Wisdom teeth surgery can in rare cases lead to death. This has been covered before on this site in blog posts such as Wisdom Teeth Removal Death in 2016 in Florida: Settlement Reached, Four and half million settlement in wisdom teeth extraction death, Two million settlement in wisdom teeth extraction death, Recent Stories on Wisdom Teeth Removal Death, Asphyxia Due to Compression of the Trachea Leading to Death After Wisdom Tooth Extraction, 12 Million Given After Wisdom Teeth Removal Caused Death, Wisdom Teeth Removal Leaves to Death Two Days After, and Air Embolism During Wisdom Teeth Removal Causes Death. In the middle of 2020 a Chinese man died after having his wisdom teeth extracted.
The 26 year old man had his wisdom tooth removed at a hospital in the Hunan Province of China on May 25, 2020. He had continuous bleeding from his mouth and went back to the hospital the following day to have his stiches replaced. However, that did not stop his bleeding and on June 4, 2020, he attempted to drive himelf to a hospital. However, he was not able to make it and was found on the road by police who took him to the hospital. The man was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) on June 5, 2020. On June 9, 2020, the man passed with the cause likely due to sepsis and brain herniation caused by a cerebral hemorrhage.
Medical records from the hospital show had a fever and a high white blood count suggeting he had an infection. A hematology report showed the man likely had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) which can make one more suspectile to infection and death if not treated. The man was cremated after his death and thus a bone marrow test could not be undertaken to confirm or deny leukaemia. The family feels that the surgeon who removed the mans wisdom teeth was told aout the potential condition but did not take it seriously when treating him. An arbitration case was filed on behalf of the man who died against the doctor who removed the wisdom teeth and hopsital where the surgery was performed.
Unfortunately complications can happen after wisdom teeth removal including death, see https://www.teethremoval.com/complications.html. Having a medical condition that makes one more suspectible to infection or affects ones ability to form blood clots can make one more suspectibe to life altering complications after wisdom teeth surgery. Thus it is imporant to have understanding of one’s medical health and conditions prior to surgery and to make sure to discuss any with the treating dentist or oral surgeon.
Source:
- Pip Christmass, “Man dies two weeks after routine wisdom tooth extraction at Chinese dental hospital,” 7News, July 8, 2020.
- Alex Winter, “BLEEDING OUT Patient died unaware he was slowly bleeding to death ‘after having wisdom teeth removed two weeks earlier,” The Sun, July 7, 2020.