Wisdom Teeth

Wisdom Teeth Advice and New Dental Schools

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A new article in the New York Times titled “Wisdom of Having that Tooth Removed” written by Roni Caryn Rabin published September 5, 2011, is an interesting articles for those considering whether or not to have healthy wisdom teeth extracted. The article is located at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/health/06consumer.html The article explores some of the issues regarding whether or not you should or not have have healthy wisdom teeth extracted. The article discusses how the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) held a press conference back in October of 2010, http://www.aaoms.org/docs/media/third_molars/key_findings.pdf (dead 10/14/19), in which one of the key findings was “Retained, asymptomatic wisdom teeth are eventually extracted between 25% and almost 70% of the time.” The author of the New York Times article questioned AAOMS on this statement which appeared on their website. The response from AAOMS was “Yet when … Read more

Why People Hate the Dentist

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Numerous posts on the internet have attempted to shed light on the why people hate the dentist. Tom over at OralAnswers.com has a two part series on why people hate the dentists located at http://www.oralanswers.com/2011/09/why-people-hate-the-dentist/ and http://www.oralanswers.com/2011/09/why-people-hate-the-dentist-my-theory-part-ii/ Dr. Joe Bulger DDS in Canada changed the name of his blog to hatedentists.com and his written several posts on the topic of people who hate dentists located at http://www.hatedentists.com/1319/hate-dentist/ , http://www.hatedentists.com/1326/dentist-haters/ , and http://www.hatedentists.com/1363/top-10-reasons-people-hate-dentists/ SaneDentist.com has a post by Dr. Mujtaba Ali regarding 5 reasons why people hate the dentist located at http://www.sanedentist.com/here-are-5-reasons-why-we-hate-the-dentist-and-what-a-dentist-thinks-about-them.html Reading, over these posts and potential explanations for hate towards the dentist just doesn’t seem to do the hate justice and doesn’t touch on all the issues. So here are some reasons why I think people really hate dentists (subjective opinion): 1) Being motivated by money to the point … Read more

The truthiness of extracting wisdom teeth: James R. Carey

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An excellent article was written yesterday October 3, 2011, titled “The truthiness of extracting wisdom teeth” by James R. Carey who is a Professor of Entomology at UC Davis  http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/facpage.cfm?id=carey The article is located at http://www.davisenterprise.com/opinion/opinion-columns/the-truthiness-of-extracting-wisdom-teeth/ and I think it is well worth a read for anyone considering wisdom teeth removal. He opens the article with “In this age of evidence-based health care, I was astonished to discover that the oral surgeon’s recommendation for removal of my 21-year-old daughter’s impacted wisdom teeth was not based on evidence, theory, logic or facts but rather on truthiness — the quality of being considered to be true because of what he wished.“ He goes on to say “Yet it is considered by dentists, oral surgeons and the majority of the public as “standard of care.” Neither I nor any family members or friends … Read more

Long Term Effects of Trigeminal Nerve Injuries from Dental Care

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A study was published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery titled “Long-Term Outcome of Trigeminal Nerve Injuries Related to Dental Treatment” by M. Anthony Pogrel, Ryan Jergensen, Eric Burgon, and Daniel Hulme. (vol. 69, pages 2284-2288, 2011) that looked at long-term effects of those who suffer from permanent nerve injury from dental treatment particularly involving the third molars or wisdom teeth. A total of 145 patients with 95 female and 50 male patients were involved in the study who had suffered a trigeminal nerve injury affecting either the inferior alveolar nerve or lingual nerve and in 8 cases both nerves. Nineteen patients (13.1 %) reported that their employment was affected, while 21  patients (14.5%)  reported problems with their relationship, 53  patients (36. 6%) reported depression, 55  patients (38%) reported problems speaking and pronouncing words correctly, 63  patients (43.5%) reported … Read more

Periodontal disease (gum disease) might increase the time it takes to become pregnant

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Research presented at the the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology earlier this year showed that periodontal disease (gum disease) might increase the length of time it takes for a woman to become pregnant. Periodontal disease has been linked to many different types of systemic disease. Periodontal disease can lead to inflammation and bleeding around the gums which can lead to spaces called periodontal pockets. The research was led by Roger Hart who is a Professor of Reproductive Medicine and is also Medical Director of Fertility Specialists of the University of Western Australia. A total of 3737 pregnant women in the study were followed and outcomes of pregnancy were looked at for 3416 of the 3737 pregnant women. It was found that women who had periodontal disease (gum disease) took around 7 months to become pregnant while those women who … Read more