Wisdom Teeth

Woman Shocked after Learning Surgeon who Removed Wisdom Teeth does not like Taylor Swift

by

Recently, a young woman received viral attention through some TikTok videos she shared about her wisdom teeth surgery. The woman is a big fan of the singer Taylor Swift and was shocked when she found out right after having her wisdom teeth extracted that her oral surgeon does not like Taylor’s music. That text that overlays the video that has since gathered over 3.5 Million views says “me still defending taylor swift w/ my life after getting my wisdom teeth out.” In the video that was shared the young woman is sitting in a dental chair with a wrap around her jaw and appears to be under the affects of anesthesia. She asks her oral surgeon if he played any Taylor Swift during the surgery. The surgeon says “Absolutely not.” A look of horror than appears to cross the woman’s … Read more

Sending Your Extracted Wisdom Teeth into Outer Space

by

Many patients who are having wisdom teeth extracted have heard of the option to pay a company to store their wisdom teeth after it has been extracted. This has been covered on this site before such as in the post Storing Wisdom Teeth Stem Cells. The idea is that one day in the future it may be possible to harvest the stem cells in these stored wisdom teeth to help heal damage cells in your body. Some may find this idea futuristic. However, recently a someone has sent their wisdom tooth into space. In an article appearing in the Los Angeles Times titled “Why artist and engineer Xin Liu sent her wisdom tooth into outer space” written by Deborah Vankin (October 28, 2021) a discussion is made of Xin Lui who “ “…packed up her wisdom tooth and sent it … Read more

Science Shows Why Wisdom Teeth Take So Long to Emerge

by

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

by

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

by

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