wisdom teeth pain

Indications for Removal of Wisdom Teeth

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These days in 2019 the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) has a page on their website titled “Third Molar Research News” that contains information on how to manage wisdom teeth, see https://www.aaoms.org/media/third-molar-research-news. How to manage wisdom teeth continues to be contested when wisdom teeth are healthy and not causing symptoms, see for example http://www.teethremoval.com/controversy.html. One of the documents AAOMS provides is titled “The Management of Impacted Third Molar Teeth” and contains a long list of what they consider as medically necessary and valid reasons for surgical removal of wisdom teeth, see https://www.aaoms.org/docs/practice_resources/clinical_resources/impacted_third_molars.pdf. However at least two of these reasons seem to be unsupported by current scientific evidence and thinking. The first reason in doubt given by AAOMS as a valid reason which seems to lack evidence is insufficient space to accommodate erupting tooth or teeth. This reason … Read more

Do Oral Surgeons Prescribe Too Many Narcotics for use after Wisdom Teeth Removal?

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A new article published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery is titled ” Narcotic Prescribing Habits and Other Methods of Pain Control by Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons After Impacted Third Molar Removal,” by Ibrahim Mutlu, A. Omar Abubaker, and Daniel M. Laskin (vol. 71, pp. 1500-1503, 2013). The article explores the issue of whether or not oral surgeons regularly prescribe more than an adequate amount of narcotic pain killers to young adults after their wisdom teeth extraction. It has been believed by some that the narcotics given by oral surgeons for wisdom teeth removal can be a source of using narcotics for non-medical uses. In this article a 8 question survey was sent to 100 randomly selected oral and maxillofacial surgeon members of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon (AAOMS). The questions were related to whether … Read more