Wisdom Teeth

What is the Polo Mint Wisdom Tooth and How to Treat It

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An interesting article titled “Identifying the Polo® mint mandibular third molar: a case series” written by Chopra et al. appears in the 2019 edition of Oral Surgery (vol. 12, pp. 89-95). The article discusses lower wisdom teeth that have a perforation in the root where the inferior dental nerve passes through and resemble the classic perforation within the Polo Mint confectionary (the Polo mint is a breath mint with a hole in the middle). These type of wisdom teeth are described as being uncommon, occurring every 1 in 800 cases or less; however they present a high degree of inferior dental nerve injury if they are extracted. The authors state that surgeons may only seen one or two cases in their entire career. In the article the authors describe a study from 2010 to 2017 where they identified 22 cases … Read more

Music to Listen to After Wisdom Teeth Surgery: 2021 Edition

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While 2020 has been a very different year than normal, the new year of 2021 is now here. As has been done in years past on this blog, to kick off the new year, a post has been made about music one can listen to after having wisdom teeth extracted. There are of course other ways to recover, such as watching TV or reading books, but this post is to give some music recommendations available on YouTube for a listen. As mentioned earlier, many posts in the past have appeared on this site providing recommendations for music to listen to after wisdom teeth removal. These posts for a recap are: YouTube Musicians Rock and Roll Songs Jazz Songs Christian Music Gangnam Style 2013 Edition 2018 Edition 2019 Edition 2020 Edition Below is the 2021 edition of music to listen to … Read more

Management for an Ectopic Wisdom Tooth

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One of the medically necessary valid reasons that the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons gives for removal of a wisdom tooth is if it is in an ectopic position. So the question is what exactly is the ectopic wisdom tooth and what should one do about it? In the article titled “Removal of ectopic mandibular third molar teeth: literature review and a report of three cases” written by Ahmed and Speculand appearing in Oral Surgery in 2012 (vol. 5, pp. 39-44) discussion is made of a literature review of ectopic wisdom tooth along with three cases of lower ectopic wisdom teeth. In the article titled “Ectopic wisdom tooth in the condyle area” written by Mourouzis et al. appearing in Oral Surgery in 2011 (vol. 4, pp. 194–196) discussion is made of an upper ectopic wisdom tooth in a … Read more

The Predictive Value of using Panoramic X-Rays for Wisdom Teeth Surgery Complications

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An interesting article titled “Predictive Value of Panoramic Radiography for Injury of Inferior Alveolar Nerve After Mandibular Third Molar Surgery,” appears in the 2017 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (vol. 75, pp. 663-679) written by Su et al. The article sought to explore if panoramic x-rays taken before wisdom teeth removal can predict possible injury of the inferior alveolar nerve. In the article the authors discuss how inferior alveolar nerve injury is the third most common complication following wisdom teeth removal. When inferior alveolar nerve injury occurs numbness of the lip or chin can occur along with difficulty speaking and chewing food. Current studies have shown inferior alveolar nerve injury occurs about 8% of the time after wisdom teeth removal with less than 1% expected to be permanent. Current practice has shown that panoramic x-rays can … Read more

What to do with an Inverted (Upside Down) Impacted Wisdom Tooth?

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An interesting article titled “An unusual case of an inverted and impacted maxillary third molar,” written by Rammal and Alfonso appears in Oral Surgery in 2014 (vol. 7, pp. 109–111). The article discusses a case of an inverted and impacted upper wisdom tooth. In the article the authors discuss how there are seven possible positions that a tooth can be classified into and one of these is the inverted position where the the root apex faces the alveolar crest and the crown faces the maxillary sinus. In such a presentation the tooth appears as if it is growing into the maxillary sinus and the tooth clearly has no use for chewing in the mouth. The authors state: While inverted impacted third molars [wisdom teeth] remain dormant without significant manifestation, removal presents difficulty because of the need to remove large amounts … Read more