My dentist wants to pull my non-impacted iwsdom teeth in his office and not at an oral surgeon. Is this safe?

Answer 1

A dentist can do non-impacted extractions.

I used to work at the Oral Surgery Unit at the Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City, and we have both general dentists and oral surgeons on-staff. This is how they usually route the extraction cases-- Non-surgicals go to the GPs and the surgicals go to the OMFSes.

General practice dentists are very well-trained in doing non-surgical extractions (i.e. extractions that do not require cutting away gum and drilling away bone).

Oral surgeons are very well-trained in doing surgical extractions (i.e. extractions that requires cutting away gum and drilling away bone, such as bony-impacted wisdom teeth) and other oromaxillofacial surgery such as sinus lifts, orthognathic surgery, etc.

If your dentist feels an extraction is too complicated, he will refer you to an oral surgeon. If it is a non-complex straight non-surgical extraction, any general-practice dentist can handle it.

If you don't follow the post-op instructions, you are just as susceptible to dry sockets and infections even if the tooth was pulled by an oral surgeon.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

If a wisdom tooth is not impacted and the roots are not really curvy that there should not be a problem with a general dentist doing the extraction. I am a certified dental assistant and the dentist i work for extracts 3rd molars all the time and they are normally easier to come out than other teeth. General dentists can do extractions and if a wisdom tooth is not impacted it is no different than any other teeth.

Answer 3

Yes, it is safe, as long as there are no complicating factors to consider. General dentists are taught to perform uncomplicated extractions as part of their dental school training, including removing wisdom teeth.

If your dentist doesn't refer you to an oral surgeon for the extractions, it generally means he or she feels confident that there won't be any complications or difficulties during the surgery, and there are no anatomic abnormalities or medical factors to consider. (For example, if you have certain chronic diseases or blood abnormalities.)

Many dentists choose to refer ALL wisdom teeth for extraction because they don't like to do extractions. Others choose to do uncomplicated extractions and refer only those which would require general anesthesia (put the patient under) or special surgical expertise (e.g., impacted teeth).

By the way, having your wisdom teeth removed by an oral surgeon doesn't eliminate your risk of developing a dry socket after surgery. Dry sockets are an abnormality of healing, not the result of who did the surgery.

Answer 4

HELLO,
THE ANSWERS ABOVE ARE CORRECT. WITH THE WISDOM TEETH BEING NON-IMPACTED THE EXTRACTIONS SHOULD BE UNEVENTFUL. IF A GENERAL DENTIST FEELS THAT THE WORK WILL NOT CAUSE HIM DIFFICULTY, HE'S PERFECTLY QUALIFIED TO DO THIS WORK.

Answer 5

i don't think he would put himself in a bad position if he didn't know what he is doing. Doctors have a lot of liability these days. you can always get a second opinion by another dentist, but overall i think he knows what he is doing.

Answer 6

It is safe, but only if there is no reason to have to chisel or cut anything to get them out.