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The Wisdom Teeth Merged Thread

JasonH

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I herd the states don't allow you to have your wisdom teeth.  Well mine have come in perfectly so far so is it mandatory to have them pulled?  If so I'll just do it before the army cause I hear horror stories lol.
 
Illegal to have wisdom teeth?  ??? Not likely.
 
Not nonsense at all 48..... and definitely not illegal but in most cases the military will pull them on you before you deploy on an overseas mission.  The dental folks are pretty adamant about this one for deployments and if you go overseas you'll see allot of guys dagged yellow for wisdom teeth.  This is due largely that most places we go to have rudimentary or nonexistent dental care and the small dental teams that some missions have is largely for emergencies only and don't have the extensive equipment that a dentist in Canada would have.
 
And for the record, I had all four of mine pulled at the base hospital in Kingston, and it was painless.  They drugged me up real good, yanked 'em, and I was back at work the next day.  Military dentists get the same training as their civilian counterparts.
 
Jay Hunter,

If your wisdom teeth come in perfectly than don't worry, they'll let you keep them.  I know this because I still got mine.

Word of advice kids:  Take care of your teeth, because it can take alot of dentist work to get you fit enough to deploy if you got a shitty set of chompers.
 
Infanteer is indeed correct. 

If your wisdom teeth have all come in, and are functional then they will leave them in.  If they have not come in and / or there is some level of disfunction then out they come.  We are mostly worried about a condition called pericoronitis (look it up in Google in you care) that people with wisdom teeth who are errupting can get.  There are also other problems that wisdom teeth can cause. 

We are getting better about sending dental teams on Operation (there is a team on OP ATHENA and one on the way to OP HALO).  Dental problems from wisdom teeth can come on quick and result in re-pat to Canada.  This causes all kinds of cost / operational / logistics headaches, and most importantly takes someone away from the job they have been sent overseas to do.  The other fear is that if you are in some country as part of a small group they may just have a SOFA and/or local contract with Dan-o the local tooth puller.  He may not have the same standard of dental experience as your Dental Officer  Canadian dentists (esp military) are first rate.  Dentistry in other parts of the world (including the UK Army sometimes) is downright scary. 

In the bad-old-days of early Croatia / Bosnia dental problems were the #1 reason for re-pat to Canada.  Thus the health service came down hard on the pre-deployment dental screenings and regulations we have all come to know and love.

Cheers,

MC 

 
I only had one wisdom tooth pulled by a female Air Force dentist back in Moose Jaw over 12 yrs ago. I still have a hole in my gums from that. On the military dentist nighmare scale of 1-10, I would rate in an 8.5!

I wish I could have been 'put out' for it. A four hour experience, and and after failing to pull the tooth in traditional fashion, it invloved cutting the tooth into quarters, cutting the gum and then getting it out. I had stitches, etc, and was in discomfort for about a month.

This wisdom tooth was on the bottom, right hand side, and it was compacting the other teeth around it, plus she had bad breath too.

She is probably now out, working as a butcher in some Safeway store.

Regards,

Wes
 
This came up in conversation on a FB group.  One of the members was recommending getting wisdom teeth removed, whether they presented a problem or not.  Apparently there is a worry of "risk of infection" as she put it and could effect being sent on deployment.  She is presently a CF member, but this just sounds bizarre to me - why subject someone to a medical procedure that isn't warranted (if a problem exists, different story). 

Can anyone shed some light on this?
 
You go to the dentist prior to deploying. If they see that your wisdom teeth might or could cause problems they take them out. The reason for this is because when you are deployed there may or may not be a dentist available. Also it takes that member away from there job causing a shortage. It is just simply easier to remove them and avoid any possible fututre problems. Getting them out beforehand and spending a day or two in recovery is better than spending a week or more with an infection or other problem. Also keep in mind deployments can vary in length so who knows how long you could be away for.

For me I only had to have my bottom two out and my top two didn't present any forseeable problems.
 
Ok, so reading your post I see: "If they see that your wisdom teeth might or could cause problems they take them out. "

So, they won't just yank them just because.  That was the jist I got in this other discussion.

I've had my wisdom teeth almost 20 years, and I've never had problems.  Even my dentist has said to me they are one of the most perfect sets of wisdoms he's ever seen.  I just really don't want to lose teeth without good reason. LOL
 
estoguy said:
Can anyone shed some light on this?

This may be of interest.

"If your wisdom teeth have all come in, and are functional then they will leave them in."
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/16898/post-75942.html#msg75942
 
Thanks!  I had searched wisdom teeth, but only found two other older topics.

Like I said, I was curious, as this sounded rather dubious to me.  So, good teeth shouldn't present a problem. Cool.  :salute:
 
It was recommended by the DO to have my wisdom removed before I went on tour. (I only had 2 upper,my bottom two never came in). They were only a nuisance at the time; no serious problem, though some in my family did have issues with wisdom teeth (impaction, etc) I went ahead & had them removed. Though this was a Cyprus tour  & 1983. I'd do it again just to avoid any future problems. But that's just me & my own personal opinion & experience.
 
Good day everyone,

I was hoping to call upon the experience of the senior members in this forum and the others who are or may have been in the same situation as I. Around this time last year I was told by the dentist that I will need to have all four of my wisdom teeth removed. Normally I would have gotten them out in a timely manner, but considering I had a busy school schedule, a couple of Class B contracts and a fair bit of procrastination, I didn't get them out, yet.

Here's the problem, I'm available to get them out now and I even have a consultation for it on Tuesday with my civilian dentist (I'm back to Class A). On Feb 10, I will be leaving for BC on a Class C contract which will take me all the way to the end of June 2019. The first five weeks will be pre-deployment training, in BC. Should I get my wisdom teeth out before I go out to BC (if I can) or could I get them out while I'm in BC before I go on my deployments? Another problem is would the military be able to accommodate time for me to do that without taking me away from my training?

Thank you and apologies for not starting a new thread. I figured I'd just add on to this one.
 
luttrellfan said:
Good day everyone,

I was hoping to call upon the experience of the senior members in this forum and the others who are or may have been in the same situation as I. Around this time last year I was told by the dentist that I will need to have all four of my wisdom teeth removed. Normally I would have gotten them out in a timely manner, but considering I had a busy school schedule, a couple of Class B contracts and a fair bit of procrastination, I didn't get them out, yet.

Here's the problem, I'm available to get them out now and I even have a consultation for it on Tuesday with my civilian dentist (I'm back to Class A). On Feb 10, I will be leaving for BC on a Class C contract which will take me all the way to the end of June 2019. The first five weeks will be pre-deployment training, in BC. Should I get my wisdom teeth out before I go out to BC (if I can) or could I get them out while I'm in BC before I go on my deployments? Another problem is would the military be able to accommodate time for me to do that without taking me away from my training?

Thank you and apologies for not starting a new thread. I figured I'd just add on to this one.

I would recommend getting them removed prior to any military obligations. I'm a little fuzzy when it comes to Class A contracts, but with RegF, you must 'DAG green', which means you must be healthy and fit to deploy. Dental falls into that category. If they find that you fall into a risk of anything happening with your oral health, that could very well shut down your training and/or deployment.

I'm not sure what your schedule will be like, but normally with training, it is at the very least Monday - Friday, so I highly doubt any recovery period could be accommodated during training without risking a recourse. Obviously, I don't know what preceded the recommendation of your wisdom tooth removal so if it's just merely a recommendation to remove them, you could be fine.

When it comes to military stuff, never procrastinate in regards to medical matters! It could easily cost you a lot.
 
luttrellfan said:
. . . Should I get my wisdom teeth out before I go out to BC (if I can) or could I get them out while I'm in BC before I go on my deployments? Another problem is would the military be able to accommodate time for me to do that without taking me away from my training?

You should note that "time availability" may not be the sole consideration in having these teeth extracted.  I will make some assumptions about your personal circumstances (correct me if I'm wrong) - the recommendation was made by a civilian dentist who had no connection (i.e. not paid by the military) with the CAF;  all your dental care up to now has been covered by private insurance and/or the Reserve Dental Care Plan (RDCP) and that your previous Class B contracts were less than 180 days or that you did not have dental services during any periods of Class B service that extended past 180 days.

Things may have changed considerably since I've retired from the CAF, but before you make a decision about when you'll have the tooth fairy rip out your wisdom teeth confirm that it will be covered.  Once you start a period of "Class C" or go past the 180 day point of Class B, you are no longer covered by the RDCP (if that is your primary dental insurance coverage) and if covered by another dental care insurance plan they may have restrictions in the policy once you are eligible to be provided care by CF medical and dental services.  You would most likely have to be evaluated by a military dentist (or a civilian under contract to the CF) to see if your dental condition warrants (according to military guidelines) extraction.  Though the reputation of the CFDS re stinginess of providing services is largely a distant memory, they still have limitations.

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/benefits-military/pay-pension-benefits/benefits/medical-dental/exclusions-limitations.html
Dental care limitations

Limitations on the type, level and frequency of services are applied by the senior dental authority based on selection criteria and guidelines developed by the Director Dental Services on behalf of the Director General Health Services. These limitations are designed to ensure that a comprehensive range of appropriate dental services are provided to entitled personnel based on professionally assessed need. For entitled CAF members, major restorative, prosthodontic, orthodontics and surgical services are usually limited to members with:
1.three or more years of completed service; and
2.sufficient time remaining in their current terms of service to complete the procedures and the required follow-up.

Major orthodontic services are limited to the treatment of a functional disability related to malocclusion.
 
Blackadder1916 said:
You should note that "time availability" may not be the sole consideration in having these teeth extracted.  I will make some assumptions about your personal circumstances (correct me if I'm wrong) - the recommendation was made by a civilian dentist who had no connection (i.e. not paid by the military) with the CAF;  all your dental care up to now has been covered by private insurance and/or the Reserve Dental Care Plan (RDCP) and that your previous Class B contracts were less than 180 days or that you did not have dental services during any periods of Class B service that extended past 180 days.

Things may have changed considerably since I've retired from the CAF, but before you make a decision about when you'll have the tooth fairy rip out your wisdom teeth confirm that it will be covered.  Once you start a period of "Class C" or go past the 180 day point of Class B, you are no longer covered by the RDCP (if that is your primary dental insurance coverage) and if covered by another dental care insurance plan they may have restrictions in the policy once you are eligible to be provided care by CF medical and dental services.  You would most likely have to be evaluated by a military dentist (or a civilian under contract to the CF) to see if your dental condition warrants (according to military guidelines) extraction.  Though the reputation of the CFDS re stinginess of providing services is largely a distant memory, they still have limitations.

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/benefits-military/pay-pension-benefits/benefits/medical-dental/exclusions-limitations.html

Your assumptions are correct. With my civilian dentist I'm covered up to 90%. Thanks for your input. 
 
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