Wisdom Teeth

Eighteen Year Old Music Student in Portland Dies After Wisdom Teeth Removal

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An eighteen year old male high school student planning to study music in college died last February in Portland, Maine, after having his wisdom teeth removed. The story is from Portland Press Herald, by Matt Byrne, posted February 26, 2014, titled “Love, sorrow, questions after Cheverus student’s death,” and accessed March 21, 2014. See http://www.pressherald.com/news/Cheverus_senior__budding_musician__dies_after_routine_oral_surgery_.html. The article describes the eighteen year old man as independent and compassionate and able to play the trumpet, bassoon, saxophone and English concertina. In this particular case the man had wisdom teeth extracted on a Wednesday in February. He then went home and two days later on Friday night his condition deteriorated. He is said to have died in the early hours Saturday in his mother’s arms at home. In the article Dr. Thomas Dodson, who now is with the University of Washington in Seattle … Read more

Mother of Two in Hawaii in a Coma After Wisdom Teeth Surgery

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A sad story in Hawaii has come out recently where a 23 year old mother of two has been left in a coma since having wisdom teeth surgery. This story is reported by Hawaii News Now in an article titled “Hilo woman in coma following wisdom teeth extraction,” written on March 19, 2014, by Tim Sakahara, located over at http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/25023450/hilo-woman-in-coma-following-wisdom-teeth-extraction. The woman had four wisdom teeth extracted and went into cardiac arrest during the surgery. She was flown to a medical center in Hawaii and has been unresponsive since. She has a healthy four year old son and three month old baby. She was reported to be in good health. It is not clear what anesthesia was given. I have previously reported other cases of coma and death from wisdom teeth extraction see http://www.teethremoval.com/death.html.

Asphyxia Due to Compression of the Trachea Leading to Death After Wisdom Tooth Extraction

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As discussed before on this website, having a wisdom tooth extracted can in rare instances lead to death. This is expanded on over at the wisdom teeth death page http://www.teethremoval.com/death.html. At the time of writing this, at least 67 deaths have been listed on this page attributable to wisdom teeth removal. In a recent case a 74 year old man has passed away in Japan after having a mandibular wisdom tooth extracted. A case report of this is described in Wataru Kawashima, Katsuhiko Hatake, Yoshifumi Morimura, Risa Kudo, Mari Nakanishi, Shigehiro Tamaki, Shogo Kasuda, Katsuya Yuui, and Akiko Ishitani, “Asphyxial death related to postextraction hematoma in an elderly man,” Foresnic Science International, vol. 288, e47-e49, 2013. In the article the authors describe how after having wisdom teeth extracted it is possible to develop bleeding. In some cases massive bleeding and … Read more

Bisphenol A Exposure in Early Age May Damage Enamel

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Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical compound that is used to make up resins and plastics. For example, bisphenol A is used in bottles, inside drink cans, and inside food tins. Research has shown that bisphenol A has been found in human blood and urine hence indicting that it has been ingested. Other research has shown that bisphenol A has adverse effects on the development and reproduction of lab animals. Bisphenol A has already been banned from being used in the manufacturing process of baby bottles in Europe. A recent study set out to determine if teeth of rats when treated with low daily doses of bisphenol A are damaged. The researchers showed that the teeth of rats treated with low daily doses of bisphenol A are in fact damaged and that the characteristics present are similar to what has … Read more

Cheese may aid in cavity prevention

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In an article appearing in the May/June 2013 issue of General Dentistry, it was found that eating cheese and other diary products may be beneficial in protecting teeth against cavities. The study sampled 68 subjects between the ages of 12 and 15 and looked at their dental plaque pH in their mouth before and after eating cheese, yogurt, and milk. In fact, three different groups were used one that eat cheddar cheese another that drink milk and another that eat sugar free yogurt. Each group was told to eat/drink for around 3 minutes and then swish their mouth with water. Then the researchers measured the pH level of each subject’s mouth at 10, 20 and 30 minutes after they finished eating/drinking. The researchers found that the groups who drank milk and ate yogurt had no changes in pH levels in … Read more