oral surgeon

Reducing Opioids in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

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An interesting article titled “Opioid Prescribing Can Be Reduced in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Practice,” written by Tatch appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. In the article the author discusses the results of implementing an office protocol for pain management to reduce opioid use in oral and maxillofacial surgery during a three year time period. Results from a similar study were presented previously in a post titled Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Current Perspectives on Opioid Prescribing. In the article the author discusses how a risk of opioids is dependence which can develop after just one week of using. The author came up with a 3-year retrospective study to measure changes in opioid use after the introduction of an office protocol which was designed to offer alternatives to pain relief. In the study a … Read more

Large Study of Complications after Oral Surgeries

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An interesting article titled “Study on post-operative complications after outpatient treatments” written by van der Sleen et al. appears in the 2013 edition of Oral Surgery. The authors were interested in evaluating the post-operative problems or complaints after surgery by oral and maxillofacial surgeons and the frequency of follow up phone calls or visits after the surgery. The authors devised a study to look at all patients who visited Isala Clinics located in the Netherlands in April 2009. All surgeries were performed by six oral and maxillofacial surgeons and two senior residents and done under local anesthesia. All patients received an antiseptic, chlorhexidine 0.12%, to rinse their mouth with 3 times a day for 7 days after surgery. All patients were also given prescriptions for ibuprofen 600 mg to control pain as needed. The surgeries were grouped into four separate … Read more

What is the Better Name: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon or Oral and Facial Surgeon?

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An interesting article titled “What Name Best Represents Our Specialty? Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon Versus Oral and Facial Surgeon” appears in the 2016 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery written by Guerrero et al. (vol. 75, pp. 9-20). The article addresses if a better name than the current oral and maxillofacial surgeon exists to increase recognition of the profession by the public and other medical doctors. The professional group for oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the U.S. is the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS). This group has long been discussed on this site see for example the posts Upcoming Changes to JOMS and AAOMS in 2014 and Advocacy White Paper on Third Molar Surgery by AAOMS. In recent years AAOMS has created a website over at https://myoms.org/ to educate the pubic about the full … Read more

Teenager Sexually Assaulted by Dental Assistant during Wisdom Teeth Removal

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In the past on this site, discussion has been made of cases of sexual assault occurring during wisdom teeth removal. See for example Recent Cases of Dentist Assistant Sexual Assault During Wisdom Teeth Removal, Dentist Who Groped Patients Sentenced to Jail and http://www.teethremoval.com/sexual_assault_under_anesthesia_for_wisdom_teeth_removal.html. In recent years there seems to be more cases involving dental assistants sexually assaulting patients during wisdom teeth removal as opposed to a dentist or oral surgeon sexually assaulting a patient. Recent cases include when a dental assistant sexually assaulted 13 patients while each were having wisdom teeth extracted in 2015 and 2016 in San Diego, California, and when a dental assistant sexually assaulted a teenage woman while she was having wisdom teeth surgery in 2017 in Silver Spring, Maryland.  Recently in December 2019, an eighteen year old teenage woman scheduled for wisdom teeth removal was allegedly assaulted by … Read more

Oral Surgeons License Suspended for Five Years After Patients Contract Bacterial Infection of the Heart

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An oral surgeon in New Jersey has agreed to a five year suspension of his license after 15 patients contracted the bacterial heart infection endocarditis at his office. The oral surgeon also agreed to pay $243,500 in penalties and $50,000 in costs totaling $293,500, to resolve the State of New Jersey’s allegations that he exposed his patients to the risk of contracting endocarditis due to his failure to follow proper infection control procedures at this office. Twelve of the fifteen patients who contracted endocarditis required subsequent surgery and one died as a result of the bacterial heart infection. The investigation into the oral surgeon’s practice began after a 25 year old man was diagnosed with endocarditis about five weeks after having two of his wisdom teeth extracted in June 2014. Specifically the New Jersey Department of Health officials and Enforcement … Read more