Episode Details

Top 5 Topics:

- Wisdom Teeth Horror Stories

- Nerve Injury & Lawsuits: The Dental Procedure Nobody Warns You About

- 2-Stage Wisdom Tooth Removal (Coronectomy): The ‘Safer’ Option When Close To The Nerve?

- Sinus Complications After Upper Tooth Extractions

- Hidden Bone Infections: ‘Lumpy Jaw’ + The Weird Diagnosis Clue

BackTeeth Boys Band Members:

- Dr. Serv Wahan - Seattle, Washington

- Dr. Amir Tahmasebpour - Toronto, Canada

- Dr. Joe Doctora - Nashville, Tennessee

- Dr. Brendan Gallagher - Long Island, New York

Quotes & Wisdom:

(08:12) “If you do enough extractions… you’re gonna end up seeing pretty much every complication.”

(09:49) “If it’s not healing well… I usually would do a biopsy… and look for clues like sulfur granules.”

(12:31) “The scary thing about Actino… it’s commensal… you already have it—then it overgrows and infects bone.”

(34:19) “Communicate, over-communicate, communicate some more.”

(34:56–36:09) “That ‘barely peeking’ wisdom tooth is a food trap… kicking it down the road can do more harm than good.”

(38:58–39:27) “You’re young and healthy now… you don’t know what the future is gonna bring… what if it flares up in your late 60s/70s?”

Questions:

(06:21) “If you take out the distal upper molar and you get a 5–6 mm sinus opening, do you still take the adjacent tooth that’s on the treatment plan… or stop/repair and come back?”

(16:09) “For very high, fully bony maxillary third molars, what incision design(s) do you use now… and what are you trying to avoid (like recession/tearing)?”

(23:11) “With a contra-angle (after training on straight handpieces), how are you sectioning disto-angular wisdom teeth now—what’s your go-to technique?”

(32:40) “How do you guys approach coronectomy in those ‘30s/40s, nerve-intimate wisdom tooth’ cases—how do you treatment plan and consent it?”

(47:22) “If the IAN is high-riding and in your path, how do you know if the nerve is buccal vs lingual without a CBCT?”

Now available on:

- Dr. Gallagher’s Podcast & YouTube Channel

- Dose of Dental Podcast #208

My watch in this episode = Tag Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 16 Chrono

- 1.2026

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