Anesthesia in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Office

The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) is continuing to attempt to increase their ability to attract young adults to elect to have their wisdom teeth removed.

Back in May 2010 they released a video called “Anesthesia: Safety and Comfort in the OMS Office.” The video is over nine minutes long and takes viewers into actual Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon’s offices with interviews by Dr. M. Anthony Pogrel who is Professor and Chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of California, San Fransisco, Dr. Andrew Herlich who is Chief of Anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Dr. Michael Miloro who is director for the Postgraduate Residency Training Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, Dr. Michael Ding who is Chief Resident of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Baylor College of Dentistry, Roni Lockhart who is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Anesthesia Assistant, Dr. Anthony M. Spina who is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Dr. Kathy A. Banks who is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, and Dr. Richard D. Leathers who is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon.

There is even a brief interview of a patient who recently received anesthesia and a brief history lesson of anesthesia by the narrator of the video.

I particularly enjoy the inclusion of Dr. M. Anthony Pogrel who completed general surgery training in Great Britain and has a clear British accent. I almost feel like his prominence in the video is an attempt to buy some credibility.

As stated numerous times before, I disagree with AAOMS and their stance on wisdom teeth removal. If you have not already done so please visit http://www.teethremoval.com/ to learn about why you should think twice before wisdom teeth removal.

If you look carefully on my website I do question whether or not oral surgeons should be administering anesthesia in their office.

There are certainly some concerns about sexual assault occurring while under anesthesia for wisdom teeth removal at the oral and maxillofacial surgeon’s office.

There are also concerns about oral and maxillofacial surgeon’s having faulty medical gas systems installed and seriously injuring patients while having their wisdom teeth extracted.

Of course there could also be something that might go wrong while under anesthesia and require a patient to be rushed to the emergency room to avoid death from wisdom teeth removal. Therefore, if the patient undergoing wisdom teeth surgery is already at the hospital to have the procedure done this could be the difference between life and death.

Certainly my concerns raised above are somewhat rare and not very likely to occur but they are worth mentioning and being aware of. Of course there could also be problems that occur if surgery is done in a hospital setting such as the anesthesiologist and the oral surgeon not properly communicating.

If you have any thoughts about this video feel free to let me know in the comments section below.