wisdom teeth
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tripleplay
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I also was wondering whether the wisdom teeth were required to come out. Took DS to the dentist recently, she said his wisdom teeth were all they way in and she didn't recommend removing them. Can you keep'em? I kind of don't want to do anything to his body that I don't have to. I'm getting a little paranoid. I might not make it to I day. DS is fine of course.
If I am reading this correctly, according to this from the USNA Catalog/DoDMERB, "wisdom teeth causing symptoms must be removed. Asymptomatic impacted or partially impacted wisdom teeth are not generally disqualifying." -- ttp://www.usna.edu/Catalog/docs_2011-2012/8_131-154_App_A.MedReqs,B.Admin,Fac,Staff.pdf
As it turns out, our recently-appointed DS had all 4 removed last year (the ortho had recommended and oral surgeon agreed). It was way less painful for a then-17-year old than it was for me when I had 2 removed as a 48 year old! He bounced back within a day or so where it took me weeks...
newhampshirecandidate
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You can keep your wisdom teeth in if they grow in correctly. Most people have 2 or all 4, however, that become impacted because their jaws are too small (impacted means they grow in sideways) and it affects your bite and the rest of your teeth. That's really the only reason to have them out.
This topic comes up every year. Having healthy widsom teeth removed is NOT part of the USNA application process !!!! IF your dentist says they need to soon be removed, the advice often suggested is to have them done BEFORE I-day which makes sense since there is still time to relax at home and recover before starting the academy.
If I am reading this correctly, according to this from the USNA Catalog/DoDMERB, "wisdom teeth causing symptoms must be removed. Asymptomatic impacted or partially impacted wisdom teeth are not generally disqualifying." -- http://www.usna.edu/Catalog/docs/8_131-154_Appendices.pdf
As it turns out, our recently-appointed DS had all 4 removed last year (the ortho had recommended and oral surgeon agreed). It was way less painful for a then-17-year old than it was for me when I had 2 removed as a 48 year old! He bounced back within a day or so where it took me weeks...
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USNA2016Dad
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Congrats on the BFE! When the wrestling season ended just recently, my son had a couple of medical issues we needed to take care of and we did. Per the acceptance/declination form, we notified USNA and they informed DodMERB. DoDMERB let us know what we had to do next and we complied. The issues are now resolved and everyone (DoDMERB, USNA, my son and we parents) is happy. Again, congrats on the BFE.
Cheers...
As a current orthodontist and retired Navy general dentist and orthodontist, my advice to all on this is to defer to the recommendation of your current dentist and/or orthodontist and the oral surgeon they refer to. There is debate even among dentists over the advisability of removing wisdom teeth, even those that are fully erupted and functional. In addition, each case is different and there are many factors that would go into the decision as to extract or not. As such, there is no quick answer to the CLINICAL side of "can you keep 'em?" and it is definitely not something that can be determined in this forum without examining the patient and their xrays. (As an aside, I personally am not a big fan of wisdom teeth, and in most cases I recommend their removal, and at a young age, ie late teens, if possible. Better to do the procedure when there are no serious symptoms or problems, than when they do become painful. BUT again, there are so many factors that we look at in making each individual recommendation ...) As for the NAVY policy side of "can you keep 'em?" the answer is generally going to be yes, keeping wisdom teeth can be allowable if fully erupted, and without symptoms. Even some impacted teeth do not get extracted by Navy dentists, but that's beyond the scope of this forum...
That being said, IF your dentist (not your neighbor or mailman...) recommends removal of wisdom teeth, I would have it done before I-day. That is, several weeks before to allow for full healing, addressing any complications, etc. Most of the time it's a simple procedure and the DS's and DD's heal up just fine in a few days. As a former Midshipman and USNA faculty member, I can also tell you that the last thing a mid needs to deal with is recovery from wisdom teeth extraction, especially during plebe summer.
As for Tripleplay, if your dentist recommends not removing them, AND doesn't feel that they will need to be removed in the future, you should be able to go with that. If there's any doubt, seek a second opinion (perhaps through a quick consult with an oral surgeon) to address any uncertainty. My DS had his removed last summer; our plan was to have them out before he went to college, no matter where. Happy to find out a few weeks ago that it will be USNA.
Hope this helps. Beat Army!
TheDukeOfEarl
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Same here. Our dentist is an old Navy man who, once he heard back in the Fall that DS was targeting West Point, he insisted that all 4 wisdom teeth get proactively removed. (One wisdom tooth was clearly going to need it done soon anyway, but the rest were in 'wait and see' status up until then, but all were askew and likely going to end up needing removal sometime during the "college years").
The dentist said he knew of at least one case where a Mid/Cadet (forget which) had his wisdom teeth flare up during CBT/Beast/Plebe Summer and it was pretty ugly because the kid delayed in saying anything for fear of losing his spot. So we went with the recommended pre-emptive extraction, and that's one less thing for DS to worry about as he heads to USMA on July 2nd for R-Day.
By the way, our dentist said -- clearly joking -- that he normally wouldn't help out an Army man like this, but seeing as it was us....
Yep, same great class!... USNA1985 is definitely the expert though as a BGO and moderator; I'm just a casual observer and relatively recent poster who's going through the process with everyone else...
Cheers, and Beat Army!