Auctioning Off Wisdom Teeth: How Much Money Can you Make?

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It has been discussed before on this site how in some cases it may be beneficial to save your wisdom teeth if you have any of them extracted. Many companies offer the option to have your wisdom teeth stem cells cryogenically preserved for a fee. This has been discussed in the post Storing Wisdom Teeth Stem Cells. Companies such as Stemodontics have technicians crack open a tooth, remove the pulp, and then remove the stem cells. Patients are willing to pay such companies a fee based on the hope that these stem cells one day can be used to to help with dental and bone repair although this is not currently a process that can be utilized. However there may also be a different reason to save wisdom teeth: just plain money. A wisdom tooth of Edward VIII, the former late … Read more

Food Delivery after Wisdom Teeth Removal

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After having wisdom teeth surgery it is important to pay special attention to what one eats. It is suggested to only eat soft foods after having wisdom teeth removed for 2 to 3 days. You also want to avoid any particularly hard or crunchy foods for up to 2 weeks after the procedure. This information and some foods suggestions is available at the what to eat after wisdom teeth removal page. Some suggested foods include the following: milkshakes smoothies soups ice cream avocado banana rice applesauce yogurt mashed beans soft pasta You also want to drink plenty of water and possibly even Gatorade or fruit juices to stay hydrated. For those who receive sedation, you likely had someone accompany you to the surgery or at least was available to drive you home. Perhaps it was a family member or a … Read more

Five Benefits of a regular dental visit

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There’s nothing better in this world than a healthy body, yet many people overlook medical checkups which are important. There are many medical checkups which an individual must undergo every year, and a dental checkup is one of them. Teeth are a prominent part of the face and have a direct impact on the personality of an individual. There are many benefits of a regular dental checkup, however in this article you will be guided through some of them. In most countries, doctors recommend patients visit a dentist at least once every 6 months. Some benefits of a regular dental visit are: 1.      Early detection of problems Most people are unaware of their dental problems for a long time. A regular visit to the dentist can help a person getting to know about any chronic issues present. The doctor will … Read more

Quality Data Registry in Dentistry

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Recently on this site there was a discussion of using an outcomes data registry for dentistry to help assess surgical outcomes, complications, and possible gaps in treatment.  The goal with such a data registry is to better monitor what is going on in clinical practice to help improve the quality of care that patients receive. Such efforts have been limited in dentistry although present in other aspects of healthcare for many years. According to the “Quality Measurement in Dentistry A Guidebook” produced by the Dental Quality Alliance in June 2019, retrospective claims data are the only data currently collected in dentistry. In an article titled “Swedish Quality Registry for Caries and Periodontal Diseases – a framework for quality development in dentistry,” by Bultzingslowen et al. appearing in the International Dental Journal in 2019, the authors discuss an automatic data retrieval … Read more

Studies and Opinions on Opioids After Wisdom Teeth Removal

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Recently on this site there have been several posts regarding giving patients opioids after wisdom teeth removal. In the post Do Oral Surgeons Give Too Many Opioids for Wisdom Teeth Removal? a study by Resnick et al. appearing in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery was discussed (titled “Do Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Over-Prescribe Opioids After Extraction of Asymptomatic Third Molars?”). Recently some commentary in a letter to the editor appearing in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery has been provided titled “Opioid Prescription Following Third Molar Extractions,” written by Subramanian and Quek which questions the validity of the study by Resnick. In the article by Subramanian and Quek some very valid points are made. First, the article by Resnick only relied on voluntary reporting of opioid use and this … Read more