Wisdom Teeth

Do People Know about Coronectomy For Management of Wisdom Teeth?

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An interesting article titled “Coronectomy: a recognised procedure?” appears in the 2018 edition of Oral Surgery written by Dhanrajani and Smith (vol. 11, pp. 273-281). The article discusses a review of the literature on coronectomy to treat wisdom teeth along with a retrospective study. Coronectomy is often suggested to treat wisdom teeth when there is a high risk of nerve damage and is associated with a low rate of complications, see for example the past posts Care Guidelines for Wisdom Teeth: 2014 Finnish Guidelines, A Study of 185 Coronectomy Procedures of Wisdom Teeth, and Complications Associated with Coronectomy. In the article by Dhanrajani and Smith the authors discuss how the inferior alveolar nerve or lingual nerve can be damaged during wisdom teeth removal and that patients seek to avoid such a complication. Coronectomy is a procedure that removes only the … Read more

Does Intravenous Ibuprofen Reduce Pain After Wisdom Teeth Surgery?

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An interesting article titled “Does Single-Dose Preemptive Intravenous Ibuprofen Reduce Postoperative Pain After Third Molar Surgery? A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Study” appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The article explores if intravenous ibuprofen given either shortly before or after wisdom teeth surgery has any any effect on pain experienced in the subsequent 24 hours. In the article a study is conducted using 75 patients who presented at Erciyes University in Turkey over the time period from March to October 2018 for removal of impacted lower wisdom teeth. The 75 patients were randomly divided into 3 groups with 25 patients in each. The first group of patients received 800 mg of intravenous ibuprofen 60 minutes before surgery and intravenous placebo 60 minutes after surgery, the second group of patients received intravenous placebo 60 … Read more

Should Melatonin be Used for Wisdom Teeth Surgery?

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An interesting article titled “Should Melatonin Be Used as an Alternative Sedative and Anxiolytic Agent in Mandibular Third Molar Surgery?” written by Torun et al. appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The article seeks to compare the effects of melatonin and midazolam in patients having wisdom teeth removed. Melatonin has been discussed on this site before as a supplement that can be taken to help with sleep at night and for migraine prevention, see the post Melatonin may be more effective than Amitriptyline for Migraine Prevention. In the article by Torun the authors describe how sedatives are often given for wisdom teeth surgery but they can depress both the respiratory and cardiac systems and thus this requires increased cost for patient monitoring. When describing melatonin the authors mention how melatonin has sedative, analgesic, … Read more

Does Bromelain Impact Pain, Swelling, and Mouth Opening after Wisdom Teeth Surgery?

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An interesting article titled “Oral Bromelain for the Control of Facial Swelling, Trismus, and Pain After Mandibular Third Molar Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery written by Liu et al. The article seeks to explore if bromelain reduces pain and swelling and improves mouth opening after wisdom teeth removal. Bromelain is believed to decrease swelling by returning interstitial fluid and inflammatory component cells into the bloodstream and provide an anti-inflammatory effect by decreasing pain mediators such as prostaglandin E2 and substance P. Bromelain provides for systemic proteolytic enzyme therapy and is a mixture of proteolytic enzymes found in pineapple plants. The authors state a few articles in the past have explored using bromelain after wisdom teeth removal but with inconsistent results. For example one study showed bromelain … Read more

Tramadol for Pain Control after Wisdom Teeth Surgery

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An interesting article titled “Effect of Submucosal Injection of Tramadol on Postoperative Pain After Third Molar Surgery,” written by Iqbal et al. appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The article discusses the effectiveness of using tramadol for pain control after removing impacted lower wisdom teeth. In the article the authors conduct a study using 60 patients who presented for lower wisdom tooth removal in Mangalore, India. Patients were randomized into either group A or group B, 30 patients in each, in the double blinded study (both the patient and surgeon were unaware of the groupings). Those in group A received 1 mg/kg of tramadol diluted with 1 mL of saline solution and those in group B received 1 mL of saline solution both immediately after suturing. The injection was slowly administered into the … Read more