As a claims adjuster who specializes in dental malpractice, wisdom teeth extractions are the most difficult. A few thoughts... Maxillary (upper) teeth are always easier to have extracted. The can use infiltration injections and not blocks. Also, there's no nerve running just under the teeth- all these mean it's almost impossible to cause parasthesia. That's a huge plus for you. Antibiotics are generally only necessary if you have noticeable infection or have a history of heart issues or joint replacements. Antibiotics are nasty stuff and can cause serious side effects. If it were me, knowing what I know, I'd ALWAYS have an oral surgeon extract teeth. The stories I could tell you. Pretty sickening.
What's the alternative, to let your regular dentist do it? (Sorry for the dumb question. This has never happened to me.) So if my dentist tries to "pull" this on me, I should ask for his qualifications, and ask him to refer me to a specialist?
A general dentist can do a anything within the scope license. They will pull third molars just fine almost all the time. However, an oral surgeon will avoid those pitfalls- like severing a lingual or mental nerve that leaves one numb in their lip and tongue for life.... Or shoving a tooth into the sinus cavity (love those x-rays)... or my two favorites- the first was a dentist that forgot the patient was allergic to latex. He shoved a latex glove in her mouth and she went into shock. He gave her an epi injection in the thigh. Again, forgot she had bone marrow cancer and she lost the skin and meat on that thigh all the way down to the bone. Awesome photos. Six surgeries later she was getting along. The other, was a dentist who accidentally kept his gloves on wiped himself after a session in the bathroom. Gave that poor patient hepatitis. She was not amused.
I may need that advice in the next few years, so thanks. Maybe I could just get a surgeon to be my regular dentist, if he'd do it. Then I don't have to insult the G.P. by asking him to refer me to someone better than him. (I'm really good at not insulting people..)
