Wisdom Teeth

California Dental Association – Wisdom Teeth

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I wanted to write briefly about the California Dental Association and applaud them for their current stance on wisdom teeth and their removal. It is available to the public at http://www.cda.org/popup/Wisdom_Teeth Here is an excerpt from the site. “In addition to problematic impacted wisdom teeth, partially erupted wisdom teeth (poking through the gums a little bit) should also be removed. Bits of food and bacteria get trapped in the pockets between the partially erupted tooth and gum, and cause infections and gum disease, not to mention pain. But according to Dr. Robert Boyd, Orthodontist, Periodontist, and Chairman of the Orthodontics Department at University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, the trend today is to leave healthy, stable, wisdom teeth alone, monitoring them over the years to make sure they stay healthy and stable. Dr. Alex McDonald, Oral Surgeon and Director … Read more

Get smarter about wisdom teeth

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Dr. David Leader of the Malden Dentist wrote a great article about the current views, issues, and opinion surrounding the removal of wisdom teeth. The article in it’s entirety is located at the following URL http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/823821/studies_question_wisdom_tooth_extraction.html I have some excerpts below from the article. “Many do not realize that there is a controversy in the dental community regarding the advisability of prophylactic wisdom tooth (third molar) extraction… This difference of opinion leaves the patient and perhaps their parents with a difficult decision. It is important to listen carefully to their dental advisors, their general dentist and their oral surgeon. Read the informed consent materials and ask questions. Patients must then decide if the recommendations of third molar extractions make sense to them. Then, patients will have to live with the good and bad results of their choices.” The article discusses the … Read more