wisdom teeth surgery

Eighteen Year Old Music Student in Portland Dies After Wisdom Teeth Removal

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An eighteen year old male high school student planning to study music in college died last February in Portland, Maine, after having his wisdom teeth removed. The story is from Portland Press Herald, by Matt Byrne, posted February 26, 2014, titled “Love, sorrow, questions after Cheverus student’s death,” and accessed March 21, 2014. See http://www.pressherald.com/news/Cheverus_senior__budding_musician__dies_after_routine_oral_surgery_.html. The article describes the eighteen year old man as independent and compassionate and able to play the trumpet, bassoon, saxophone and English concertina. In this particular case the man had wisdom teeth extracted on a Wednesday in February. He then went home and two days later on Friday night his condition deteriorated. He is said to have died in the early hours Saturday in his mother’s arms at home. In the article Dr. Thomas Dodson, who now is with the University of Washington in Seattle … Read more

Mother of Two in Hawaii in a Coma After Wisdom Teeth Surgery

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A sad story in Hawaii has come out recently where a 23 year old mother of two has been left in a coma since having wisdom teeth surgery. This story is reported by Hawaii News Now in an article titled “Hilo woman in coma following wisdom teeth extraction,” written on March 19, 2014, by Tim Sakahara, located over at http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/25023450/hilo-woman-in-coma-following-wisdom-teeth-extraction. The woman had four wisdom teeth extracted and went into cardiac arrest during the surgery. She was flown to a medical center in Hawaii and has been unresponsive since. She has a healthy four year old son and three month old baby. She was reported to be in good health. It is not clear what anesthesia was given. I have previously reported other cases of coma and death from wisdom teeth extraction see http://www.teethremoval.com/death.html.

The Effect of Acne Medication on Wisdom Teeth Removal

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In a research letter in the October 2012 issue of J AM ACAD DERMATOL titled “The effects of isotretinoin on wisdom tooth extraction,” by Jyoti Sharma, Diane M. Thiboutot, and Andrea L. Zaenglein (pp. 794-795), a discussion is made of of the medicine more commonly known as Accutane. Accutane has since be removed from use in the U.S. due to legal issues but the generic form of isotretinoin remains available. See more discussion on the Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotretinoin. In the study, 328 patients between 12 and 27 were contacted who were on isotretinoin. 26 of these patients had wisdom teeth extraction, with all but 1 of the patients still being on isotretinoin at the time of the surgery. 3 patients suffered from a dry socket but none of the other patients had a complication after wisdom teeth removal. One of these … 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

Propofol-Remifentanil Versus Propofol-Ketamine for Third Molar Surgery

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A study titled “Comparison of Propofol-Remifentanil Versus Propofol-Ketamine Deep Sedation for Third Molar Surgery” appears in the 2012 Anesthesia Progress journal. The authors of the study set out to better determine what anesthetic to provide during third molar (aka wisdom teeth) surgery. In the study, two drug combinations for use as deep sedation during oral surgery were evaluated. Patients in a control group received a continuous intravenous infusion of propofol-remifentanil,  and patients in an experimental group received a continuous intravenous infusion of propofol-ketamine. This study was double blind in that neither patients nor surgeons were aware of which treatment was given. In this study, 37 patients  were monitored while sedated for respiratory, heart rate, and blood pressure stability. Emergence from the effects of anesthesia and total recovery time were recorded. In addition, patients and surgeons were both asked to rate … Read more