[Thomas J.]

As the title states I'm a 67yr old senior and I've been told many yrs ago and of course even lately that I have an empacted wisdom tooth but because my jaw bone on the x ray shows to be very thin, most doctors said to leave it alone. One oral surgeon told me that if he were to remove it most likely my jaw bone would crack and he would have to have me transported to a hospital where he would have to extract it from the outside of my jaw. Well this scared me enough to just forget about it at the time but now I'm feeling pain, sensitivity, heachaches , discomfort around the ear on that side of my mouth. I'm thinking the time is come but you can understand my fear at this point in my life. What do you think the out come will be for me in this situation. Of course I just retired recently and now am on medicare with no dental insurance. I'm really bummed out about all of this .

[razzle51]

all things are possible I am 65 and just had my last wisdom tooth pulled

[Bryanna]

Hi Thomas,

Regarding the removal of the impacted wisdom tooth.... this is not done from the outside of the face. What is meant by the term "outside of the jaw" is when the tooth is in a location where the surgeon has to enter the area from the side of the jaw bone (inside of your mouth) rather than from the top or biting surface of the bone. Just so you are aware, this is not an unusual type of surgery for impacted wisdom teeth and a lot of people have a narrow or thin jaw bone. Your age is a factor as well as the fragility of your jaw bone. But not as much as your health and medication status, whatever they may be. Another factor that would be taken in to consideration is if there is infection and how widespread it is. All of these things are commonly handled in oral surgery practices.

This surgery will most likely be expensive. However, it would be best to consult with an oral surgeon who is in private practice rather than go to a dental school because the treatment and after care will be more thorough from a private practitioner. It is imperative to inform the surgeon about ALL of your health conditions, ALL pharmaceutical and over the counter drugs that you use, as well as any supplements or herbs that you take.

It is understandable to be concerned and even fearful of having this oral surgery. But keep in mind it is not an unusual surgery. It is imperative to seek a very highly reputable oral surgeon, even one who has dual degrees in both dentistry (DMD or DDS) and an MD. This does not mean the surgery will be more expensive with someone like that it just means they have extensive education in both the dental aspect and the systemic aspect of the procedure. You can speak to your general dentist about a referral to such a surgeon as he/she may know of one to send you to.

No one can predict the post operative outcome pertaining to the fragility of your jaw bone. It is not uncommon for the jaw bone to fracture during a wisdom tooth extraction and heal on it's own just fine. Every case is dependent upon the individual circumstances.

It would behoove you to have a comprehensive consultation with an oral surgeon that would include the necessary xrays and possibly a 3D dental scan to show different views of that area that are not normally picked up on 2 Dimensional dental xrays. It's important to openly discuss your tooth problem and the surgical intervention to remove it in detail so you have an idea of the reality of what it's all about. This will actually calm some of your fears and at the same time let the surgeon know that you have concerns about what the post operative health of jaw bone will be. You need to feel comfortable in his care and feel that he is taking all of your concerns seriously.

This is up to you .... if you are comfortable sharing some neighboring areas that you would travel to for the oral surgeon, you can do that here or send me a personal message and I can do a google search for a surgeon who has a dual degree. Unless I know them personally, I cannot vouch for their competency but it still may help you to find someone.

Bryanna

Originally Posted by Thomas J.

As the title states I'm a 67yr old senior and I've been told many yrs ago and of course even lately that I have an empacted wisdom tooth but because my jaw bone on the x ray shows to be very thin, most doctors said to leave it alone. One oral surgeon told me that if he were to remove it most likely my jaw bone would crack and he would have to have me transported to a hospital where he would have to extract it from the outside of my jaw. Well this scared me enough to just forget about it at the time but now I'm feeling pain, sensitivity, heachaches , discomfort around the ear on that side of my mouth. I'm thinking the time is come but you can understand my fear at this point in my life. What do you think the out come will be for me in this situation. Of course I just retired recently and now am on medicare with no dental insurance. I'm really bummed out about all of this .

[Thomas J.]

Hi Bryanna,
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, i appreciate all the helpful info you supplied me. I would like to PM you as you mentioned but I don't see where that is on this site so if you could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. :-)

[Jomar]

New members don't have the PM option available for a short time..

[Thomas J.]

Okay thanks. Do you know for how long?

[Chemar]

Hi
You should see the PM option as soon as you have made sufficient posts

[Bryanna]

Hi Thomas,

The admins have let us know that you are not hooked up to the PM feature yet due to not having written enough posts. I have no idea how many posts need to be written to earn that feature. :/

Irrelevant of what your log in name, unless you gave a full name which you did not, you are anonymous here. So if you feel comfortable knowing that, just give us a general idea of a suitable location and I will try to help you.

Bryanna

Originally Posted by Thomas J.

Hi Bryanna,
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, i appreciate all the helpful info you supplied me. I would like to PM you as you mentioned but I don't see where that is on this site so if you could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. :-)

[Thomas J.]

Okay I guess I could do that, I live outside of Dallas in Wylie Texas, My dentist is in Garland Tx so anything in this area or even in the Richardson or Plano Tx area would work. I guess the reason for my fear and concern is that about 15yrs ago I went to an oral surgeon to have an impacted tooth removed above this one and he seemed scared to even touch it. I'm thinking maybe he should have removed both of them at that time don't you think? Anyway any help will be appreciated, and thanks again Bryanna.

Thomas

[Bryanna]

Thomas,

Your previous experience with the upper impacted wisdom tooth may have presented it's own set of concerns for the oral surgeon. The upper teeth, most of the wisdom teeth, are in close proximity to the sinus. So there's always concern about the sinus involvement when removing those teeth.

Okay so thanks for providing some locations to look in. I am not affiliated in any way with any of these dentists. I am just offering you some possible options to look into. Perhaps are familiar with them already?

The first two have surgeons in the practice who have dual degrees. The third one does not but he makes it a point to emphasize compassion towards his patients. Since I don't know what motivates you to choose a dentist, I thought I would offer these 3 options. Let me know if any look interesting or if you want me to look further.

http://www.texasoralsurgerygroup.com/

http://www.oralsurgerydfw.com/meet-our-doctors/

http://www.drarthurwfields.com/

Bryanna

Originally Posted by Thomas J.

Okay I guess I could do that, I live outside of Dallas in Wylie Texas, My dentist is in Garland Tx so anything in this area or even in the Richardson or Plano Tx area would work. I guess the reason for my fear and concern is that about 15yrs ago I went to an oral surgeon to have an impacted tooth removed above this one and he seemed scared to even touch it. I'm thinking maybe he should have removed both of them at that time don't you think? Anyway any help will be appreciated, and thanks again Bryanna.

Thomas