wisdom teeth extraction

Videos Related to Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

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For those who are contemplating having oral and maxillofacial surgery or are in urgent need of health treatment they may want to consider viewing some educational videos. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) has recently uploaded many of their videos to their YouTube page over at http://www.youtube.com/user/aaomsvideo. They also have a Vimeo page that contains many of the same videos over at http://vimeo.com/aaoms/videos. I have previously commented on a video on Anesthesia in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Office. I was critical of the video as I pointed out in my prior blog post. A newer video on third molars (wisdom teeth) has been made available. This video is made in partnership with the American Association of Orthodontists.  The video describes how a wisdom tooth can be impacted and how surgery can be performed to remove a … Read more

Taking Advantage of a Discount Dental Plan For Wisdom Teeth Extraction: Aetna Dental Access

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Wisdom teeth removal can be expensive for many patients. On top of this many people do not have dental insurance, with many people also not having health insurance. Even if you have both dental insurance and medical (health) insurance many of the costs associated with surgery to remove wisdom teeth will not be covered and you will be responsible for the bill. X-rays and anesthesia can also add to the cost of the surgery. The actual costs of wisdom teeth extraction surgery vary and depend on numerous different factors. I have previously discussed this over at http://www.teethremoval.com/wisdom_teeth_extraction_cost.html. In this post I talk about how an impacted wisdom tooth can cost between $100 to $878 to be removed. Some of this cost depends on the location you live in and the skills and experience of the surgeon. In addition, the cost … Read more

Bupa Ends Covering Wisdom Teeth Extractions Deeming Them Unnecessary

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There is a lot of debate regarding removing asymptomatic third molars (wisdom teeth). Those who argue against removing asymptomatic wisdom teeth (retaining) are often accused of trying to save the insurance industry money (See for example Rogue Dentist’s Crusade), while those who argue for extracting asymptomatic wisdom teeth for preventative purposes are often accused of being interested in making more money due to the commonly used fee for service health care system. Somehow in the hoopla the patient’s health seems to take a back seat to some party making (or saving) money. Recently an article came out in London in the Times titled “Health insurer’s chief takes the knife to ‘unnecessary surgery” by Nic Fildes and Andrew Clark, March 13, 2013. The article opens by saying “Want to get your wisdom teeth extracted? Don’t ask Bupa, which is cutting back on … Read more

Out of Court Settlement in Wisdom Teeth Removal Death Case

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Previously I have discussed the case where a 17 year old female died unexpectedly after having wisdom teeth removed. She was a junior in high school and died on April 6, 2011, 10 days after the surgery due to suffering a severe brain injury. The autopsy report showed that she died due to lack of oxygen to her brain during the extractions. This is discussed in the blog post 17 Year Old Female Dies After  Wisdom Teeth Removal. Recently, it appears that this case was settled out of court on March 28, 2013. The parents of the female sued both the oral surgeon and anesthesiologist in the case claiming they had shown negligence in failing to revive her after her heart rate slowed to a dangerous level and thereby causing a lack of oxygen to her brain. Unfortunately the conditions … Read more

24 Year Old Man Dies After Wisdom Teeth Removal

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Recently, another unfortunate case has occurred where a 24 year old man has died after having his wisdom teeth removed in California. See this page for some additional information on death from wisdom teeth removal. Also see other blog posts such as this one 14 Year old Boy Dies Within 24 Hours of Having Wisdom Teeth Removed. In this recent case the 24 year old man saw an oral surgeon in California to have wisdom teeth extracted on March 21, 2013. He was given 6 different sedatives including propofol. During the surgery he began to cough and went into cardiac arrest. He was then taken to a hospital and was found to have two pieces of gauze in his airway. He then died three days later. It is not clear if the gauze contributed to his death. An autopsy report … Read more