The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Fails to Use Basic Statistics in Research on Wisdom Teeth

I have previously reported how the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) recently had a press conference on wisdom teeth in Washington, D.C. See https://blog.teethremoval.com/third-molar-multidisciplinary-press-conference/ for more information. Shortly after the press conference they issued a press release available at http://www.aaoms.org/docs/media/third_molars/press_release.pdf which is titled “Conventional Wisdom about Wisdom teeth Confirmed: Evidence Shows Keeping Wisdom teeth May be More Harmful than Previously Thought.” One of the additional key findings listed in this press release  is “Most patients (60 percent) with asymptomatic wisdom teeth prefer extraction to retention.” This finding comes from a recent article in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, titled “Most Patients With Asymptomatic, Disease-Free Third Molars Elect Extraction Over Retention as Their Their Preferred Treatment.”  The article is by Brian E. Kinard, BS and Thomas B. Dodson, DMD, MPH.  It appears in the December 2010 … Read more

American Medical Association versus American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

I wanted to alert those who may not know that there is a bit of battle going on right now between the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS). In September 2009, the AMA  published a document in it’s  “Scope of Practice Data Series” on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. In this document the AMA essentially goes after oral and maxillofacial surgeons and calls into question their education, training, and proficiency. One quote from the document is… “The AMA holds patient safety in the highest regard and opposes the practice of medicine by those oral surgeons who have not obtained a medical degree.” Another quote is… “Oral and maxillofacial training programs for dentists simply cannot duplicate the medical education that physicians receive, which prepares the physician to asses and respond to unexpected medical complications … Read more

Third Molar Multidisciplinary Press Conference

Just a quick update to remind you that the Multidisciplinary Conference on Third Molars (Wisdom Teeth) will be occurring today October 19, 2010, at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, D.C. at 11 A.M Eastern. To find out more details please refer to my previous blog post https://blog.teethremoval.com/multidisciplinary-conference-on-third-molars-wisdom-teeth/. If you are unable to make the conference and would like to listen in online, a live audio stream will be provided. Simply visit http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=73177 This conference is being put on by American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) and Ira. D Cheifetz, the immediate past president of AAOMS, will be in attendance. Update: I did get a chance to listen in on the conference which lasted just over an hour. The live stream also showed a PowerPoint presentation to accompany the speakers. The speakers who presented are seen in the … Read more

Anesthesia in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Office

The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) is continuing to attempt to increase their ability to attract young adults to elect to have their wisdom teeth removed. Back in May 2010 they released a video called “Anesthesia: Safety and Comfort in the OMS Office.” The video is over nine minutes long and takes viewers into actual Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon’s offices with interviews by Dr. M. Anthony Pogrel who is Professor and Chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of California, San Fransisco, Dr. Andrew Herlich who is Chief of Anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Dr. Michael Miloro who is director for the Postgraduate Residency Training Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, Dr. Michael Ding who is Chief Resident of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at … Read more

Multidisciplinary Conference on Third Molars (Wisdom Teeth)

I wanted to let everyone know that on October 19, 2010, at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, D.C. there will be a so called “Multidisciplinary Conference on Third Molars.” This meeting will consist on an invitation-only audience. This event is being organized by the American Association of  Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS). Those who will be in attendance include dental, medical, governmental, and third party organizations. I wonder if I will be receiving an invitation however I doubt it due to the nature of the meeting and its intent to promote the removal of healthy impacted wisdom teeth due to so called “accurate and true evidence based research.” Since I now reside near the D.C area I may try to attend the conference to see what is being discussed and to make sure that accurate results are being presented … Read more