Wisdom Teeth

Does anyone know if a DS/DD enters the Coast Guard Academy with wisdom teeth, will the Academy pull them like the Navy does?

We were told that they will but it was recommended that it should be done prior to starting the Academy for the simple reason that the cadet wouldn't miss training during the recovery period. All oral surgery is done through contract dentists in the surrounding area.

Personally we have arranged it to be done here at home so he can recover without worrying about missing anything.

grevar said:

We were told that they will but it was recommended that it should be done prior to starting the Academy for the simple reason that the cadet wouldn't miss training during the recovery period.

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Did someone at the Academy make this recommendation? We actually recommend that the wisdom teeth be removed whenever our Chief Dental Officer decides it is necessary...not all cadets need to have them removed, but most will be required to. It's completely the applicant's choice, and we know the Parents Association frequently recommends having them removed in advance, whether to do this elective procedure before reporting to the Academy.

Objee said:

Did someone at the Academy make this recommendation? We actually recommend that the wisdom teeth be removed whenever our Chief Dental Officer decides it is necessary...not all cadets need to have them removed, but most will be required to. It's completely the applicant's choice, and we know the Parents Association frequently recommends having them removed in advance, whether to do this elective procedure before reporting to the Academy.

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I believe it was on a tour that there was discussion about wisdom teeth. I may have also read it on the parents association website.

I should have been more clear. Regarding my son, his dentist has already recommended that his single impacted wisdom tooth be extracted. Rather than wait until he is at the Academy, we are choosing to do it now so he doesn't have to deal with it during school. We would have made that decision whether he was going to regular college or not. Our dentist is of the opinion that wisdom teeth that are not a problem should be left alone. So to clarify, I would think that if you have your wisdom teeth and they aren't a problem, there is probably no reason to have them extracted.

Way back in the day, even before my military years, I believe that the Army made it a normality to remove a soldiers wisdom teeth, needed or not. I am sure that is not the case anymore.

Thanks, guys, for the info!