Third Molar Removal

By Jennifer S. Sherry, RDH, MSEd, Sandi Watts, MHA, RTR, ARRT, Samantha Hennig, RDH, BSDH, Molly Hogan, RDH, BSDH

Dental hygienists must be proficient in the clinical and radiographic evaluation of third molars, most of which are extracted. However, some patients present with special circumstances surrounding their third molars, such as jaw structures that cannot support wisdom teeth or a high risk for developing caries on neighboring teeth. For this reason, third molar prophylactic extraction has been on the increase in many dental offices. Many young, healthy people are having their impacted wisdom teeth removed when there is no sign of pain or irritation.¹ Whether removing impacted teeth is necessary is a controversial subject. Those who oppose automatically extracting the four teeth when there is no reason to do so say “watchful waiting” is a better path.² There is no evidence of widespread third-molar infection and pathology or of medical necessity to justify surgery.¹ On the other hand, a 2011 white paper from the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons states impacted third molars should be removed—even if they are asymptomatic—when there is a risk for pathology.³

* References can be found in the original article via the link below.
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