Is it really better to have your wisdom teeth removed by a surgeon, or can your dentist do it?

Oral surgeon or family dentist? Which is better when you have your wisdom teeth removed? Does anyone have experience with having their wisdom teeth removed while sedated and under local anasthetic instead of while completely knocked out by a general anasthetic?

Is it really better to have your wisdom teeth removed by a surgeon, or can your dentist do it?
I'm a dentist.





Unbelievable. Six wrong answers in a row. I'm sad to say that even the hygienist (RDH) doesn't know what she's talking about. Her comment about "general anesthesia" was wrong. Oral surgeons do use general anesthesia in their offices--that's what IV sedation is, however it is not to the point where you need a ventilator.





Most general dentists do not remove impacted wisdom teeth and thus refer such cases to oral surgeons. Some general dentists, however, are perfectly comfortable removing impacted wisdom teeth, and rarely refer such procedures to oral surgeons.





Some general dentists are also licensed to administe IV sedation. Most are not. (All oral surgeons are).





I extract impacted wisdom teeth regularly, and refer to oral surgeons only those patients who wish to be sedated. For the patients I treat, I often prescribe for them an anxiolytic medication (e.g. Valium or Xanax) to be taken prior to the surgery and use nitrous oxide during the procedure. Generally these patients are very comfortable.





If your general dentist is comfotable performing the procedure, then you have to ask yourself the following: do you want to be awake and aware of what's going on? Or do you want to be unaware of what's going on? If it's the latter, then you should ask to be sedated intravenously. If your general dentist does not offer IV sedation, then you'll be referred to an oral surgeon.





That's all there is to it. The rest of the answers posted above this one range from inaccurate to just plain clueless, and you should ignore them completely.
Reply:Completely knocked out. It's the only way to go. Then make certain he/she gives you a prescription for Lortab(s) to take home. Oral surgeon.
Reply:Oral surgeons do not use general anesth. to remove wisdom teeth, unless they are performing some type of surgery as well. General anesth requires that you be in a hospital hooked up to a ventilator, along with other machines. I had two of my wisdom teeth removed by my family dentist under local only. Everything went fine, no problems. I had the remaining two removed by an oral surgeon under sedation. I had him remove the two wisdom teeth that I had left while he was also placing two dental implants. Again no problems. An oral surgeon is considered a specialist, therefore their prices are much more expensive than a general dentist. However if you are nervous about the procedure than an oral surgeon may be the choice for you. If you do well with dentistry in general and don't mind the injections and noise than a general dentist can also be okay.
Reply:Is your dentist giving you a choice? When I had mine out I was referred to an oral surgeon. Most definetly you'll go to one if they're impacted and you don't wanna be awake.
Reply:although a general dentist can perform the removal of wisdom teeth it is highly recommended that you go to an oral surgeon because if you are sedated and if for some reason something goes wrong they have the equipment on hand to


handle the situation.
Reply:I had a great experience (if you can call it that... lol) with wisdom teeth removed. I had what you call conscious sedation, where I remember very little but I was not under general anesthesia. I ended up having a lot of trouble with one tooth being removed and it took a long time (this was not anticipated), so I was very happy I had this anesthesia type. I would recommend conscious sedation. I had it done at a hospital (A clinic within a hospital) which I would recommend. Definitely go for the oral surgeon.
Reply:it depends on your age and if your teeth are going to be easy to get out (which can be seen on x-ray). I had mine done by an oral surgeon. I was knocked out for 1 hour, woke up with a very fuzzy feeling that was kind of fun, and was back at work in 2 days. Mine were pretty easy to get out though, so he didn't have to do a lot of cutting on me, just a couple of little stitches.
Reply:It probably depends on how difficult the extraction


may be.





If they are impacted, or growing at the wrong angle, its


probably best to leave it to an oral surgeon. Extractions


are their "bread %26amp; butter"- meaning they do it all the time


and are quite familiar with the processes of extracting


wisdom teeth in lots of different circumstances.





General dentists may be capable of extracting if the process


is simple. Extractions full within their capabilites and some


general dentists may also have anesthesia to relax you


as well.





But wisdom teeth are labor intensive, being so far back


in the mouth and the roots being harder to reach, so


most general dentists might refer to oral surgeons anyway.
Reply:well when i turn 15 i am going to an oral surgeon to have my gums cut open and have the teeth took out they say that this is better so u get them out and it done and over with
Reply:yeah, the dentist guy is right...it really depends on how sedated you want to be during it, which can also depend on how difficult the extraction will be. I had mine out yesterday, and mine were done by an oral surgeon because I had IV sedation. The procedure itself was great, I don't really remember anything at all about it! As for today, haha I don't feel all that great, I spent the first part of the day in bed, sleeping off and on, but that's also partly because of my pain meds. Good luck in deciding!