For many teens, the battle with opioid addiction starts with wisdom teeth

Note from Audra:  One of my sons had his wisdom teeth removed this past summer therefore this article caught my eye.  We were given waaaaayyyy more Percocet than we needed but our oral surgeon explained that he wanted us to have them just in case the pain was awful and we needed them.  He’s fully aware of the over prescribing issue/leftover Percocets and actually has a program whereby teens can bring back their unused pain pills and he disposes of them in a very unique way.  To top it all off he gives the kids a Starbucks gift card in return.  Turns out my son wanted to be weaned off Percocet ASAP so we had plenty to turn back in and gladly did so!  By the way..our experience was excellent and Walt had no setbacks or trouble and not much pain or swelling.   Dr. Lee “Mac” Whitesides is our Oral surgeon and we highly recommend him!

Five million people have their wisdom teeth removed each year. Those patients are predominantly young adults and teenagers feeling those third molars crowding their way into the corners of their mouths, causing pain and creating a potential for other periodontal problems. Many of those patients will go under the knife for a bit and leave their dentist’s or oral surgeon’s office afterward with a prescription of painkillers in hand. But that simple prescription might turn out to be more risky than the wisdom teeth themselves.  Continue at Popular Science