Preventing Lingual Nerve Damage After Wisdom Teeth Extraction

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An interesting article titled “Prevention of Lingual Nerve Injury in Third Molar Surgery: Literature Review” written by Pippi et al. appears in the 2017 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (vol. 75, pp. 890-900). The article discusses attempting to identify any factors that could influence if a patient suffers lingual nerve damage after wisdom teeth removal. In the study the authors reviewed previous literature published up until February 2016 that pertained to lingual nerve injuries after wisdom teeth surgery. From the literature review the authors analyzed three different surgical techniques used for wisdom teeth removal: 1) buccal approach, 2) lingual split technique, and 3) buccal approach plus lingual flap retraction in order to determine if their were any differences on lingual nerve injuries. The authors also evaluated the association between nerve damage and tooth sectioning or ostectomy. … Read more

How to Find a Reliable Insurance Company that Covers Your Dental Costs?

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Health insurance companies offer a wide range of packages to customers for quality healthcare services. Going through the fine print of the insurance packages can be a huge task, which is why customers are not aware of the full packages offered by their insurance companies. Unfortunately, not all health insurance companies offer packages to save the cost of dental related issues. When considering a reliable insurance company that covers dental costs, how will customers know which company offers the best services? Some of the few hints shared below can help: The Best Insurance Company for Dental Cost Looking for a reliable health insurance company that covers dental costs may be difficult because customers seldom consider dental issues. And thus, most health insurance companies do not offer comprehensive packages for dental expenses. In selecting health insurance companies that provide dental packages, … Read more

Using Cannabinoids After Wisdom Teeth Extraction

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An interesting article titled “Postoperative Healing Assessment Using Cannabinoids in Oral Surgery” written by Puisys et al. appears in EC Dental Science (18.4, pp. 569-575, 2019). The article seeks to compare the healing after wisdom teeth extraction between using antibiotics or cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are chemical compounds that occur in the resin of the Cannabis sativa plant also known as marijuana.  In the study 60 patients had lower wisdom teeth extracted in Vilnius, Lithuania. The 60 patients were split into two groups with one group receiving the antibiotic amoxicillin (500 mg) three times daily for seven days and the other group receiving phytocannabinoids-cannabidiol in gel form for 7 days. All 60 patients went to the clinic daily for a week to record their satisfaction with the healing process and for the doctor to assess the healing. Specifically the patients answered a … Read more

Is there a Difference in Complications following Wisdom Teeth Removal when using Local Anesthesia versus General Anesthesia?

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An interesting article titled “Retrospective multivariable comparison for complications of third molar surgery performed under general versus local anaesthesia” written by Beteramia et al. appears in Oral Surgery in 2019 (vol. 12, pp. 96-103). The article seeks to explore if there is a difference in the amount of complications that occur during or after wisdom teeth surgery when using local anesthesia or when using general anesthesia. In the article the authors discuss complications that can happen during wisdom teeth removal including excessive bleeding, injury to the inferior alveolar and lingual nerves, damage to the adjacent second molar, alveolar bone fracture, and displacement of tooth fragments into fascial spaces and complications that can happen after wisdom teeth removal including alveolar osteitis (dry socket), a secondary infection, and hemorrhage. These complications are discussed more over at http://www.teethremoval.com/complications.html. The authors further discuss how … Read more

Using Stem Cells from Teeth to Regrow Injured Teeth

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An interesting article titled “Deciduous autologous tooth stem cells regenerate dental pulp after implantation into injured teeth,” by Xuan et al. appears in Science Translational Medicine (vol. 10, no. 455, 2018, Published August 22, 2018). The article discusses the results of a clinical trial using stem cells extracted from baby teeth to regrow tissue in teeth that have been injured. In the past articles on this site have discussed storing wisdom teeth stem cells with the hopes that they could one day be used to heal other body tissues. While this study did not use stem cells from wisdom teeth, but instead stem cells from baby teeth, it helps demonstrate some of the possibilities that may exist in the future. In the study by Xuan et al., the authors were motivated by some previous studies with mice. A further motivation … Read more