Wisdom Teeth

Effect of Eruption Status of the Mandibular Wisdom Teeth on Distal Caries in the Adjacent Second Molar

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An article titled “Effect of Eruption Status of the Mandibular Third Molar on Distal Caries in the Adjacent Second Molar,” written by Feiwu Kang and et. al. appears in  the 2016 issue of J Oral Maxillofac Surg. The article explores the eruption of mandibular wisdom teeth and their effect on adjacent second molars. A total of 500 cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of mandibular third molar (MTMs) from 469 patients were evaluated. The authors assessed the presence of distal caries in mandibular second molars (MSMs), impaction depths and angulations of MTMs, cementoenamel junction (CEJ) distances between distal MSMs and mesial MTMs, presence of pericoronitis in MTMs, and patient characteristics (age and gender). The authors state that previous studies show the prevalence of distal caries in MSMs has ranged from 13.4 to 30.1%. The authors found that the overall prevalence of distal … Read more

Prevalence of Visible Third Molars in the United States Population

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An interesting article titled “Prevalence of Visible Third Molars in the United States Population: How Many Individuals Have Third Molars?” appears in the 2016 Journal of Oral and Maxilofacial Surgery 74, pp. 13-17, 2016, by Caitlin B. L. Magraw et al. In the article, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is examined to look at the prevalence of wisdom teeth (third molars) in the U.S. population. Cross-sectional analyses of third molar data were conducted by the authors from the NHANES databases of 2001 through 2002, 2009 through 2010, and 2011 through 2012 to compare data for similarity of outcomes on wisdom teeth prevalence in the US population. The authors found the number of visible third molars in the NHANES databases of 2011 through 2012 decreased progressively from a mean of 1.48 in the 20 to 29 year old … Read more

No Drill Dentistry Can Prevent Tooth Decay

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Research published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology has shown that the need for fillings can be reduced by 30 to 50% through preventative oral care. This means that many previous fillings are not needed when dental decay occurs. As such a preventative approach can be beneficial when compared to current dental practices. Dentistry has been traditionally practiced with the believe that tooth decay rapidly progressed and the best way to manage it was to identify early decay and remove it quickly to prevent the tooth surface form developing cavities. After the decay is removed the tooth is restored with a filling material. Fifty years of research studies have shown that decay is not always progressive and develops more slowly than previously thought. It can take an average of four to eight years for decay to progress from the tooth’s outer layer to the … Read more

Should Patients Be Told Of Trainee Role in Their Surgery?

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An interesting article titled “Should Patients Be Told of Resident Role in Their Surgery?” appears in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery written by James R. Hupp (2015, vol., 73, pp. 2071-2073). The article discusses how early July is the beginning of a new academic year in most hospital-based medical and dental residency programs. During this time many new doctors obtain clinical education. Hospital based dental residency programs often involved a lot of surgical procedures. The article questions if patients should be told of the residents potential role (and lack of experience) in their own surgery. The saying goes that one should try to avoid going to the emergency room or have surgery the first week of July or even all of July. The common thought is that the large amount of new trainees increases the chances of patient problems. In actuality, most first-year residents are given limited or … Read more

Complications Associated with Coronectomy

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An interesting article titled “What Are the Types and Frequencies of Complications Associated With Mandibular Third Molar Coronectomy? A Follow-Up Study,” appears in the 2015 Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (vol. 73, pp. 1246-1253) and written by Giuseppe Monaco. The article explores the likelyhood of complications occuring with coronectomy procedures. Coronectomy is an alternative surgical procedure to extract wisdom teeth with roots that are close to the mandibular canal. The article describes a research study  to determine whether coronectomy decreased neurologic damage in cases of mandibular third molars in close proximity to the inferior alveolar nerve. The study looked at 94 healthy patients with a mean age of ~30 who had 116 mandibular third molars (wisdom teeth) treated with coronectomy. A total of 28 patients dropped out of the study during the 3 year follow up period. Of the … Read more