you go. Wear comfortable clothes. Don’t drink alcohol or smoke for at least 8 hours before the surgery. Make sure your ride is confirmed. Following these steps will help your surgery go smoothly.

Get any medicine your doctor prescribes or recommends from the store. You’ll probably need pain medicine. Make sure to get this before your procedure. Make a cold pack by putting ice in a plastic bag or using a store-bought one.

Indians are facing an increasing burden of heart diseases, and mortality is rising faster compared to other countries. A top US cardiologist has now shared the major risk factors that range from genetics to obesity to pollution.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) cause nearly 31 per cent of all deaths in India, according to the latest Sample Registration Survey (SRS) 2021-2023 data from the Registrar General of India, released in September 2025.

The SRS report highlighted cardiovascular diseases as the leading cause of death, especially among adults over 30.

Speaking exclusively to HealthandMe, Dr. Sripal Bangalore, Professor of Medicine at New York University School of Medicine, highlighted the key reasons why India is seeing a huge burden of heart diseases.

"I think it’s a combination of traditional and non-traditional risk factors. Globally, we are seeing the burden of obesity increasing, and specifically in India, genetic factors and non-traditional risk factors also play a role," Dr. Sripal said.

"There is a growing investigation into lipoprotein(a) and other causes of cardiovascular disease (in India). Obesity is a major risk factor, and I’m sure stress and pollution also add to it, with more and more data supporting these links," he added.

Data from the World Heart Federation showed that heart disease kills 28.6 lakh Indians every year. In the recent past, India has also been seeing a significantly higher rate of heart attacks and related deaths, even in children as young as 12 years old.

Also read: AHA’s New Dyslipidemia Guidelines Stress Early Screening, Lifestyle Management

What Factors Are Driving This Trend

"I think we need to know that part of it tends to be non-traditional, because in the Western world most of it is explainable by traditional risk factors like hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia," Dr. Sripal said.

"What we see in India is that it is less about those risk factors, but more about non-traditional ones, including potentially genetic factors and lipoprotein(a)," the doctor added.

The Indian-origin interventional cardiologist also cited lifestyle factors such as stress and pollution that are significantly adding to the increased risk of cardiovascular events in the country.

AHA 2026 Cholesterol Guidelines: Relevance For India

Recently, the American Heart Association (AHA) released cholesterol guidelines, which stressed the importance of early screening, starting with teenagers.

The guidelines call for early intervention through early screening and healthy lifestyle changes, starting from childhood.

It recommends:

• Children (9-11 years): Cholesterol screening if never done before.
• Adults (30-79 years): Evaluate 10- and 30-year ASCVD risk to determine the need for early intervention

"India is a good example where LDL levels (bad cholesterol) may not be very high, like in the Western world. Many times, HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) tends to be lower, and there are other risk factors, including lipoprotein(a), which seems to be elevated here," Dr. Sripal said.

How To Improve Heart Health

The doctor also explained whether overall diet quality matters more than just cholesterol intake.

"Diet adds to the totality of everything that we do, including increasing the risk of obesity. Cholesterol may explain some part of it, but having a heart-healthy diet is critically important," Dr. Sripal said.

The cardiologist highlighted the need to increase the intake of fruits and vegetables, as consuming natural foods is critically important.

Importantly, he also emphasized at least making sure that you have a lipid panel to check your cholesterol levels.

"We are assuming that you are staying healthy and not smoking. Checking blood pressure, it depends on your age, but at least once a year, checking your lipid panel would be critically important," Dr. Sripal told HealthandMe.

As a cardiologist, he shared that to boost heart health, the key is

• to make sure that you lead a healthy lifestyle,
• stay away from smoking,
• increase physical activity,
• reduce stress.

"Pollution is one factor, and I think we can all do our part to make sure that we don’t contribute more to environmental pollution," he noted.

While India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) enforced a nationwide ban on identified single-use plastic (SUP) items from July 1, 2022, a new survey showed that violations continue to persist across major cities in the country, raising significant health and environmental risks.

The survey of 560 locations by Toxics Link -- an Indian environmental research and advocacy organization -- showed that 84 percent of sites across Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati, and Bhubaneswar still use or sell banned plastic items.

Bhubaneswar recorded the highest availability of banned SUPs at 89 percent of survey locations, followed by Delhi at 86 percent, Mumbai at 85 percent, and Guwahati at 76 percent.

The survey noted that high use among street food vendors, juice shops, coconut water sellers, vegetable vendors, and ice cream parlours.

"The continued presence of banned plastic items in a majority of locations suggests that enforcement remains inconsistent,” said Ravi Agarwal, Director of Toxics Link.

“Unless implementation improves and the supply of these products is controlled, the ban will not effectively address plastic littering and pollution,” he added.

How Plastics Can Harm Your Body

Plastic carry bags, disposable plastic cutlery, cups, plates, and straws often contain chemicals like BPA and phthalates, which can interfere with the body’s hormonal balance.

BPA is an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics and resins, and its exposure has been linked to several health conditions, including an increased risk of high blood pressure.

Phthalates, another group of chemicals used to make plastics more flexible, have been found to disrupt the endocrine system, leading to potential health issues.

Also read: Your Kids’ Fast-fashion Clothing May Be Laced With High Levels of Toxic Lead

Studies have proven that BPA and phthalates can mimic the body’s hormones, particularly estrogen. This interference can disrupt the normal functioning of the cardiovascular system, leading to increased blood pressure.

Plastics also contain some highly toxic chemicals, such as flame retardants, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), that can migrate into the environment and into human bodies.

According to a report by WWF, an average person could be ingesting approximately 5 grams of plastic every week.

Scientific studies have proven that the health effects of plastics include cancer or changing hormone activity (known as endocrine disruption), which can lead to reproductive, growth, and cognitive impairment.

Recent evidence also indicates that humans constantly inhale and ingest microplastics through contaminated seafood, including fish and shellfish.

In addition, microplastics have been found in tap water, bottled water, and even commonly consumed beverages, such as beer and salt.

How to Reduce the Disease Risks?

The UNDP urges individuals, organizations, and governments to work together to

• manage plastic waste,
• reduce plastic usage,
• transition to a more sustainable and resilient environment.

Other options include

• Opting for BPA-free and phthalate-free options
• Switching to reusable water bottles, plates, and cutlery made from glass, stainless steel, or other safe materials can significantly reduce exposure to harmful chemicals.
• Avoid exposing plastic bottles or lunch boxes to high temperatures, as heat can accelerate the leaching of chemicals into the water.

While a weakened immune system and fear of complications once denied people with HIV access to organ transplants, doctors at a Delhi hospital have now challenged the idea with a successful kidney transplant surgery on a 43-year-old HIV-positive patient from Ethiopia.

According to the team of doctors from the Max Super Speciality Hospital, Patparganj, who successfully performed the complex living donor kidney transplant, advancements in antiretroviral therapy and transplant protocols have made such procedures increasingly safe in carefully selected cases.

“HIV is no longer a barrier to organ transplantation when managed appropriately,” said Dr. Ravi Kumar Singh, Senior Consultant, Nephrology and Transplant Physician at Max Hospital, Patparganj.

“With strict selection criteria and coordinated multidisciplinary care, patients with well-controlled HIV can achieve outcomes comparable to the general transplant population.”

Also read: India Identifies 219 Districts As Priority For Intensified HIV/AIDS Interventions

Kidney Transplant In HIV Positive Patient

The patient, who had been living with HIV for 10 years, developed end-stage renal disease 3 years ago and has been dependent on regular dialysis since then.

Before the surgery, the patient underwent extensive evaluation to ensure optimal control of HIV, including a stable immune profile and undetectable viral load.

The patient’s 33-year-old wife donated one of her kidneys. Compatibility testing confirmed matching blood groups and a negative cross-match, enabling the team to proceed with the transplant.

“Kidney transplantation in patients with HIV requires a highly meticulous and coordinated approach, given the complexities of balancing immunosuppression with ongoing antiretroviral therapy,” said Dr. Paresh Jain, Senior Director, Urology, Robotic Surgery & Renal Transplant.

“In this case, careful pre-transplant evaluation, precise surgical execution, and close post-operative monitoring were critical to ensuring a successful outcome. This procedure reflects how advances in transplant science and surgical expertise are enabling us to safely expand access to life-saving transplants for patients who were once considered high-risk,” he added.

Following the transplant, the patient has shown encouraging recovery, has been taken off dialysis, and is gradually returning to normal daily activities, the doctors said. The patient also continues on a carefully monitored regimen of immunosuppressive and antiretroviral therapy, they added.

Also read: India's Silent Crisis: Why We Must Embrace Deceased Donor Organ Transplantation

Can People With HIV Get A Transplant?

With advancements in antiretroviral therapy (ART), enabling people to live longer, HIV has now become a chronic, manageable condition. However, the HIV positive patients are now more likely to die from end-stage organ disease than from AIDS-related infections.

As per the US National Institutes of Health, people with HIV can successfully donate or receive transplanted organs with reasonable success rates.

However, health care providers must consider and monitor potential drug interactions, kidney and liver function, and HIV viral suppression in people with HIV receiving a transplant.

Further, the NIH advised HIV positive patients to continue taking all prescribed HIV medicines before and after transplant.