Wisdom Teeth

Estimating Late Developing Wisdom Teeth

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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

Woman goes on online shopping spree after wisdom teeth surgery

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An interesting story is reported in WPDH about a woman who goes an online shopping spree after having her wisdom teeth removed. After the woman has her wisdom teeth removed and while still under the influence of anesthesia she goes on an online shopping spree. As part of her shopping spree the woman buys 4 pairs of black pants. She also buys several shirts to go with the pants. She also spends $140 on a pair of tennis shoes. The woman also buys her daugher a jacket. Besides clothing apparel, the woman decides she needs some new items for her home. She spends on a new laundry basket, a large order of toilet bowl cleaner, and on some cat litter inserts. The following days after having her wisdom teeth removed, the woman has no recollection of going on this online … Read more

Seventeen Year Old Teenager Due for Lung Transplant after Wisdom Teeth Removal

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An unfortunate story appears in KRDO describing a seventeen year old man who had two impacted wisdom teeth extracted in October 2022 in Colorado. Seven days after the procedure the man started coughing up blood and ever since then his health has deteriorated. Prior to the surgery the teenager was in good health regularily lifting weights and playing with his siblings in his home state of Colorado. As reported in March 2023, now the man over four months later is an inpatient at a hospital and struggles to walk from a hospital bed to a bathroom that is five feet away. Two days after he started coughting up blood he went into septic shock where he was placed on a ventilator and moved into the intensive care unit of a hospital. His family is in a constant state of fear … Read more

Wisdom teeth could hold regenerative medicine answers

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An interesting article titled “A single-cell atlas of human teeth” written by Pierfrancesco Pagella et al. appears in iScience (vol. 24, no. 102405, May 21, 2021). In the article the researchers analyzed five wisdom teeth that had been extracted to conduct a comprehensive single-cell atlas of the human tooth. The cells studied came from these five wisdom teeth and were extracted by dentists in Zurich. Isolating the cells from these wisdom teeth may have introduced variability between samples and some cells may not have survived the isolation process. Even so, the study found novel insights into how stem cells work which could help answer questions in regenerative medicine. In the study, the researchers at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich used single-cell RNA sequencing to investigate cells present in dental pulp and the periodontium. The researchers compared patterns of … Read more

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs better than opioids for pain after dental extractions

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An interesting article titled “Acute Postoperative Pain Due to Dental Extraction in the Adult Population: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis,” written by A. Miroshnychenko and et. al appears in the 2023 edition of the Journal of Dental Research. The article seeks to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess tto compare the effectiveness of 10 different pharmacological treatments including acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and opioids, to the management of acute pain after dental tooth extractions. Further the article looked at the pain associated with pulpitis or its complications. The authors were motived to conduct the review based on the opioid crisis occuring in North America which has been discussed before on this site, see for example the posts Assessing the Impact of Three Day Opioids Limits for Dentists, Dentists Overprescribing Opioids to Adults in the U.S., and Reducing … Read more