Does Difficulty of Wisdom Teeth Surgery Relate to Blood Parameters?

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An interesting article written by Beatriz Sainz de Baranda et al. titled “Relationship Between Surgical Difficulty of Third Molar Extraction Under Local Anesthesia and the Postoperative Evolution of Clinical and Blood Parameters,” appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The article discusses a study to explore if the surgical difficulty of wisdom teeth removal is related the postoperative course as assessed from clinical and blood parameters. In the article the authors conduct a study using 118 patients who presented at Dr Peset University Hospital in Valencia, Spain, from September 2012 through November 2014, to have lower wisdom teeth extracted. In the study each patient had the surgical difficulty assessed using the Pederson scale which is based on an evaluation of panoramic radiographs. The 118 patients were divided into two groups based on the difficulty … Read more

Behavioral Interventions for Periodontal Disease

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An interesting article titled “The effect of risk communication on periodontal treatment outcomes: A randomized controlled trial” appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Periodontology written by Asimakopoulou et al. The article explores using psychological interventions to reduce gum disease. In the article the authors were inspired by a Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behavior model to improve clinical, psychological, and self-reported behavioral outcomes. Specifically the authors sought to assess such things as periodontal probing depths and bleeding on probing, self reported teeth brushing, and thoughts about periodontal disease. The authors randomized 97 adults with moderate peridontal disease who presented at King’s College London in the U.K. into three treatment groups: 1) usual dental treatment, 2) dental treatment and a report on their disease risk and 3) dental treatment, a report, and a program to improve their dental health. The participants had data … Read more

Comparing Wisdom Teeth in the United States of America and Sweden

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An interesting article titled “Contrasting Patterns for Missing Third Molars in the United States and Sweden,” appears in the 2017 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery written by Magraw et al. (vol. 75, pp. 1113-1117). The article seeks to compare the prevalence of wisdom teeth in different age populations among the United States of America and Sweden. The authors wanted to look at data regarding the prevalence or absence of wisdom teeth in various populations. At the time of their study their were only two studies that they were aware of. The authors thus took data from these two studies for comparison purposes. Specifically the studies used were: 1) Hugoson et al. “The prevalence of third molars in a Swedish population. An epidemiological study,” Community Dent Health vol. 5, no. 121, 1988 and 2) Magraw et al. … Read more

Too Much Sugar Consumption is Leading to Increased Dental Treatments

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At the global level the costs of dental treatment are currently running at around 172 billion US dollars. Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the Biotechnology Research and Information Network AG (BRAIN AG) carried out research within the alliance NatLifE 2020. The alliance is co-financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, with the aim of understanding of biological systems leading to the development of a new generation of sustainably produced and biological active substances for foods and cosmetics. The researchers evaluated data on the prevalence of caries, inflammation of gums (periodontitis) and tooth loss, costs of treatments, and sugar consumption, in 168 countries for the year 2010. Using this data they calculated the share of total costs due to excessive consumption of sugar. The researchers looked into consumption of white household sugar and sugar in processed products, … Read more

Is it Safe to Drink Large Amounts of Pineapple Juice after Wisdom Teeth Surgery that People on TikTok are Doing?

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Recently, several young adults have been trying a remedy prior to having their wisdom teeth removed where they drink a large amount of pineapple juice. This has been shared on TikTok by several people. Mackenzie Fuhrman, who is a 21 year old nursing student, shared on her TikTok a video that shows her with a 46 ounce can of pineapple juice. She also says she has a few smaller cans she will add to it to make 64 ounces. She is doing this based on another TikTok video she saw where a woman named Valeria drank 64 ounces of pineapple juice prior to her wisdom teeth surgery (see https://www.tiktok.com/@valeriagreenz/video/6986417135824145670) as a way to prevent swelling after the procedure and provide nearly instant recovery. Mackenzie said that she further researched about pineapple juice and found scientific proof to back the claims. … Read more