dentist

Wisdom of Having that Tooth Removed: AAOMS Response

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Recently I indicated in a post over here https://blog.teethremoval.com/wisdom-teeth-advice-and-new-dental-schools/ that a New York Times article was run on September 5, 2011, by Roni Caryn Rabin which was titled “Wisdom of Having That Tooth Removed.” This article is located here http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/health/06consumer.html Recently a Letter to the Editor of the New York Times was written by the President of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Arthur C. Jee, discussing this article located at http://www.aaoms.org/docs/media/LetterNYTimes-09-21-11.pdf (link dead 10/14/19) In the article he states The AAOMS does not advocate for the “prophylactic extraction of wisdom teeth” If this is in fact the case then I think the AAOMS should make this clear on their website. The website on wisdom teeth http://www.aaoms.org/wisdom_teeth.php (link dead 10/14/19) continues to say “As you can see, it isn’t wise to wait until your wisdom teeth start to … Read more

In Light of the Allegations of Child Sex Abuse at Penn State…

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By now I am sure everyone has at least heard that Joe Paterno has been fired as the head coach of the Penn State college football team due to child sex abuse allegations made against one of his former assistant coaches. As discussed a few times on this blog and as indicated as a potential unfortunate risk of having wisdom teeth extracted there is the possibility of being sexually assaulted while under anesthesia to have wisdom teeth removed. As expanded on and discussed at http://www.teethremoval.com/sexual_assault_under_anesthesia_for_wisdom_teeth_removal.html many of the drugs that dentists and oral surgeons give during the surgery can cause in rare instances sexual hallucinations. This means that it is possible for no repercussions and/or loss of license and/or jail time to occur and it can be difficult to distinguish between dreams and actual molestation in the court of law. In … Read more

What to Do about the Fourth Molar: Similar Management Strategies as the Third Molar aka Wisdom Tooth?

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So wisdom teeth are also known as third molars but did you know that there are also fourth molars in a small subset of patients? A recent study was performed by the United States at an Air Base in Japan which is currently in press to appear in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery titeld Prevalence and Management of Fourth Molars: A Retrospective Study and Literature Review by Khurram M. Shahzad and Lawrence E. Roth, 2011. In the study conducted 409 patients were referred for a third molar (wisdom teeth) consultation. Two of 227 white patients (0.9%) had a fourth molar and 6 of 94 black patients (6.4%) had a fourth molar. One of the other 84 patients (1.2%) also had a fourth molar. Of these patients with a fourth molar 5 out of 9 (55%) had only 1 … Read more

Research During Residency for Oral Surgeons?

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Earlier this year over the summer an article appeared in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery discussing the attitudes of program directors and residents toward performing research during residency. I commented on this article here https://blog.teethremoval.com/the-lack-of-importance-of-research-in-oral-and-maxillofacial-surgery-residency-programs/ A new article has appeared in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery written by Dr. James R. Hupp titled Research During Residency – Should it be Mandated? (vol. 69, pages 2685-2687, 2011). In the article is a discussion of research and whether or not it should be performed by oral surgeons in residency. Dr. Hupp discuses his own experience with research work and then questions if the current accreditation standards require all Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residents to do research. He says: “Now the question becomes, should our standards require all residents to have the opportunity to conduct research and, in my … Read more

Do I Really Need to Remove My Wisdom Teeth?

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A few days ago an article titled “Do I Really Need to Remove My Wisdom Teeth? appeared in Community Magazine by Jacques Doueck located at http://www.communitym.com/article.asp?article_id=101936  The article opens with “I was prompted to write this article because of two adult patients who suffered severe damage, infection, and swelling because they delayed taking out wisdom teeth. One of them actually broke his jaw because of a wisdom tooth that should have been removed long ago. The patient, 48 years old, lost both teeth and the fractured jaw forced him to eat baby food for six months. The other patient was 65 years old and had to have the wisdom tooth and the adjacent molar removed.” This opening in this article kind of cracks me up because both of these patients are quite old, especially the 65 year old. Of course we … Read more