Wisdom Teeth!

My son has accepted his appointment to USNA and we are thrilled for him. Just visited the oral surgeon to check where his wisdom teeth were. He has no pain, etc. What do most people do re getting wisdom teeth out before I day? Would hate to have it done preventively and then have a complication that would impede his ability to start this year. Also if we don’t do anything now does the academy take care of this later?

Thank you.

My son had his out in December after being appointed- if you choose to have them done before I day- the sooner the better took about 2 weeks for my son to fully heal and a good 4 days before solid foods- had all 4 removed- one was sideways- you'll need a dr. statement stating all went normally to submit to admissions -not DOMERB

This seems to be a recurring discussion especially around this time of the year. The key question is if they are impacting now or not. If they are, have them removed and have up to a few weeks to recover fully before reporting for I Day.

Here is a thread from a year ago:

https://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/wisdom-teeth.54795/

I am not a dentist and not trained to provide health care related advice. However, I do have the experience as a parent of appointees. You don’t even need to worry about DODMERB for wisdom teeth unless there are lingering issues.

DD had hers checked in February and they were fine. By I-Day one was turned and she was told they all had to come out. She had them out over Christmas holiday. She said a lot of Plebes had to have them out. I suspect the Navy would rather pull them at their leisure than wait for a really impacted tooth.

I do work in the dental field...follow the advice of your dentist. It is not uncommon for young 16-18 year olds to need to get them out in order to prevent issues in the future based on the placement of the teeth with respect to the mandibular nerve. It is also not uncommon at 18 for the wisdom teeth to not have progressed to the point of making removal an easy process. Without giving any HIPPA information, working in a Navy Dental Clinic, I have seen many ENS with wisdom teeth still in place, though depending on their sea service selection, we do take them out even beyond the Academy. I will just emphasize at this point, follow the advice of your family dentist. Hope this helps!

DONT risk a complication that will result in a health turn away on I day. That would be very unwise in MHO! If no problem exists, allow the Navy to deal with it LATER, once he is admitted and in the program. I personally know of a SA appointee that went in several months prior to I day to have wisdom teeth removed and a severe infection and major surgery requiring correction resulting from an unforeseen complication that resulted in an entire year delay for in-processing. This was done on the recommendation of the dentist.

HuskyPilot said:

DONT risk a complication that will result in a health turn away on I day. That would be very unwise in MHO! If no problem exists, allow the Navy to deal with it LATER, once he is admitted and in the program. I personally know of a SA appointee that went in several months prior to I day to have wisdom teeth removed and a severe infection and major surgery requiring correction resulting from an unforeseen complication that resulted in an entire year delay for in-processing. This was done on the recommendation of the dentist.

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Best advice here. Even if his wisdom teeth are popping out (“impacted” or whatever they call it), he should still be fine to wait for a while before getting them removed. I only had mine out about 4 months ago, and I’m in my early 20’s. Sure, they caused me a little bit of pain maybe once or twice a year, but it was nothing that bad. But I can tell you that I’m sure glad I waited till I got on active duty to have TRICARE pick up the bill. After seeing the invoice for the surgery charges that would have been billed to me had I not been with TRICARE, I can tell you I definitely would not have wanted to pay out of pocket.

HuskyPilot said:

If no problem exists,

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Agree under this condition.

Tex232 said:

Even if his wisdom teeth are popping out (“impacted” or whatever they call it), he should still be fine to wait for a while before getting them removed.

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Does the condition get progressively worse and you just take pain meds daily? Do you report on I Day and ask to keep your Tylenols? You can’t. I vote this the worst advice on the forum.

Nothing personal against you, Tex, just this particular post.

Both my middle sons had their wisdom teeth out within a few days of each other. All of their teeth were impacted and it was honestly super easy. I was prepared for the worst and one of them was eating Cain's chicken that evening - chewing on the front teeth. Easier to do now than when they are focused on studies. We had health insurance that covered part of it and dental for the rest. The post surgery recovery was Comedy Central. Neither had a complication.

Zeus said:

HuskyPilot said:

If no problem exists,

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Agree under this condition.

Tex232 said:

Even if his wisdom teeth are popping out (“impacted” or whatever they call it), he should still be fine to wait for a while before getting them removed.

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Does the condition get progressively worse and you just take pain meds daily? Do you report on I Day and ask to keep your Tylenols? You can’t. I vote this the worst advice on the forum.

Nothing personal against you, Tex, just this particular post.

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Well I’m not sure if you ever had to pay for wisdom tooth surgery for your son/daughter, but I’m sure you wouldn’t think it was the worst advice on the forum if you had seen the invoice that I received for my own surgery. Why spend thousands of dollars for a simple operation when it can be done just as easily by the military for free? That’s exactly what a military dentist told me shortly before I entered the service. And as for the pain of impacted wisdom teeth, let’s get real, it’s not that bad. Frankly if a kid whines over a little toothache, he probably should reconsider going into the military altogether.

The old school model didn't allow you to graduate with your wisdom teeth whether they caused an issue or not. That has been modified over the years that if no complications, you can keep them.

If you do it now before I Day you take the risk (albeit small) that complications will prevent you from reporting I Day.

Yes the military will do it for 'free' but your Mid will depend on the compassion of his/her classmates to look after you for the post op recovery - normally not a big deal, however that care and nurturing is not likely to measure up to what Mom would provide in the comfort of your own home. They might also miss a couple of days of school which might be a hassle catching up.

We found out around 30-45 days before I Day that our DD's wisdom teeth would definitely need to come out. We didn't get it done prior to I Day and she is finishing up her Mid3C with her wisdom teeth still not removed. However, they are coming out eventually. (She did have the PRK eye procedure in January)

Once they report, you can run into some issues if they go to a non military oral surgeon to have them removed over a break but really the issue will be if there are complications.

Some choose to have it done before I Day and others wait. Make your decision with your P2B based on what best suits you and your family.

Definitely recommend to do it ahead of time. My 2/C had to have major dental work done while in school and she was miserable.

Cerberi said:

The old school model didn't allow you to graduate with your wisdom teeth whether they caused an issue or not. That has been modified over the years that if no complications, you can keep them.

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Really ? I thought that removing wisdom teeth was a right of passage. I had them done at NAPS, they literally went down the hall (alphabetically order) taking 3-4 a day. Used to joke Navy was training new dentists.

My advice is if they are bothering DS - get it done before Plebe Summer. One less thing to worry about. If not bothering him, leave well enough alone -Navy will take good care of him.

I have never used Tricare.
Wisdom teeth pain has been known to come & go...then one day the pain comes and doesn't go away.
It's all about the anesthesia not the surgery. Anybody can cut into some gumline and use pliers, but it's all about getting put under and more importantly, the monitoring (oximetry, BP, pulse, etc.) & being able to wake you up!
I felt more comfortable having that procedure performed on my children at home by an oral surgeon who was referred to me by my dentist & someone I could research. Either way, it's your call. Good luck.

My daughter had all 4 extracted at the Academy. She had no idea what an ordeal it can be. Prior to the procedure, she was like, "So, I have an 8AM class that I can go to and then have to report to the oral surgeon. I doubt I'll make my 10 but should be finished for my afternoon classes". I just said. That's good. (figured there was no point in scaring her). She went back to barracks afterwards and then that night was hungry so walked to Dalghren for a milkshake and fainted. After that though she was fine. These kids are tough. I would get it done if you have enough time now, otherwise just wait till they are there.

Cerberi said:

The old school model didn't allow you to graduate with your wisdom teeth whether they caused an issue or not. That has been modified over the years that if no complications, you can keep them.

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How old school are your referring to. I'm a late 70's grad and while many of my class had then out while I was at USNA, no dentist ever suggested it to me and mine remained in my mouth until I was in my 40's

OldRetSWO said:

How old school are your referring to. I'm a late 70's grad and while many of my class had then out while I was at USNA, no dentist ever suggested it to me and mine remained in my mouth until I was in my 40's

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It goes back and forth constantly. Even in the 4 years I was there it changed from having to have them out before graduation to only needing them out if they looked like they had grown in a certain amount and would cause issues. One of my buddies didn't get them out until he showed up to Pensacola for API.

Wishful said:

I have never used Tricare.
Wisdom teeth pain has been known to come & go...then one day the pain comes and doesn't go away.
It's all about the anesthesia not the surgery. Anybody can cut into some gumline and use pliers, but it's all about getting put under and more importantly, the monitoring (oximetry, BP, pulse, etc.) & being able to wake you up!
I felt more comfortable having that procedure performed on my children at home by an oral surgeon who was referred to me by my dentist & someone I could research. Either way, it's your call. Good luck.

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Military Dentists are trained just like any other dentist. The military also employs board certified Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons and Nurses in Suite to perform surgery under anesthesia. And to be honest, the military takes out WAY more wisdom teeth than a surgeon in "any town usa".
Your Mids will be well taken care of within the military system.

Good to know. As I said, I have no experience with Tricare.

Any medical decision should take into consideration the individual and circumstances. Let the experts decide the best course of action. Consult your dentist and/or oral surgeon regarding current status. Our appointee elected to spend his spring break getting 4 wisdom teeth removed. X-rays revealed them to all be laying sideways and while not causing any immediate discomfort continued growth might have undone the results of two years of orthodontics for an overbite. He carefully observed all post operative instructions to avoid complications. Make sure you finish the antibiotic therapy. Reviewing this forum helped drive his decision to remove them now. He did not want to miss any class time for this issue. By chance the Oral Surgeon was a army veteran who spent 5 years as a tank commander. He absolutely advised that you never want to be "Out of Country" when your teeth decide to hurt. The physician also noted that you want an oral surgeon not a general dentist to perform such procedures ( no offence to dentists , we love our dentists, different training). The real reason I took the time to post today is the issue of cost. Many are unaware of their own medical coverage. Many do not have Dental Plans. We do not have a Dental Rider. Review your benefits manual. Impacted tooth surgery is often covered by major medical. Our final cost for full anesthesia , 4 wisdom teeth extractions, x-rays , by a an oral surgeon was $270, a fraction of the $2,200 cash estimate. The entire procedure took less than one hour, two if you count the consultation visit a week prior to surgery. Full recovery took about 48 hours. One word: ICE!
We were happy to "extract" just one of the many concerns our plebe has regarding induction and his high school perfect attendance record remained unblemished.