A case of bilateral kissing molars

An interesting article titled “Bilateral ‘kissing’ molars: A case report” appears in Clinical Case Reports written by Bilal Aslam- Pervez and Emma Carr (2022;10:e06407). The article discusses a case of a 20 year old man who had a very rare bilateral kissing molars impaction. Kissing molars occur the occlusal surfaces of impacted molars are united by the same follicular space and the roots point in the opposite direction. This typically occurs between wisdom teeth and second molars, but can also occur between wisdom teeth and the fourth molar. In the article discussion is made of the 20 year old man who went to a hospital in Scotland complaining of a dull ache for the last year. The patient was healthy but did smoke around 10 cigarettes a day for the last few years. Upon examination a total of 7 teeth … Read more

Estimating Late Developing Wisdom Teeth

An interesting article titled “Late Developing Third Molars: a Concerning Predisposing Sign of Impaction?” was presented on July 22, 2021, at the virtual session of the 2021 International Association for Dental Research (IADR)/AADR/CADR General Session written by Denver Marchiori and et al. The research set to investigate more how the development of impacted wisdom teeth which are known to develop later and slower than fully erupted wisdom teeth. This study used longitudinal patient imaging data and quantitative analytical methods to investigate and determine the extent to which late-developing wisdom teeth are more predisposed to eruption and impaction. The authors retrospectively explored 324 maxillary and mandibular wisdom teeth by looking at cone-beam computed tomography scans and panoramic radiographs of 99 Western Canadians ages 6 to 24. rom this data a generalized estimating equation model was calculated to estimate wisdom tooth eruption status … Read more

Womans toothache that led to Wisdom Teeth Removal Turns out to be Cancer

A 29 year old woman in Scotland began to experience pain in her mouth in September 2020 and also felt a pea-sized lump on her jawline. She thought the pain and problems were due to not having wisdom teeth extracted and that an infection had developed. She later had four wisdom teeth extracted Glasgow Dental Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, and then spent 12 months on antibiotics. After the wisdom teeth were removed she continued to have a swollen gland or lymph node and she continued to feel something was not quite right. In January 2021, he went in for a biopsy and CT scan. Four days after these tests were done she was told she had a cancerous lump and was diagnosed with osteosarcoma cancer. She started chemotherpay in early March 2021. She later had to have bone reconstruction, skin grafts … Read more

Wisdom Teeth Removal Can Improve Long Term Taste

Interesting research appears in the article “Positive Long-Term Effects of Third Molar Extraction on Taste Function,” by Dane Kim and Richard L. Doty appears in Chemical Senses, v.ol 46, pp. 1-5, 2021. The article discusses how patients in the study had improved tasting ability decades after having wisdom teeth removed. This is counter to prior studies that have adverse effects on taste after having wisdom teeth extracted which was believed to dissipate over time. In the article the researchers evaluated data from 1,255 patients who had undergone a chemosensory evaluation at the University of Pennslyvania’s Smell and Taste Center over the course of 20 years. From this group of patients, 891 patients had received wisdom teeth (third molar) extractions and 364 had not. All participants were asked to complete a sip-and-spit whole-mouth taste test with five different concentrations of sucrose, … Read more

Pandemic Precautions: How Safe is a Visit to the Dentist for Removing Your Wisdom Tooth?

The pandemic has made regular life difficult, and even something as important as going to the local dentist for a regular checkup has not been exempted from that effect. This brings us to a very real and tricky question: is it really safe to go to a dentist when COVID-19 is running rampant everywhere? Even more importantly, how safe is it to get your wisdom teeth removed right now? The Answer is Highly Variable There isn’t a singular “yes” or “no” answer to this question, which could be taken as applicable across all dental clinics in the US. It depends on multiple factors and variables that we cannot control. Fortunately, there are also multiple other factors that we can control to keep ourselves relatively safe in any environment, including the dentist’s clinic. As to the question of whether removing a wisdom … Read more