Lidocaine shot during dental treatment may have led to heart attack

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An interesting article titled “Acute Myocardial Infarction After a Local Anesthetic Procedure in a Middle-Aged Patient” written by Lei Xiao and et al. appears in the American Journal of Medical sciences (2022). The article discusses how an injection of lidocaine into a 50 year old man during dental treatment possibly induced coronary artery spasm and led to acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In the article the authors discuss how a 50-year old man was admitted to a hospital complaining of chest distress, chest pain, and shortness of breath for the past four hours in March 2020. What had happened four hours earlier, was that the man with no history of high blood pressure, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, or high cholesterol visited a dentist and had a dental work performed. The man was not a smoker and had no known drug or food … Read more

Deep Breaths by Children can Help Reduce Dental Fear

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An interesting article titled “Breathing out dental fear: A feasibility crossover study on the effectiveness of diaphragmatic breathing in children sitting on the dentist’s chair” written by Martina Levi and et al. appears in the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry (Feb. 13, 2022). The article sought to explore if diaphragmatic breathing by children can help to reduce fear and anxiety in dental setting. In the study the authors evaulated 20 children who had two dental procedures done on different days who were between the ages of 7 and 13. The children were assigned two groups in one group the children were taught diaphragmatic breathing to be used prior to dental treatment and in the other group they were instructed to start their dental treatment normally. The children in the diaphramatic breathing group only had their dental treatment begin when they … Read more

Lemierre’s Syndrome After Wisdom Teeth Extraction

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One possible complicaton after wisdom teeth extraction is known as Lemierre’s Syndrome. Lemierre’s Syndrome is a rare complication with limited cases being reported that can happen after having wisdom teeth extracted. Since antibiotics have been introduced it is also referred to as “the forgotten disease.” It has been covered on this site before, and is listed as a complication of wisdom teeth removal at http://www.teethremoval.com/complications.html. Lemierre’s Syndrome starts with an infection in the head and neck region and presents with swelling, a high fever, neck pain, and a sore throat. It has a high mortality rate of 18% and thus imaging and antibiotic treatment are of the upmost importance if it presents. Diagnosis involves laboratory results including blood cultures and radiological scans such as CT imaging. Particularly, a CT scan with contrast can identify a thrombosed vein, such as the … Read more

Treating dentigerous cyst by extracting wisdom teeth

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An interesting article titled “Marsupialization of Dentigerous Cysts Followed by Enucleation and Extraction of Deeply Impacted Third Molars: A Report of Two Cases” appears in Cureus in April 02, 2022 written by Nedal Abu-Mostafa (vol. 14, no. 4, pp. e23772). The article discusses two cases of a dentigerous cyst (DC) that involves the crown or a portion of the crown of an unerupted or impacted tooth that more commonly affect mandibular or lower impacted wisdom teeth. In the article discussion is made of dentigerous cysts being the second most common odontogenic cysts. Dentigerous cysts are caused by an alteration of the reduced enamel epithelium and results in fluid accumulation between it and the enamel of the crown. The progression of dentigerous cystsis are slow and often do not present any symptoms and the patient learns about them through an x-ray or … Read more

Relationship between Body Mass Index and Wisdom Teeth Eruption

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An interesting article titled “Relationship Between the Eruption of Third Molar Teeth and the Growing Status of the Assamese Inhabitants of a North-Eastern State of India” appears in Cureus in January 09, 2022, written by Putul Mahanta Sr. and et. al. The article seeks to evaluate the relationship between wisdom teeth eruption and a possible association with body mass index which can be used to monitor growth in children. The authors mention that teeth eruption is related to physical growth and is used to gauge child maturity as a biological marker. Factors such as hereditary, gender, nutrition and geographic location are known to influence teeth eruption. The authors set out to take into account that factors like BMI, genetic, nutritional, and geographical factors on wisdom teeth eruption. They conducted a cross sectional study of 1,060 patients with ages between 14 and … Read more