Wisdom Teeth

Periodontal Disease Can Lead to More Risk of Kidney Disease

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As previously discussed on this website periodontal disease is something one should be aware of when considering whether or not to have wisdom teeth removed as periodontal disease can develop when wisdom teeth are maintained. This is discussed over at http://www.teethremoval.com/risks_of_keeping_wisdom_teeth.html. Many previous studies have looked at periodontal disease and how having it can lead to increased risk for other diseases. See for example http://blog.teethremoval.com/high-level-evidence-to-identify-diseases-and-disorders-associated-with-periodontal-disease/, http://blog.teethremoval.com/periodontal-disease-and-pregnancy-risks/, and http://blog.teethremoval.com/periodontal-disease-may-associate-with-breast-cancer/. In the first post mentioned above it was said “The diseases for which an association with periodontitis has been reported include cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, respiratory disease, rheumatoid arthritis, pancreatic cancer, diabetes mellitus (types 1 and 2), preterm delivery, low-birth-weight delivery, preeclampsia, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.” A new study  has now associated periodontitis with an increased risk of kidney disease. The article looked at 699 African American adults who underwent complete dental examinations … Read more

Improving Value: Prespectives from Oral Surgeons

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An interesting editorial appears in the 2014, issue of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery titled “The Value of Improving Value,” by James Hupp (pp. 843-845, issue 72). In this Dr. Hupp presents a formula for patient value Value = A(Q + PS)/C A = appropriateness, Q = quality, PS = patient satisfaction, and C = costs The author states “First, one can improve outcomes while keeping costs the same. Second, one can decrease costs while keeping outcomes the same. Or third, both outcomes and costs increase, but outcomes per unit of cost improve.” In the article the author discusses how in the past, value in health care was really just about cost cutting. Clinical outcomes were not really taken into account. Now that health care outcomes are being considered, physicians need to find ways to measure value using the … Read more

Differing Views in Medicine and Dentistry Applied to Wisdom Teeth

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An interesting article appears in the 2014 version of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery titled “Asymptomatic Third Molars Under Nominalist and Essentialist Lenses,” written by V. Wallace McCarlie and Daniel L. Orr II, pp. 658-659.  The authors define two differente views: 1) essentialism and 2) nominalism and then try to apply them to the management of wisdom teeth. The authors state “Essentialism is the notion that underlying every properly defined disease is an unchanging reality causing illness. Conversely, nominalism is not concerned with underlying causes, but rather with signs and symptoms of illness.” In the article the authors mention a study which says that dentists detect rather than diagnose. The authors later say that detection implies nominalism and diagnosis implies essentialism. The authors give some downsides to both points of view. For example, they say essentialism is less … Read more

Should the NICE Guidelines for Management of Wisdom Teeth (Third Molars) be Reevaulated?

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An article titled “Changes in Demographics of Patients Undergoing Third Molar Surgery in a Hospital Setting Between 1994 and 2012 and the Influence of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Guidelines,” written by Vahe Petrosyan and Phillip Ameerally appears in the February 2014 issue of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, pp. 254-258. The article discusses how National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) were published around 2000 recommending against prophylactic removal of wisdom teeth. This led to a reduction in surgeries performed. In the article the authors question whether or not the NICE guidelines on wisdom teeth should be updated. They mentioned a 2009 study which said 27% of previously symptom free wisdom teeth can become symptomatic after 1 year, especially those that are distoangularly impacted. In the … Read more

Wisdom Teeth Removal: Tweets from Twitter

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As the name of this website is teethremoval.com, often discussion of removing teeth, specifically wisdom teeth, are mentioned. One way to find out what people are saying first hand from their wisdom teeth removal experience is from Twitter. Many tweet out some 140 character message with the hashtag #wisdomteeth. Below I have included many tweets with the hashtag #wisdomteeth over the past year in 2014. 1) alexis @kickrockspunk all these ppl at the movie theater eating popcorn and i’m just like slurpee w/ no straw #wisdomteeth 2) paige @paaigehattonn I feel the need to explain to everyone why my cheeks are huge when I’m out #wisdomteeth 3) David Solberg ‏@da_solberg16 Will sell soul to eat solid food #WisdomTeeth 4) weston huser ‏@westonhuser I get to be a chipmunk tomorrow #WisdomTeeth 5) Jenna Haverkamp ‏@JennaHaverkamp Dear Lord, Please don’t let me … Read more