Wisdom Teeth

Do I Really Need to Remove My Wisdom Teeth?

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A few days ago an article titled “Do I Really Need to Remove My Wisdom Teeth? appeared in Community Magazine by Jacques Doueck located at http://www.communitym.com/article.asp?article_id=101936  The article opens with “I was prompted to write this article because of two adult patients who suffered severe damage, infection, and swelling because they delayed taking out wisdom teeth. One of them actually broke his jaw because of a wisdom tooth that should have been removed long ago. The patient, 48 years old, lost both teeth and the fractured jaw forced him to eat baby food for six months. The other patient was 65 years old and had to have the wisdom tooth and the adjacent molar removed.” This opening in this article kind of cracks me up because both of these patients are quite old, especially the 65 year old. Of course we … Read more

Wisdom Teeth Advice and New Dental Schools

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A new article in the New York Times titled “Wisdom of Having that Tooth Removed” written by Roni Caryn Rabin published September 5, 2011, is an interesting articles for those considering whether or not to have healthy wisdom teeth extracted. The article is located at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/health/06consumer.html The article explores some of the issues regarding whether or not you should or not have have healthy wisdom teeth extracted. The article discusses how the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) held a press conference back in October of 2010, http://www.aaoms.org/docs/media/third_molars/key_findings.pdf (dead 10/14/19), in which one of the key findings was “Retained, asymptomatic wisdom teeth are eventually extracted between 25% and almost 70% of the time.” The author of the New York Times article questioned AAOMS on this statement which appeared on their website. The response from AAOMS was “Yet when … Read more

The truthiness of extracting wisdom teeth: James R. Carey

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An excellent article was written yesterday October 3, 2011, titled “The truthiness of extracting wisdom teeth” by James R. Carey who is a Professor of Entomology at UC Davis  http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/facpage.cfm?id=carey The article is located at http://www.davisenterprise.com/opinion/opinion-columns/the-truthiness-of-extracting-wisdom-teeth/ and I think it is well worth a read for anyone considering wisdom teeth removal. He opens the article with “In this age of evidence-based health care, I was astonished to discover that the oral surgeon’s recommendation for removal of my 21-year-old daughter’s impacted wisdom teeth was not based on evidence, theory, logic or facts but rather on truthiness — the quality of being considered to be true because of what he wished.“ He goes on to say “Yet it is considered by dentists, oral surgeons and the majority of the public as “standard of care.” Neither I nor any family members or friends … Read more

Long Term Effects of Trigeminal Nerve Injuries from Dental Care

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A study was published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery titled “Long-Term Outcome of Trigeminal Nerve Injuries Related to Dental Treatment” by M. Anthony Pogrel, Ryan Jergensen, Eric Burgon, and Daniel Hulme. (vol. 69, pages 2284-2288, 2011) that looked at long-term effects of those who suffer from permanent nerve injury from dental treatment particularly involving the third molars or wisdom teeth. A total of 145 patients with 95 female and 50 male patients were involved in the study who had suffered a trigeminal nerve injury affecting either the inferior alveolar nerve or lingual nerve and in 8 cases both nerves. Nineteen patients (13.1 %) reported that their employment was affected, while 21  patients (14.5%)  reported problems with their relationship, 53  patients (36. 6%) reported depression, 55  patients (38%) reported problems speaking and pronouncing words correctly, 63  patients (43.5%) reported … Read more

Periodontal disease (gum disease) might increase the time it takes to become pregnant

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Research presented at the the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology earlier this year showed that periodontal disease (gum disease) might increase the length of time it takes for a woman to become pregnant. Periodontal disease has been linked to many different types of systemic disease. Periodontal disease can lead to inflammation and bleeding around the gums which can lead to spaces called periodontal pockets. The research was led by Roger Hart who is a Professor of Reproductive Medicine and is also Medical Director of Fertility Specialists of the University of Western Australia. A total of 3737 pregnant women in the study were followed and outcomes of pregnancy were looked at for 3416 of the 3737 pregnant women. It was found that women who had periodontal disease (gum disease) took around 7 months to become pregnant while those women who … Read more