Digital BW, The Print

having scanned many of my B&W negatives recently with a Nikon 4000 
coolscan( digital ICE is off), i noticed that many of my negatives 
have at least one and often multiple micro-scratches of varing 
length. These negatives have not been subjected to any unusual abuse 
that i am aware of. I use an air gun and gently wipe the negatives 
with a clean lint free pad to clean them before scanning.Although the 
micro-scratches can be "cloned" out, i am wondering  about the 
following:                                                          
1. Are these micro-sratches present in most negatives that are 
scanned with high-res scanners?
2. Are the micro-scratches significant in regards to creating good 
wet darkroom prints in the future?
3.Can they be avoided or kept to a minimum?

thanks for any insights!!
k.monroe