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Feb20

Myths about Dental Treatments - PART 1: EXTRACTION OF A TOOTH LEADS TO BLINDNESS / BRAIN DAMAGE

As dentists we all have come across patients who are misinformed, poorly informed or those with half baked ideas regarding treatments. How often have we heard patients saying, "I don't want to get my tooth removed because I'll lose my eye sight"? Or something like "She got cavities in teeth because she ate rice when she was pregnant/after delivery". I think there are various such myths and probably they differ from region to region.

I will try to present a few that I have come across in my practice and I'll try to see what could have given rise to these myths ...sort of playing Sherlock Holmes ;-)

I'll present these myths in many parts. And I would love to hear your comments about these myths. please feel free to add those myths that you have come across in your practice.

So, let's start.

Even though dentistry is one of the very highly developed fields among medical sciences, people have plenty of misconceptions regarding various dental treatments and circulating myths from one generation to the next fuels these further. And unfortunately when it comes to educating patients regarding these myths, it proves to be an uphill task, as patients prefer to believe what their neighbors, family members and friends tell them rather than pay any attention to what the dentist has to say.

Some of the most popular among the dental myths are:

# Extraction of a tooth causes blindness and/or brain damage.

# Scaling (cleaning of teeth and gums) will loosen the teeth.

# Children do not need to get their milk teeth treated.

# You need to consult a dentist only when your teeth pain.

# Missing teeth need not be replaced unless all your teeth are missing.

# Worms cause cavities in teeth.

Whenever patients say one of these myths with an absolute conviction, I always ask them whom they had heard it from and the usual answer is, ‘Every body says so, doctor’. A few would be a bit forthright and say to your face, ‘It is surprising that you are not aware of these facts in spite of being a dentist’. Of course, most of these patients would accept our explanations readily and agree to get a proper treatment done once these myths are dispelled.

In the following days, I would try and debunk these myths one by one.

MYTH 1: EXTRACTION OF A TOOTH LEADS TO BLINDNESS / BRAIN DAMAGE

This is the most common among all the myths that plague dentistry. Often we come across a patient who has a tooth that is decayed or damaged to such an extent that no treatment other than extraction would be possible. When the patient is informed that the tooth needs to be removed, more often than not, he/she would ask, “Will it affect my eye sight? Will I need to wear glasses after the extraction?” or “ Doctor, I am already wearing glasses. Will the extraction weaken my eye sight further?”

What is the origin of this myth? We need to look at the tooth development to trace the probable source of this particular fear of tooth extraction leading to blindness. The permanent upper canine (third tooth from the center) is commonly called the ‘eye tooth’ because it develops from an area very close to the floor of the eye socket. Since it develops from this area, people must have thought that it actually has some connection with the eye and removing it may lead to eye damage. But the tooth does not remain close to the eye for long. As it develops and the root formation nears completion, the tooth progressively moves away from the socket floor, travels downwards and when the child is around 11 years old, replaces the milk tooth and assumes its place. By this time the tooth is nowhere near the eye and removal of this or any other tooth would in no way dim the sight or lead to blindness. Teeth and eyes have completely separate blood and nerve supplies. When an abscess (collection of pus) develops from any of the upper front teeth, the patient may get a really large swelling under the eye leading to closure of that eye. Such an appearance may lead to the fear that the eye is getting affected because of the tooth. But once the abscess is drained by means of an incision or by root canal treatment (RCT), the swelling around the eye disappears and the eye becomes normal once again. Some times, unfortunately, the only way such a tooth can be treated is by removing it.

There could be another reason for this myth: people usually start losing their teeth in their middle age (now a days even children in their teens have very poor teeth). And middle age is the period when people usually start to develop short sight and are in need of glasses. It may be a coincidence that the person was provided with glasses following a tooth removal. This may prompt that person’s friends or relatives to incorrectly come to the conclusion that tooth removal had weakened the poor fellow’s vision.

Tomorrow let's see the second myth.