I also was wondering whether the wisdom teeth were required to come out. Took DS to the dentist recently, she said his wisdom teeth were all they way in and she didn't recommend removing them. Can you keep'em? I kind of don't want to do anything to his body that I don't have to. I'm getting a little paranoid. I might not make it to I day. DS is fine of course.
As a current orthodontist and retired Navy general dentist and orthodontist, my advice to all on this is to defer to the recommendation of your current dentist and/or orthodontist and the oral surgeon they refer to. There is debate even among dentists over the advisability of removing wisdom teeth, even those that are fully erupted and functional. In addition, each case is different and there are many factors that would go into the decision as to extract or not. As such, there is no quick answer to the CLINICAL side of "can you keep 'em?" and it is definitely not something that can be determined in this forum without examining the patient and their xrays. (As an aside, I personally am not a big fan of wisdom teeth, and in most cases I recommend their removal, and at a young age, ie late teens, if possible. Better to do the procedure when there are no serious symptoms or problems, than when they do become painful. BUT again, there are so many factors that we look at in making each individual recommendation ...) As for the NAVY policy side of "can you keep 'em?" the answer is generally going to be yes, keeping wisdom teeth can be allowable if fully erupted, and without symptoms. Even some impacted teeth do not get extracted by Navy dentists, but that's beyond the scope of this forum...
That being said, IF your dentist (not your neighbor or mailman...) recommends removal of wisdom teeth, I would have it done before I-day. That is, several weeks before to allow for full healing, addressing any complications, etc. Most of the time it's a simple procedure and the DS's and DD's heal up just fine in a few days. As a former Midshipman and USNA faculty member, I can also tell you that the last thing a mid needs to deal with is recovery from wisdom teeth extraction, especially during plebe summer.
As for Tripleplay, if your dentist recommends not removing them, AND doesn't feel that they will need to be removed in the future, you should be able to go with that. If there's any doubt, seek a second opinion (perhaps through a quick consult with an oral surgeon) to address any uncertainty. My DS had his removed last summer; our plan was to have them out before he went to college, no matter where. Happy to find out a few weeks ago that it will be USNA.
Hope this helps. Beat Army!