Wisdom teeth impacted or not?

i can feel a part of my wisom teeth at the surface, but not all of it. the exposed part is at the right side, top, right next to the 2nd molar. can anyone tell me whether its impacted or not?

Wisdom teeth impacted or not?
It would be hard for anyone online to tell you, unless we saw the x-ray. Sorry, you should see your dentist to determine this. Even if it does erupt fully, you may need to have them extracted, apparently (learned this from reading a dentist response to another question) it could be difficult for you to clean your 3rd molars, creating more problems.





EDIT: Yes as health buff has listed there are other reasons to have your wisdom teeth extracted other than not being able to clean them properly...I couldn't think of them at the time so I just went with one example.
Reply:Nicole's answer is partially right, partially WRONG.





You DO need an x-ray to determine the position of the wisdom teeth AND to see if there is enough room to accommodate them. If they are out of alignment and/or there is not enough room to accommodate them, they should be removed.





If there IS enough room to accommodate them AND they are aligned properly, removing them should be at the discretion of the patient, NOT THE DENTIST. There is no good reason to remove a wisdom tooth if it is not accompanied by another problem that is CAUSED by the wisdom teeth. Removing the teeth just to prevent a problem before it occurs is NEGLIGENCE unless it is justifiable. By justifiable, I mean the dental community and the dentist's licensing body would agree that the dentist had just cause.





There are other reasons why wisdom teeth should be extracted beyond crowding and lack of space. A partial list includes:





- a cyst around the wisdom tooth


- TMJ pain


- resorption of the roots or crown of the tooth that is in contact with the wisdom tooth


- a chronic inability or unwillingness of a patient to clean the area effectively which has lead to gum or dental infections (proof must be evident in your dental chart that you WERE taught, by demonstration, how to properly care for your teeth. You must be able to demonstrate the technique back to your dentist or hygienist and THAT must be documented too.)



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