Word: molars
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...case, said Oral-Surgeon Salman, third molars are so often troublesome* that some dental authorities believe they should be removed routinely as a preventive measure. One school even proposes extraction before the teeth are fully formed, on the ground that a growing third molar may press against a second molar's roots hard enough to cause damage. Dr. Salman prefers to leave wisdom teeth in place until the facial bones are fully grown, usually between the ages of 16 and 18. Lower third molars, he said, even though they seem to be pushing through at an angle, have...
...growing third molar is shown by X rays to be damaging a second tooth, Dr. Salman's prescription is extraction. When teeth are impacted only in bone, Dr. Salman suggests, they can be left in place, provided X rays are taken twice a year to check on their behavior. One reason for Dr. Salman's conservatism regarding bony impactions is that removal of deeply embedded teeth sometimes has a distressing sequel: the patient's jaw feels numb for days, weeks or months...
...trying to keep its tongue in James Bond's cheek. The setting is Beirut this time, and the man of the Are is David Niven, droll indeed as a middle-aged physician and reckless driver. Photoflash rings, trick fountain pens and the transistor in his lower left molar rather embarrass him. Bribed by British intelligence (running short of certified spies, understandably) with the promise of a Cord Le Baron, Niven flies off to run interference for an oil sheik whose assassination is pending. Among the double-dealers he encounters, none surpass Françoise Dorl...
Wisdom Growth. But all the experts agreed that transplantation of a tooth inside the patient's own mouth is indeed worthwhile. The likeliest occasion for using this technique is when an adolescent or young adult loses one of his first molars (as one in three does) because of decay. Then, if the patient has a "wisdom tooth" that has not yet broken through, or is threatening to become impacted, the dentist removes it and uses it to replace the lost molar. This young, "budding" tooth will take root and grow just like any other tooth, except that it will...
Then, in 1959, the cold war thawed a bit, and along came Mikhail Alekseevich Menshikov. Urbane and nattily dressed, "Smiling Mike" impressed and puzzled Washington with his molar-showing cordiality. Menshikov was all smiles until the U-2 dustup. Then the Russian Ambassador simply vanished from the Washington scene for a while. After the Kennedy in auguration he reappeared, smiling as usual, but in recent months his grin seemed to be wearing thin...