wisdom teeth complications

Advocacy White Paper on Third Molar Surgery by AAOMS

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Recently the American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) issue a Press Release located over at http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aaoms-white-paper-discusses-why-when-and-how-to-treat-third-molar-teeth-135889358.html In the conclusion of the press release it states “The AAOMS encourages patients and their families to talk to their general dentist, orthodontist or family physician to determine whether third molar surgery is indicated. If a decision is made to retain these teeth, regular dental check-ups and good dental hygiene to control or prevent periodontal disease are essential.” The press release discusses a recent Advocacy White Paper released on Third Molar Surgery. This is located at http://www.aaoms.org/docs/evidence_based_third_molar_surgery.pdf I think the this recent White Paper issued on November 10, 2011, is well worth the read for anyone considering having elective healthy wisdom teeth surgery performed. The paper mentions some of the recent controversy of the medical necessity of removing erupted and impacted third molars. Numerous references to … Read more

14 Year old Boy Dies Within 24 Hours of Having Wisdom Teeth Removed

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Unfortunately another case of a person dieing after having wisdom teeth removed has occurred. See this page for some additional information on death from wisdom teeth removal. In this case a young 14 year old boy died within 24 hours after having his wisdom teeth removed. This story has been covered over at DailyMail located at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2073128/Ben-Ellis-14-dies-just-hours-having-wisdom-teeth-removed.html The article states the young man had wisdom teeth removed early on a late Wednesday morning. He then took one penicillin tablet and one Oxycodone. He was then found to be dead early the following morning. An autopsy and toxicology tests are currently being performed. As indicated by a few of the commentators on the article it is not clear that the death was from the wisdom teeth removal but as speculation it would appear to be the contributing factor.

Potentially Rare Complications of Having a Tooth Removed

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Last week an article appeared in the Post Tribune by the Chicago Sun Times titled “Tooth extraction brings unlikely complications,” written by Mark Taylor and published November 27, 2011. http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/8563272-418/tooth-extraction-brings-unlikely-complications.html A discussion is made of a 58 year old man who came down with a toothache in wisdom tooth #31. He gets an appointment with an oral surgeon who pulls the tooth. Five days later he comes down with a severe headache and begins to lose control of his right hand. He eventually ends up at a hospital emergency room and an MRI is taken. He tells them that he just had a tooth pulled but they tell him it is a brain tumor and it has to come out. During the surgery the doctor realizes there is no tumor and later tests show fluid in the brain which included … Read more

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

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