A Local Man's "Words of Wisdom" Following Tooth Complications - Winchester

A local man had all but one of his wisdom teeth removed when he was a teenager. Now the one that remains, is causing him problems.
Tuesday the Warren County man had to have surgery to have the cyst and the tooth removed.
He and his doctor have a message for area residents. "Don't let it go, take care of it as soon as possible," says Warren County Resident Thomas Corker. Thomas Corker's words of wisdom.
The Warren County man had three out of four of his wisdom teeth removed when he was a teenager. He says years ago an oral surgeon told him the remaining one probably wouldn't cause him any problems, so he left it alone.
Now 48, Corker recently started noticing a numb sensation in front of the tooth. He went to the doctor and found out a cyst had formed in front of it. "It's just a worry because he said it very well could have been cancer, very well could have been, and he said right now it's not, but after they take it out, and remove the whole thing, then they'll do another biopsy and then they'll go from there," says Corker.
Dr. Alan Haspel of Winchester Oral Surgery Center says studies show there's a 0.3 to a 37 percent chance of patients who don't have their wisdom teeth removed, developing a cyst like this one. "Basically what we want to do as a specialty is keep the public informed, we really recommend to have wisdom teeth, whether they are symptomatic or not, evaluated by an oral surgeon," says Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon Dr. Alan Haspel.
Dr. Haspel says age is a factor in procedures like this and that's why doctors recommend patients have their wisdom teeth removed before they're 20-years-old. "We like to look at patients in the teenage years to determine what their risks are for developing problems with wisdom teeth if they're left in."
Corker wishes he would have had them all taken out when he was younger and now he's just looking forward to getting back on his diet of meat and potatoes.
Dr. Haspel says removing these cysts is a common procedure, but it is more invasive than having your wisdom teeth removed.

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Posted: 6:45 PM May 3, 2011
Reporter: Lauren McKay
Email Address: lauren.mckay@tv3winchester.com

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