Wisdom Teeth

I wanted to take a second to discuss my dislike towards a website, blog, and forum that is awfully similar in structure to this website however is sending the exact opposite message. I am not going to link to them because I don’t want to help out their sites rating but the link is hxxp://www.goodbyewisdomteeth.com/ just remove the xx and replace with tt. Anyway the message of the site is the following “Wonderful! As this site is completely dedicated to helping others, the most important thing you can do is post to the forums of the site–especially before AND after your dental surgery. Help other people understand your situation. In marketing, they say 80% of all first-person stories are because of negative experiences. I really want to capture the truth, not just the bad experiences–so when your procedure is over, … Read more

Between October 6,1986 and September 17,1987, 11 patients underwent insertion of mandibular dental prostheses by the same oral surgeon. Three patients suffered cardiac arrest during surgery and subsequently died. Two of the patients who died had received general anaesthetics and the other had intravenous sedation given by three different anaesthetists. All three patients arrested suddenly, developing profound cyanosis and electrical mechanical dissociation, underwent prolonged resuscitative efforts, and had marked hypoxaemia and hypercapnia, despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Two other patients had signs of injection of air but survived, one suffering cardiac collapse and the other sustaining massive subcutaneous emphysema. Air embolism was produced by inadvertent injection of a mixture of air and water, passing through the hollow dental drill, directly into the mandible to the facial and pterygoidplexus veins and thence to the superior vena cava and right atrium.  To find out … Read more

Subcutaneous emphysema, surgical emphysema, or tissue space emphysema are different names for a similar condition, namely, the abnormal presence of air in tissue spaces Subcutaneous emphysema occurs rarely during dental procedures. When it does occur, it can be a frightening experience that often will be confused with an anaphylactic reaction. Differentiating the two conditions is not difficult. Palpation of the swollen head and neck areas will elicit crepitus, or a ‘Velcro’ sensation, that is not present in anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis occurs after exposure to an allergen that elicits an IgE-mediated hypersensitivity that leads to an abrupt onset of symptoms that may include pruritis of lips, tongue and palate; oedema of the lips; nausea; vomiting; dysponea; wheezing; rhinorrhoea; syncope and hypotension. Anaphylaxis is a true medical emergency, whereas subcutaneous emphysema is generally not life-threatening. Therapy for subcutaneous emphysema involves the following: (i) … Read more

Pulling more teeth than medically necessary from patients mouths, just to make money. That’s the allegation against a local oral surgeon whom News 3 Investigators first exposed a year ago. The state started investigating after her story, and now she tells us what the state says needs to be done to protect patients. The State Board of Dental Examiners wanted to suspend Dr. Jay Selznick’s license, put him on three years probation, prevent him from treating medicaid patients for nine months and force him to reimburse some patients. All because they believe he’s operating below the standard of care and falsifying records to cover his tracks. “I’m glad the truth finally came out and justice will prevail. He will get what he’s got coming. He thinks that he’s above the law, and he’s not.” We first met Medicaid patient Karyn … Read more

This is from the Late Show with David Letterman on January 4th, 2008. Sarah enjoyed the time to catch up on things like going to the dentist. She unfortunately learned that she had to get her wisdom teeth pulled. She had no desire to be knocked out so she requested the gas. After a few doses, she felt she needed more. The dentist said to his assistant, “OK, Johnny Cash her!” She was given so much gas that she started freaking out. She couldn’t sit still. She finally requested to be knocked out. They did that, but the last thing she remembers before going bye-bye was hearing the doctor saying, “Whoops! She swallowed it!” When she came to, she found her boyfriend getting directions from the dentist for her to go for a chest x-ray. And Sarah has the x-ray … Read more