A statistical association between the injection of local dental anesthesia in children ages two to six and missing wisdom teeth has been discovered by researchers from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. The developing wisdom tooth, known as a bud, begins forming between the ages of two and six in the back four corners of the mouth. These buds are potentially vulnerable to injury because they do not begin to develop until after birth, and are therefore susceptible to more outside influences.
"It is intriguing to think that something as routine as local anesthesia could stop wisdom teeth from developing. This is the first study in humans showing an association between a routinely-administered, minimally-invasive clinical procedure and arrested third molar growth," said corresponding author, Anthony R. Silvestri, D.M.D., clinical professor in the department of prosthodontics and operative dentistry at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine.
The researchers identified records of patients who had received treatment in the Tufts pediatric dental clinic between the ages of two and six and who also had a dental x-ray taken three or more years after initial treatment in the clinic. They were able to analyze a total of 439 sites where wisdom teeth could develop in the lower jaw, from 220 patient records.
The results of the study point to a significant statistical likelihood of those children treated with dental anesthesia to not develop their wisdom teeth when compared to a control group. The findings have been particularly exciting for the researchers, who will now examine if the statistical link could be expanded to a procedure halting the growth of wisdom teeth entirely, thus eliminating the problem of impacted or otherwise problematic wisdom teeth growth.
"The incidence of missing wisdom teeth was significantly higher in the group that had received dental anesthesia; statistical evidence suggests that this did not happen by chance alone. We hope our findings stimulate research using larger sample sizes and longer periods of observation to confirm our findings and help better understand how wisdom teeth can be stopped from developing," stated Silvestri. "Dentists have been giving local anesthesia to children for nearly 100 years and may have been preventing wisdom teeth from forming without even knowing it. Our findings give hope that a procedure preventing third molar growth can be developed."
Are we ready for a world without wisdom teeth? Speaking as someone who had their wisdom teeth removed in the teen years and then suffered dry socket, this author says yes.
