Wisdom Teeth

Rare abscess in chewing muscle after wisdom tooth extraction

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An interesting article titled “A Rare Infratemporal Fossa Abscess of the Lateral Pterygoid” appears in Cureus written by B.S. Daines, R. Varman, and J. Cordero (May 27, 2022, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. e25391). The article discusses how a 26 year old man developed an infratemporal fossa abscess in the lateral pterygoid, a masticatory muscle used for chewing, after having a wisdom tooth extraction. The article discusses how the 26 year old man developed facial swelling after having two upper wisdom teeth extracted. He presented with facial swelling on his left side which was accompanied by constant and dull pain localized to the left face with radiation to the left temple and made worse when he opened his jaw. The man also had a low grade fever and his symptoms persisted even with taking oral amoxicillin for one week and … Read more

How dentists can navigate ethical treatment decisions for patients

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An interesting article titled “How to manage the principal-agent problem in dentistry,” appears in the June 2022 edition of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) written by Ben Balev (no. 153, issue 6, pp. 588-589). The article discusses the principal-agent problem, in which the dentist operates as the agent for the patient who is the principal and there is an imbalance of power between the patient and the dentist in decision making. In the dentist-patient relationship, the dentist has specialized knowledge that the patient lacks, and the patient seeks to make up for their lack of knowledge by having the dentist help in oral health decisions. Such a relationship requires that the patient trusts that the dentist functions in their best interest. However, sometime the patient questions the dentists motives behind their treament recommendations. The patient may wonder … Read more

Man with infected wisdom tooth dies several weeks later

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In early 2021, a man 44 years of age living in Auckland in New Zealand, died a few weeks after being aware of having an infected wisdom tooth. He first complained of having pain in his lower right wisdom tooth on Christmas Eve in 2020. He went to see a doctor about it several times over many days for swelling and pain and was given antibiotics. He was unable to swallow the pills so was given liquid antibiotics instead but nothing seemed to help with the infection. Later the pain and swelling in his face and neck became progressively worse. He went to the hospital on January 4, 2021. While in the hospital he had x-rays taken and was later discharged. The family was shocked to hear that the man was able to get discharged that soon. He was sent … Read more

Surgery Free Wisdom Tooth Bud Ablation Treatment To One Day Replace Surgery?

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An interesting article titled “Fully Guided Tooth Bud Ablation in Pigs Results in Complete Tooth Bud Removal and Molar Agenesis” appears in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery written by Leigh E. Colby and David P. Watson, Vol. 81, Issue 4, pp. 456-466, Apr. 2023, Published Dec. 16, 2022. The article seems to be a follow-up to a prior article discussed on this site in the post “Tooth bud abalation of wisdom teeth may be alternative to surgery in the future“. That study had shown that fully guided microwave tooth bud ablation (3TBA) could be used to successfully remove wisdom tooth tooth buds without damaging surrounding tissues in a study with 5 pigs. The most recent study used a 28-day longitudinal characterization study to determine if healing response following fully guided microwave ablation of tooth buds in pigs would result in … Read more

Reducing Anxiety in Wisdom Teeth Surgery using Diazepam and Buspirone

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An interesting article titled “Comparative Evaluation of Efficacy of Oral Diazepam and Buspirone in Reducing Anxiety and Discomfort in Mandibular Third Molar Surgery- In Vivo Study,” by Mitra et al. appears in the Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development (vol.10, no. 3, Mar. 2019, pp. 182-186). The article seeks to compare the effectiveness of diazepam and buspirone in reducing anxiety and discomfort in lower wisdom teeth removal. The authors were motivated to perform the study because dental anxiety has been reported to range from roughly 4% to 21%. Even more alarming is that up to nearly 50% of patients who have high anxiety have missed a dental appointment at one point. While non medication treatment options exist such as behavioral modification and hypnosis and guided relaxation, some patients may really only respond to medications. Benzodiazepines are the most … Read more