Believe it or not, “wisdom” teeth don’t boost your IQ. They earned that name because they usually begin to appear between the ages of 17 and 25, a time when you are said to be wiser than you were in your childhood years. If left in, impacted wisdom teeth can lead to gum disease, tooth decay, a cyst around the wisdom tooth, and damage to another tooth or surrounding bone. Some people lack wisdom teeth – they are the lucky ones and not the majority!