third molar

16 Year Old Female Dies After Wisdom Teeth Removal

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I was very saddened to recently hear about the death on May 5, 2011, of a young 16 year old girl who was a sophomore in high school in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was in the ROTC program and had aspirations to join the Army. Miciah Bonzani went into cardiac arrest while under anesthesia to have her wisdom teeth removed. She was taken to a hospital, placed on life support, and then died 2 days later. She was born with a heart defect which had required two surgeries before her first birthday. What is also troubling to me about this unfortunate death is that one of the media organizations that covered the story WPXI/Pittsburgh.com, did not even mention that it occurred while having wisdom teeth extracted.  They simply called it “dental work” and an “outpatient medical procedure”, although … Read more

Anesthesia in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Office

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The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) is continuing to attempt to increase their ability to attract young adults to elect to have their wisdom teeth removed. Back in May 2010 they released a video called “Anesthesia: Safety and Comfort in the OMS Office.” The video is over nine minutes long and takes viewers into actual Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon’s offices with interviews by Dr. M. Anthony Pogrel who is Professor and Chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of California, San Fransisco, Dr. Andrew Herlich who is Chief of Anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Dr. Michael Miloro who is director for the Postgraduate Residency Training Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, Dr. Michael Ding who is Chief Resident of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at … Read more

Third Molar Patient Information DVD

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The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS)  is really trying to increase their marketing campaign to attract young adults for choosing wisdom teeth removal. They have recently made available a Third Molar Patient Information DVD available at http://www.aaomsstore.com/p-107-third-molar-patient-information-dvd.aspx. The DVD is sold in lots of 25. The price varies depending on whether or not you are a member, part of an institution, or a non-member. The non-member cost is $135 for 25 DVDs. A brief one minute trailer is available. The DVD features 3D illustrations along with a comprehensive discussion of third molar (wisdom teeth) surgery. I haven’t seen this DVD so I don’t know the quality of it. However it is clearly being promoted as a marketing tool to attract patients to want to proceed with wisdom teeth removal. Of course I disagree with AAOMS and their … Read more