Wisdom Teeth

Science Shows Why Wisdom Teeth Take So Long to Emerge

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An interesting article titled “A biomechanical perspective on molar emergence and primate life history” by H. Glowacka and G. Schwartz appears in the October 2021 edition of Science Advances (Vol. 7, Issue 41). The article looks into why it takes 18 years or more before humans start to have wisdom teeth emerge and fully develop. Compared to other primates, the third molars (wisdom teeth) come later. In the study the authors state: “Our results support the idea that the biomechanical constraint on masticatory form in adult primates operates throughout the duration of craniofacial growth. This constraint regulates where molars can emerge safely into functional occlusion, which, when viewed within the mechanical context of overall orofacial growth, modulates the timing of when molars emerge.” What this means is that our wisdom teeth are just not able to finish growing until our jaws become large … Read more

Patient Recall During Informed Consent for Wisdom Teeth Surgery

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An interesting article titled “Patient Recall of Information on a Third Molar Informed Consent Video,” written by Olsen et al. appears in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 2017 (vol. 75, pp. 2507-2511). The article sought to explore how much of an informed consent video for wisdom teeth surgery patients remember. The authors were motivated to conduct the study due to how recent court cases and lawsuits have played out. Patients will often deny that certain information was provided to them in an attempt to show malpractice by the surgeon. In most informed consent processes for patients having wisdom teeth removal they view an informed consent video, have a discussion with the surgeon about information provided, and then acknowledge having done so by signing a printed document that discusses the risks and benefits of surgery. Since some of … Read more

Listening to Music During Wisdom Teeth Removal

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An interesting article titled “The Effects of Music Listening During Extraction of the Impacted Mandibular Third Molar on the Autonomic Nervous System and Psychological State” appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery written by Yamashita et al. In the article the authors explored the effects of listening to music during wisdom teeth removal to see if there was any suppression in sympathetic nervous activity and decrease in anxiety. In the article the authors discuss how tooth extractions can be stressful for patients and in particular extractions of lower wisdom teeth. The authors devised a study with forty women ages 20 to 40 years old who had a lower wisdom tooth extracted between March 2018 and September 2018 at the Kagoshima University Hospital in Japan all by the same surgeon. The forty women were randomly … Read more

Hallucinations While Taking Anesthesia: Implications for Sexual Assault

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In the past it has been discussed how in rare occasions patients (mostly young women) while having wisdom teeth surgery are sexually assaulted. This is discussed at http://www.teethremoval.com/sexual_assault_under_anesthesia_for_wisdom_teeth_removal.html and in several blog posts such as In Light of the Allegations of Child Sex Abuse at Penn State…, Dentist Who Groped Patients Sentenced to Jail, and Recent Cases of Dentist Assistant Sexual Assault During Wisdom Teeth Removal. Many times these patients go on to sue either the dental assistance or dentist or oral surgeon who committed the sexual assault. However, most of these same patients are given drugs during the surgery that can cause sexual hallucinations. Thus it is typical for the legal team defending the dental assistance or dentist or oral surgeon to argue that the patient was dreaming and no actual sexual assault occurred. In some cases it is … Read more

Does Difficulty of Wisdom Teeth Surgery Relate to Blood Parameters?

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An interesting article written by Beatriz Sainz de Baranda et al. titled “Relationship Between Surgical Difficulty of Third Molar Extraction Under Local Anesthesia and the Postoperative Evolution of Clinical and Blood Parameters,” appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The article discusses a study to explore if the surgical difficulty of wisdom teeth removal is related the postoperative course as assessed from clinical and blood parameters. In the article the authors conduct a study using 118 patients who presented at Dr Peset University Hospital in Valencia, Spain, from September 2012 through November 2014, to have lower wisdom teeth extracted. In the study each patient had the surgical difficulty assessed using the Pederson scale which is based on an evaluation of panoramic radiographs. The 118 patients were divided into two groups based on the difficulty … Read more