Wisdom Teeth

Effect of Eruption Status of the Mandibular Wisdom Teeth on Distal Caries in the Adjacent Second Molar

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An article titled “Effect of Eruption Status of the Mandibular Third Molar on Distal Caries in the Adjacent Second Molar,” written by Feiwu Kang and et. al. appears in  the 2016 issue of J Oral Maxillofac Surg. The article explores the eruption of mandibular wisdom teeth and their effect on adjacent second molars. A total of 500 cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of mandibular third molar (MTMs) from 469 patients were evaluated. The authors assessed the presence of distal caries in mandibular second molars (MSMs), impaction depths and angulations of MTMs, cementoenamel junction (CEJ) distances between distal MSMs and mesial MTMs, presence of pericoronitis in MTMs, and patient characteristics (age and gender). The authors state that previous studies show the prevalence of distal caries in MSMs has ranged from 13.4 to 30.1%. The authors found that the overall prevalence of distal … Read more

Prevalence of Visible Third Molars in the United States Population

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An interesting article titled “Prevalence of Visible Third Molars in the United States Population: How Many Individuals Have Third Molars?” appears in the 2016 Journal of Oral and Maxilofacial Surgery 74, pp. 13-17, 2016, by Caitlin B. L. Magraw et al. In the article, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is examined to look at the prevalence of wisdom teeth (third molars) in the U.S. population. Cross-sectional analyses of third molar data were conducted by the authors from the NHANES databases of 2001 through 2002, 2009 through 2010, and 2011 through 2012 to compare data for similarity of outcomes on wisdom teeth prevalence in the US population. The authors found the number of visible third molars in the NHANES databases of 2011 through 2012 decreased progressively from a mean of 1.48 in the 20 to 29 year old … Read more

Shared decision making in cases of conflicted evidence

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An interesting article titled “When clinical evidence is conflicted, who decides how to proceed? An opportunity for shared decision making,” appears in the October 2015 issue of JADA (vol. 146 issue 10, pp. 713-714) and written by Arthur H. Friedlander and et al. The article discusses the concept of shared decision making “…particularly necessary in dentistry at this juncture, given recommendations but inconclusive data available to support abandoning the provision of prophylactic antibiotics to patients with total joint prostheses.” I have previously talked about shared medical decision making in the blog post The Well Informed Patient https://blog.teethremoval.com/the-well-informed-patient/. The article talks about how historically patients were expected to consent to the recommendations of their doctors without much discussion. However, since this is not enough to be legally and ethically correct shared decision making can be used which is a “…collaborative process encouraging patients … Read more

Chewing sugar free gum could help prevent tooth decay and save money

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An interesting article titled “Oral health promotion: the economic benefits to the NHS of increased use of sugarfree gum in the UK” explores the effects of children chewing sugar free gum after eating or drinking in the U.K. Specifically the article finds out that in the National Health Service in England savings of £8.2 million a year could occur if all 12-year-olds across the U.K. chewed sugar free gum after eating or drinking, which is due to the role it plays in helping to prevent tooth decay. This savings would be equivalent to roughly 364,000 dental check-ups. Sugar free gum can be an easy and effective addition to oral health routines. The British Dental Health Foundation recommends brushing for two minutes, twice a day and for children over the age of seven, chewing sugar-free gum during the day. This can … Read more

Will There Be No More Needles at the Dentist Soon?

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A new study reveals how a dentist could give you an anesthetic using a tiny electric current instead of a needle.  The study was published in Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces and reveals how a dentist could give you anesthetic using a tiny electric current instead of a needle. The researchers from the study are from the University of São Paulo and believe their findings could help improve dental procedures and bring relief to millions of people who are scared of needles. Dentists commonly currently use anesthetics that block pain administered using needles. Many patients are afraid of these injections, and this can result in them postponing and canceling visits to the dentist. For patients who do not like needles, dentists can give them a topical painkiller to reduce their pain and fear. This can come in the form of … Read more