Free Speech Rights For Patients Online

An interesting article appears over on drbicuspid.com over at http://www.drbicuspid.com/index.aspx?sec=sup&sub=pmt&pag=dis&ItemID=309247 titled “Lawsuit claims dentist stifled patients’ free speech rights” by Donna Domino and posted on Dec. 1 2011. A discussion is made of a New York dentist and a class action lawsuit that was filed in late November. The complaint was filed by the Public Citizen Litigation Group. In the case a patient went to the New York dentist and signed an agreement by Medical Justice  in which the patient agreed not to denigrate or disparage the dentist on the Internet or other broadcast media. The patient went to the dentist because of a sore tooth and was charged $4,766 for two office visits. The patient says the insurance claim was sent to the wrong insurance company and was 25 times the going rate. The patient requested his records so … Read more

Music to Listen to After Wisdom Teeth Removal: Jazz Songs

I have previously posted entries on some music you can listen to after having your wisdom teeth removal. See this post http://blog.teethremoval.com/music-to-listen-to-after-wisdom-teeth-removal-rock-and-roll-songs/ for some great rock and roll songs and see this post http://blog.teethremoval.com/music-to-listen-to-after-wisdom-teeth-removal-youtube-musicians/ for some excellent musicians on YouTube who are worth a listen. Now I would like to continue with some more music you can listen to after having wisdom teeth extracted with a focus on some excellent jazz songs. Dave Koz – Together Again. I have seen Dave Koz a few times live and he is an excellent saxophone player. Kaori Kobayashi – Walk in the Night. Suprisingly I have only learned of Kaori Kobayashi recently. She is from Japan and I play the saxophone myself so I tend to enjoy saxophone players. Mindi Abair – Smile Peter White and Grover Washington Jr. – Midnight in Manhattan … Read more

How Jaws Shrink With Age and Does This Affect Wisdom Teeth Crowding?

A recent article titled “A 40 years follow-up of dental arch dimensions and incisor irregularity in adults.” by Nokolasos, Tsiopas, Maria Nilner, Lars Bondemark, and Krister Bjerklin, appearing the The European Journal of Orthodontics Advance Access published October 19, 2011, explores how the jaw is affected over a 40 year time period. The study started in 1949 with 22 males and 13 females (35 total) and after 40 years in 1989, 18 of these participants were still able to participate. Three dental stone study casts were made for the 18 participants who completed the 40 years of the study. The authors state: “The present study showed that the occlusion, overbite, and overjet was stable, but dentoalveolar changes occur in the adult dentition. In the anterior part of the dentition, decreases in arch length and width lead to anterior crowding. There was also an … Read more

Wisdom of Having that Tooth Removed: AAOMS Response

Recently I indicated in a post over here http://blog.teethremoval.com/wisdom-teeth-advice-and-new-dental-schools/ that a New York Times article was run on September 5, 2011, by Roni Caryn Rabin which was titled “Wisdom of Having That Tooth Removed.” This article is located here http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/health/06consumer.html Recently a Letter to the Editor of the New York Times was written by the President of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Arthur C. Jee, discussing this article located at http://www.aaoms.org/docs/media/LetterNYTimes-09-21-11.pdf (link dead 10/14/19) In the article he states The AAOMS does not advocate for the “prophylactic extraction of wisdom teeth” If this is in fact the case then I think the AAOMS should make this clear on their website. The website on wisdom teeth http://www.aaoms.org/wisdom_teeth.php (link dead 10/14/19) continues to say “As you can see, it isn’t wise to wait until your wisdom teeth start to … Read more

What to Do about the Fourth Molar: Similar Management Strategies as the Third Molar aka Wisdom Tooth?

So wisdom teeth are also known as third molars but did you know that there are also fourth molars in a small subset of patients? A recent study was performed by the United States at an Air Base in Japan which is currently in press to appear in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery titeld Prevalence and Management of Fourth Molars: A Retrospective Study and Literature Review by Khurram M. Shahzad and Lawrence E. Roth, 2011. In the study conducted 409 patients were referred for a third molar (wisdom teeth) consultation. Two of 227 white patients (0.9%) had a fourth molar and 6 of 94 black patients (6.4%) had a fourth molar. One of the other 84 patients (1.2%) also had a fourth molar. Of these patients with a fourth molar 5 out of 9 (55%) had only 1 … Read more