Local Anesthesia May Impede Development of Wisdom Teeth

Local Anesthesia May Impede Development of Wisdom Teeth

The delivery of local anesthesia in dental practice may have a beneficial side effect for pediatric patients—the ability to delay the development of wisdom teeth. According to a study out of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, children between the ages of 2 and 6 who received an injection of local anesthesia presented with missing lower wisdom teeth. This statistical association hints there may be an alternate method to eliminating third molars that is far less traumatic than oral surgery.

“It is intriguing to think that something as routine as local anesthesia could stop wisdom teeth from developing,” notes Anthony R. Silvestri, DMD, the study’s corresponding author and a clinical professor at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. “This is the first study in humans showing an association between a routinely administered, minimally invasive clinical procedure and arrested third molar growth.”

Wisdom teeth generally develop between the ages of 2 and 6 and erupt in early adulthood. During the course of development, these buds are protected only by a thin layer of soft tissue. For children who present with caries and require restorations, this soft tissue often serves as the injection site for local anesthetic. The study suggests that early exposure to local anesthesia may inhibit the growth of these buds.

This conclusion stems from research data from Tufts’ digital dental record system. The team identified children between the ages of 2 and 6 who had received treatment at the school’s pediatric dental clinic and completed a 3-year dental X-ray follow-up. Among young children who did not receive anesthesia, 1.9% showed no evidence of wisdom tooth buds; for children who received anesthesia, however, that figure climbed to 7.9%.

Researchers hope this correlation will prompt further study into ways to prevent the development of third molars. “Statistical evidence suggests that this did not happen by chance alone,” Silvestri says. “Our findings give hope that a procedure preventing third molar growth can be developed.”