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

Dentists Report Half of Their Patients Show up High

An interesting study from the American Dental Association (ADA) suggests patients show up to dental visits high on marijuana or another drug. As of November 2022, recreational marijuana can be used legally in over 20 states in the U.S. and also Washington D.C., while medicinal use is legal in nearly 40 states. Dentists now report that more patients use marijuana reguarily because it is now legal in many states. However, showing up at the dentist high on marijuana can hinder the effectiveness of the appointment. The ADA conducted two surveys of in 2022: 1) a survey of 557 dentists and 2) a survey of 1,006 consumers. The survey of dentists found 56% limit treatment to patients when they are high. Further 46% of dentists in a survey reported needing to increase anesthesia amount to treat patients as a result of the … Read more

Laser therapy can reduce pain after wisdom teeth removal

An interesting article titled “Extraoral low-level laser therapy can decrease pain but not edema and trismus after surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial,” appearing in BMC Oral Health is written by Ehsan Momeni and et. al. (September 20, 2022, Vol. 22, 417). The article seeks to explore the impact of using a low-level diode laser on pain, swelling (edema), and jaw opening (trismus) following surgery to remove impacted lower wisdom teeth. This topic has been covered before on this site see for example the articles Laser Therapy to Reduce Pain and Improve Healing After Tooth Removal and Using Laser Therapy after Tooth Extraction to Improve Wound Healing. In the article the authors explore laser therapy as a possible alternative to techniques such as medication, cryotherapy, and surgical closure techniques to minizime complications, pain, and … Read more

Woman in Singapore Dies After Wisdom Tooth Removal

A 24 year old woman in Singapore died after having four wisdom teeth extracted in 2019. The woman had visited the National Dental Centre Singapore first in August 2018. At another visit in April 2019 she complained of severe pain in the upper and lower right side of her mouth. While at the appointment, it was determined that the pain could be due to her four impacted wisdom teeth. The woman decided to have wisdom teeth surgery under general anaesthesia. The woman had no known drug allergies and had previously been given general anaesthesia without any side effects. In May 2019, the woman was admitted to a hospital where she was given a pre-anaesthetic assessment where nothing out of the ordinary was noted. However it was noted the woman was obsese and had a skin condition known as hidradenitis suppurativa. … Read more

Oral Surgeon Opioid Prescribing Habits in the US during 2016 to 2019

An interesting article titled “Opioid prescribing by oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the United States, 2016–2019” written by Tumader Khouj, Deborah E. Polk, and Katie J. Suda, appears in the October 9th, 2022, issue of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry. The article describes opioid prescribing trends among oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMFS) in the United States during 2016 to 2019. In the past on this site several articles have covered opioid prescribing habits, see for example Assessing the Impact of Three Day Opioids Limits for Dentists, Insurance Companies Limiting Access to Opioids After Wisdom Teeth Surgery, Reducing Opioids in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Dentists Overprescribing Opioids to Adults in the U.S.. In the article, the authors conducted a retrospective analysis of IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Dataset (LRx) from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2019, that includes 92% of … Read more