Wisdom Teeth Extraction

[j.]

The supposed benefit of removing a wisdom tooth is that it won't impact the tooth next to it.

What are the bad effects, from a Peatarian perspective?

 

[cliff]

I personally feel like my gums haven't healed fully in the spot where my wisdom teeth were pulled about 6 years ago. I would be interested to hear ray peat's thoughts on it, I think he said he did dhea and it made one of his wisdom teeth adjust so it wasn't impacted.

 

[j.]

Yeah, I came across RP about 4 months after I had my wisdom teeth removed. I had them removed because they were impacting their neighbors and I couldn't sleep. Maybe if I started eliminating PUFAs from my diet a few months earlier I wouldn't have needed to remove them.

 

[j.]

So I asked him. His response:

I think it's good to avoid it if possible. Supplements of DHEA often help with impacted wisdom teeth.

Then I responded: Is there any specific reason you have in mind to avoid removal, or is it that avoiding organ removals is best practice?

The only specific research I have in mind is that removing rats' molars impaired their learning ability.

 

[Beebop]

How does DHEA help with impaction of wisdom teeth I wonder?
I also wonder whether DHEA would help aligning other teeth - a hormonal tooth straightener?

 

[4peatssake]

How does DHEA help with impaction of wisdom teeth I wonder?
I also wonder whether DHEA would help aligning other teeth - a hormonal tooth straightener?

Hi Beebop,

I found this at this link: http://www.tidesoflife.com/pregprodhea.htm Interesting stuff.

Peat ate some DHEA, not much, only several milligrams daily. He noted the following:

A mole fell off! Other patients had the same results.
Wisdom teeth impacted 20 years prior rotated into position.
Peat grew 1.5 inches at the age of 46. His weight stayed the same but his waist size decreased. In several months he lost his middle appearance because he got taller.
Topical DHEA on his gray hair caused its original color to return!

Also anecdotal report posted by on Peatarian:

Well, several years ago, way before I discovered Ray Peat's insights I was plagued with bad teeth. In fact, as far as I can remember I always had cavities and on two occasions I had molars removed that just broke-up during the extraction. On one of my dental visits about 6 years ago, I was told after my usual dental x rays and cleaning that I needed yet again several more fillings and one tooth may be too far gone to salvage. I told myself that I needed to take charge of this myself, my dentist only wanted to fill my cavities and nothing more. To make a long story short, I went home and did some research and studied clinical reviews on bone and teeth health and discovered some interesting insights. Two of the most important things I found was that vitamin D and vitamin K2 had a significant impact in that area. I immediately ordered both and started taking them. I won't go into the the amount of vitamin D that I was ingesting because I don't want anybody to go out and try that amount because it was very high and I don't want to have anybody hurt themselves. ( and no, I didn't get a vit d level..I felt it was self evident) All I know is that I needed to throttle that b**** way up. The amount of k2 was in the range of 90 to 100 mcg per day for several months and then tappered to once every 3 days. I took this for about a year and then went back to my dentist for a check-up. After the usual xrays and cleaning the dentist came in to review my xrays. He started to shuffle the slides and had a puzzed look on his face and asked the technician if these were the right ones. She said yes, there was no mistake. The dentist said I had no cavities and there was nothing for him to do( my teeth had remineralized). I jumped out of chair and ran out never to return. If this didn't happen to me I would have said that this story was purely B.S. My teeth now are very healthy, no sensitivity, no plaque and white despite 3 lbs of gummy bears/ week, sugar in my coffe and countless chocolate bars. I would cancel my dental insurance since I haven't had any issues what so ever, but my wife still needs it. That's my story in a nut shell.

 

[j.]

From Yahoo Answers:

I had my wisdom teeth removed 8 months ago.
I used to be a very smart guy, I don't study much and still get outstanding grades.
After I removed my wisdom teeth, I kinda lost a lot of my logical thinking skills, I also became more emotional than before.
I never believed wisdom teeth could make you smart but I do now.
Can someone tell me does wisdom teeth really affect your intelligence?

Trolling or true?

 

[4peatssake]

From Yahoo Answers:

I had my wisdom teeth removed 8 months ago.
I used to be a very smart guy, I don't study much and still get outstanding grades.
After I removed my wisdom teeth, I kinda lost a lot of my logical thinking skills, I also became more emotional than before.
I never believed wisdom teeth could make you smart but I do now.
Can someone tell me does wisdom teeth really affect your intelligence?

Trolling or true?

Well, in your previous post above, RP mentioned the rat study where their removal impaired their learning ability.

I wonder what it says about folks like me who never had their wisdom teeth come in.

 

[j.]

I wonder what it says about folks like me who never had their wisdom teeth come in.

I think what might happen is that during the extraction, nerves connections might be damaged (I'm guessing), so if you never had it, that disruption never occurs so your connections are fine.

If the nerves connections can actually be damaged during extraction, what I wonder is if overtime alternative routes are established so that everything returns to normal, intelligence-wise.

 

[4peatssake]

I think what might happen is that during the extraction, nerves connections might be damaged (I'm guessing), so if you never had it, that disruption never occurs so your connections are fine.

That makes sense j.
To be honest, I've always been grateful they never came in because I've heard such horror stories about people's issues with their wisdom teeth.

 

[Amazigh]

From IAOMT.org:

Tooth Extraction and Cavitational Osteonecrosis

What is a “simple extraction?” Does pulling a tooth always lead to adequate healing? Or is there more to it?

Recent work in the field of facial pain syndromes and Neuralgia Inducing Cavitational Osteonecrosis (NICO) has led to the realization that the jawbones are a frequent site of Ischemic Osteonecrosis, also known as aseptic necrosis, the same as is found in the femoral head. As a result, many extraction sites that appear to have healed have actually not healed completely, and can trigger pain in other parts of the face, head and distant parts of the body. Even though most of these sites actually present with no symptoms at all, pathological examination reveals a combination of dead bone and slowly growing anaerobic pathogens, with a soup of highly toxic waste products, where we would otherwise think there has been good healing.

The incidence is alarmingly high. Researchers in the field have implicated such diverse factors as oral surgery techniques and clotting factors, both endogenous and microbial, in its pathogenesis. This is a newly emerging disease entity, although the phenomenon of “bone caries” was known and written about in the days of G. V. Black, over one hundred years ago. Diagnostic criteria and treatment methods are in the early stages of development, as are methods for preventing routine extractions from becoming osteonecrotic lesions. But it’s already clear that this is going to be a big issue in the future, and may ultimately force us to totally re-evaluate our understanding of the relationship between the tooth and the bone.

 

[Amazigh]

A Biological Dentist (IAOMT-certified) will try to avoid extractions unless it's the last resort. If they absolutely have to take it out, they flush the area out with ozone to kill everything in there. They also properly remove mercury fillings and replace them with material that is compatible to your body.

 

[mandance]

The benefits seem to outweigh the risks of getting wisdom teeth taken out IMO and dont think its a big deal. Especially since you can avoid future complications, headaches, pain etc. I had all of mine taken out when I was a kid and have never had any problems and my ability to learn was never effected. Those theories seem somewhat bogus imo.

 

[j.]

I had all of mine taken out when I was a kid and have never had any problems and my ability to learn was never effected.

Maybe kids have more ability to rewire their connections? I think the fact that it impairs learning in rats warrants at least research to understand the mechanisms and whether they apply to humans.

 

[j.]

The benefits seem to outweigh the risks of getting wisdom teeth taken out IMO and dont think its a big deal. Especially since you can avoid future complications, headaches, pain etc.

If one could do the same with DHEA the latter seems a better alternative to me.

 

[mandance]

It could be plausible. I dont know if I have ever been sold on rat testing as a testimony to the health implications of humans, in several instances. But there are many complications that can arise from not having wisdom teeth removed. I guess it depends on the individual.

This site has some good information: http://www.drbunn.com/faq/3rds

Oddly enough, when I google searched removing wisdom teeth, a lot of conspiracy theory sites like natural news did pop up. But yeah, im obviously not an expert, and if Ray Peat claims he prevented any problems with dosing DHEA then maybe hes right, although having a kid dose DHEA seems somewhat problematic in of itself, especially since DHEA can become estrogenic if it doesnt convert to testosterone. Ray Peat actually told me that himself, which is why he opts for thyroid or pregnenolone over DHEA.

Of course I agree always, if there is a way to avoid uneeded surgeries and medications, that is always the best option, but thats not always an option for everyone but either way, I dont think getting wisdom teeth removed is that big of a deal. I know countless people with them removed and they dont have any problems.

 

[j.]

I dont know if I have ever been sold on rat testing as a testimony to the health implications of humans, in several instance.

Neither did I, but in my view it makes the issue a high priority for research, if such were decided rationally. I don't think having a gut feeling saying, hey, probably it isn't bad, and then avoiding the issue is a good idea.

 

[mandance]

Well I think the research presents itself via thousands of kids in school without wisdom teeth. If learning was impacted as they say, there would be an obvious link I would imagine between learning disabilities and kids without wisdom teeth, But I dont think that has happened. But yeah, im not an expert so I cant really add much more than that. The book of science will never be closed and life is always going to be trial and error in many ways. You could be right though.

 

[milk]

From Yahoo Answers:

I had my wisdom teeth removed 8 months ago.
I used to be a very smart guy, I don't study much and still get outstanding grades.
After I removed my wisdom teeth, I kinda lost a lot of my logical thinking skills, I also became more emotional than before.
I never believed wisdom teeth could make you smart but I do now.
Can someone tell me does wisdom teeth really affect your intelligence?

Trolling or true?

Well, in your previous post above, RP mentioned the rat study where their removal impaired their learning ability.

I wonder what it says about folks like me who never had their wisdom teeth come in.

I've been taking cyproheptadine for the last 2 weeks. Around 5 to 8 mg a day. A few days in, while brushing my teeth, I noticed my four lower incisors were feeling soft. I think one of my upper molars too. I had already noticed the lower incisors were looking a little crooked too. Then I noticed, a few days ago, that the tips of my lower wisdom teeth are showing up. Like they're coming out of the gums around them. So I think my teeth are making way for the wisdom teeth.

I wore braces for years. I recently realized, after taking cyproheptadine (first try, a few months ago) and it making my teeth hurt, that a lot of my health issues are probably related to the orthodontic treatment I received throughout my teens. There's something wrong with my teeth and jaws. I googled it and there's a lot of articles about it on the web, about the problems that can be caused by orhodontics I mean (I found out about Weston Price and John Mew in the process, who seem to be known in Peat circles).

Anyway. I just got back from a dentist's appointment. He saw my wisdom teeth poking out of the gums (I'm 30 years old by the way) and, yes, he wants to remove them. Something tells me that's not a good idea. Shouldn't I just stick to cyproheptadine and see what happens?

 

[milk]

(Old thread, I know.)