Miley Cyrus recently had her wisdom tooth pulled…and turned it into a necklace. She posted a picture of her tooth (one of five wisdom teeth extracted) dangling from her colorful necklace following her dental surgery.
Wisdom and Supernumerary Teeth: Can You Keep Them Post-Extraction?
Note that although humans normally grow four wisdom teeth, it’s common for some to grow extra, called supernumerary teeth. Unlike wisdom teeth, these teeth can grow anywhere in the mouth. Its cause remains a mystery, but that’s a story for another time.
A more pressing matter is the fact that Miley was allowed to keep her extracted tooth, but it’s not an uncommon practice. Every now and then, dentists would get requests from patients to allow them to keep their teeth for some reason. Do current dentistry regulations allow such a practice or can a professional dentist in Greenville, SC say no?
Unfortunately, dentistry’s stand on the matter is not so clear-cut, wherein each state will either their own regulations or none at all. Federal agencies provide guidelines for the safe disposal of potentially infectious materials, but no federal law prohibits patients from keeping their extracted wisdom teeth.
In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allows dentists to return extracted teeth if the patient asks for it, provided it’s not considered potentially infectious. In this case, the dentist will have to clean the tooth with running water and disinfect or sterilize it. Indeed, as long as an extracted tooth is regarded as non-hazardous after proper disinfection, they may be returned to a patient.
Ahead of Time
If you want to keep your tooth post-extraction, it’s best that you inform the dentist before your appointment so that he can prepare the necessary tools or solutions for cleaning. Otherwise, it’s probably off to the medical waste bin.
Whether for personal or religious reasons, take note that you’ll be responsible for keeping your dental relic in check. Store your tooth in a small container or ask your dentist how to preserve it well. One thing is for certain though: problematic wisdom teeth must be removed by careful Greenville oral surgery before it complicates your dental health.
Only trust expert hands in Greenville, SC from established practices like Downtown Dental to deal with your wisdom and extra teeth. Proper dental health demands nothing short of the careful extraction of the entire tooth while mitigating pain and other forms of discomfort.
(Source: Miley Cyrus Creates Necklace With Recently-Pulled Wisdom Tooth, AceShowbiz.com, March 28, 2015)
