wisdom tooth

The wisdom behind wisdom teeth extraction

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An interesting article titled “The wisdom behind the third molars removal: A prospective study of 106 cases” appears in the August 2021 of the Annals of Medicine and Surgery written by Kerdoud Ouassime and et. al. (vol. 68, pp. 102639). The article seeks evaluate the decision-making of wisdom teeth extractions and the epidemiological profile in a population of 106 cases. In the article the authors mention how debate continues about the beststrategies for the management of wisdom teeth. The majority of oral and maxillofacial surgeons continue to say that that most wisdom teeth are potentially pathological and should be extracted while others argue that only wisdom teeth third with associated pathology should be removed. To investigate the indications for wisdom teethextractions the authors conducted an analysis of 106 patients seem at their hospital between January 1, 2020 and January 1, … Read more

Laser therapy can reduce pain after wisdom teeth removal

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An interesting article titled “Extraoral low-level laser therapy can decrease pain but not edema and trismus after surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial,” appearing in BMC Oral Health is written by Ehsan Momeni and et. al. (September 20, 2022, Vol. 22, 417). The article seeks to explore the impact of using a low-level diode laser on pain, swelling (edema), and jaw opening (trismus) following surgery to remove impacted lower wisdom teeth. This topic has been covered before on this site see for example the articles Laser Therapy to Reduce Pain and Improve Healing After Tooth Removal and Using Laser Therapy after Tooth Extraction to Improve Wound Healing. In the article the authors explore laser therapy as a possible alternative to techniques such as medication, cryotherapy, and surgical closure techniques to minizime complications, pain, and … Read more

World record set by nine year old’s wisdom tooth extraction

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Recently, a nine year old in Virginia has become the youngest person according to Guinness World Records to have a wisdom tooth extracted. The nine year old boy was 9 years and 327 days old when he had the wisdom tooth extracted. The boy learned that he needed the extraction when his orthondontist in Virginia noticed on a 3D x-ray that he had a wisdom tooth and a molar growing on top of each other. This was in the upper left area of his mouth. The boy said he could not feel the tooth growing but his orthodontist wanted it removed so that the molar could drop in his mouth properly. The boy was referred to an oral surgeon in Virginia. The oral surgeon confirmed wha the orthondotist had said, the wisdom tooth needed to be removed in order to … Read more

Using Imaging to Help Treat a Fused Wisdom Tooth

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An interesting article titled “Endodontic Management of a Fused Mandibular Third Molar with Supernumerary Tooth Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography: A Case Report” appears in the American Journal of Case Reports written by W. Almutairi and M. Alduraibi (2022; 23: e937224). The article discusses a case report of a 26 year old man that had a wisdom tooth fused with with a supernumerary tooth. In the article discussion is made of the 26 year old man man with good oral hygiene who arrived at the author’s college in Saudia Arabia after having two days of severe pain on his lower jaw. An exam showed a large, mesially tilted, irregular wisdom tooth fused with a fourth molar. The fused tooth was tender to touch and responded to pain when a cold stimulus was used. The clinical findings suggested symptomatic irreversible pulpitis with … Read more

Rare abscess in chewing muscle after wisdom tooth extraction

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An interesting article titled “A Rare Infratemporal Fossa Abscess of the Lateral Pterygoid” appears in Cureus written by B.S. Daines, R. Varman, and J. Cordero (May 27, 2022, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. e25391). The article discusses how a 26 year old man developed an infratemporal fossa abscess in the lateral pterygoid, a masticatory muscle used for chewing, after having a wisdom tooth extraction. The article discusses how the 26 year old man developed facial swelling after having two upper wisdom teeth extracted. He presented with facial swelling on his left side which was accompanied by constant and dull pain localized to the left face with radiation to the left temple and made worse when he opened his jaw. The man also had a low grade fever and his symptoms persisted even with taking oral amoxicillin for one week and … Read more