Wisdom Teeth and Dental Sedation

Question submitted by Candace:

I am writing because my twenty-one year old daughter needs to have her wisdom teeth removed. Her dentist said that one of them is under some bone that may need to be removed. He wondered if we’d be more comfortable with an oral surgeon under anesthesia instead of with a regular dentist. I don’t like the idea of anesthesia, but I also don’t want my daughter in a lot of pain. What do I do?

Candace

Dear Candace,

The bone issue tells me that it is an impacted wisdom tooth. I can’t imagine one so complicated that you would need for your daughter to go through general anesthesia. This is especially true ot her age when her bone is still relatively pliable. You’re actually having her wisdom teeth dealt with at an ideal time so I am glad that you are on top of this.

There are added risks with general anesthesia that you will not want to take if it is not necessary. My recommendation is that you have your daughter’s wisdom teeth removed under oral conscious sedation.

I would not press your dentist to do this. Sometimes when a dentist tries to steer a patient in a different direction it is because they are uncomfortable doing the procedure. You don’t want someone working on your daughter who is out of their comfort zone.

Instead, look for a dentist who does a lot of wisdom tooth extractions and offers sedation dentistry. This way your daughter gets the care she needs in the safest way possible. It does not mean you have to switch dentists permanently, just for this procedure.

As I mentioned, she is at the ideal age for this so you will not want to put it off.

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