Wisdom Teeth

Active Surveillance For Managing Retained Wisdom Teeth

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An interesting expert opinion by Thomas B. Dodson appears in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery vol. 70, issue 9, supplement 1, pages 20-24, 2012, titled ” Surveillance as a Management Strategy for Retained Third Molars: Is It Desirable?”  The author opens by describing in the third paragraph that the treatment of symptomatic disease-free wisdom teeth can be challenging. The author states in the third paragraph “Absent good evidence, management decisions should incorporate the clinician’s experience and expertise, and after a careful, balanced review of the risks and benefits of both treatment options, weigh heavily the patient’s wishes and desires regarding extraction versus retention. The opinions in this chapter reflect the author’s personal decision-making process based on a careful literature review and clinical experience/expertise.” The author opens by describing his clinical classification of wisdom teeth rationale. He states that … Read more

Looking at the Timing of Removal of Wisdom Teeth and It’s Effect on Complications

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An interesting study by M. Anthony Pogrel titled “What Is the Effect of Timing of Removal on the Incidence and Severity of Complications?” appears in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, vol. 70, issue 9, supplement 1, pages S37-S40, 2012. The author sets out to explore if younger patients (less than 25 years) have a decreased risk for postoperative complications than older patients.  The author begins by describing three studies in the literature that have shown that complications associated with wisdom teeth removal increase after 25 years of age. I have also mentioned several of these studies over at http://www.teethremoval.com/wisdomteeth.html. The author then goes on to discuss that recovery for patients of wisdom teeth surgery older than 21 may be delayed after extraction (by two studies). The author then discusses that mandibular fracture and tuberosity fracture may occur after … Read more

When Abstinence is Evidence-Based

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I came across a 2012 talk Jay W. Friedman gave titled “When Abstinence is Evidence-Based: The Case Against Prophylactic Third Molar Extractions,” at the 2012 National Oral Health Conference. The PowerPoint for the talk is located over at http://www.nationaloralhealthconference.com/docs/presentations/2012/05-02/Jay%20Friedman.pdf (I have mirrored it over at http://www.teethremoval.com/When_abstinence_is_evidenced_based.pdf). For those not aware of Jay W. Friedman you can start by reading the post American Journal of Public Health Author Jay W. Friedman is 2009 Author of the Year and Looking at the Concept of Prevention in Dentistry. Some interesting graphics appear in the talk, a few which I have included in this post. The talk is very concise and to the point and very informative for anyone considering whether or not to extract wisdom teeth (third molars). I will now provide a brief overview of the talk, but encourage you to look … Read more

Removing Wisdom Teeth May Improve The Periodontal Health of Remaining Teeth

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An interesting article titled “Removal of Symptomatic Third Molars May Improve Periodontal Status of Remaining Dentition,” by Carolyn Dicus-Brookes and et al. appears in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (vol. 71, pp. 1639-1646, 2013). The article seeks to explore the impact of removing wisdom teeth on the periodontal status of adjacent second molars and other teeth located in the mouth specifically for patients who have mild symptoms of pericoronitis. As discussed recently over at Upcoming Changes to JOMS and AAOMS in 2014, select articles in JOMS will have press releases written by AAOMS staff to accompany them. This is one of those articles so that feature appears to have already been rolled out. To get an idea of what the press release entails I will briefly describe it. It is very short (less than 10 sentences) and fits … Read more

Wisdom Teeth Caries Experience and Periodontal Pathology in Young Patients

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An interesting article explored the prevalence of caries experience and periodontal pathology on asymptomatic wisdom teeth in young adults appears in a 2012 issue of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery by Rachel N. Garaas and et al. titled “Prevalence of third molars with caries or periodontal pathology in young adults” (J Oral Maxillofac Surg. vol. 70, pages 507-513, 2012). The article seeks to help inform young adults who are seeking advice about the extraction or retention of wisdom teeth about if these teeth can remain symptom free or not. The study includes 409 patients with an average age of 25. The authors define a periodontal probing depth of at least 4 mm as indicative of periodontal inflammatory disease. The authors found that a periodontal probing depth of at least 4 mm was detected more often on a mandibular … Read more