Posted on Sep 3, 2019
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MSG Preventive Medicine Specialist
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Yes and no. If your wisdom teeth are fine and not causing you issues nor causing you to be given a DRC that makes you non-deployable, then no. BUT....if your wisdom teeth are examined during a LHI scheduled dental exam and the doctor determines they need to come out and as such you are given a DRC of 3, then you are non-deployable and will be listed as RED on the unit metrics and THEN you can be ordered (forced) to get them removed. And, you will get them removed on the Army's dime.
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The reason I ask is because my wisdom teeth do not bother me. I am currently a CAT 2 Dental which is still deployable, however i keep being told i have to get them removed by the dental clinic.
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MSG Preventive Medicine Specialist
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SSG (Join to see) - Well, if the dental clinic is telling you to get them removed...then there is a legitimate medical reason for it. Get it done. You get a day of quarters per wisdom tooth they take. At least, you did back in my younger Army days.
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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I'd very seriously ask for an oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) consult, not just general dentistry...I was nagged by our dentist, my wife was nagged by another yrs ago, she acceded, I explicitly said no, mine are healthy, not impacted, not decayed...I'm not a dentist, obv, I'm merely saying I'd politely insist on an OMFS consult, with panoramic X-ray eval, if that hasn't been done yet, to properly assess them...I completely realize, and have seen many threads on here, about that whole theme in the svcs...I'm merely saying that the highest one can go clinically, for the most part, for such aspects, is, as I've understood the matter, OMFS...if you svc clinical facility doesn't have one, ask for a consult elsewhere nearby...if there's a VA facility near you, when I was an allied-health doctoral resident (not dentistry) before my total perm disability, I saw many instances of active duty, Guard, and/or Reserve personnel sent to VA for consults when local clinical facilities didn't have what was needed...I'm obv not expert, of course, and those are just, as I'd said, my opinions, my Mom had hers out, I think needlessly, yrs ago when I was a kid...I'd seen how much pain she was in...honestly, that's what I'd ask for, purely as a layperson opinion on the topic...I'd seriously thought about going dental, I didn't, for which I often kick myself, I'd esp wanted to go OMFS, the either MD or DO for med, as OMFS residencies are typically linked to med programs, which is why, if you can, ask expressly for an OMFS dentist who's also a physician, trust me, they exist, I assure you, don't let anyone tell you they don't, I researched that whole topic exceedingly thoroughly yrs ago, promise...if you haven't asked about such a consult, I very definitely would, that's all I'm trying to suggest, honest, hope that was of at least some help, for whatever possible good it might be worth, OK?
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Lt Col Jim Coe
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So let's think this through a little. The Army probably can't force you directly, like at gun point, to have your wisdom teeth removed. HOWEVER, if you have bad teeth you will fail your dental exam. Failing this exam may make you non-deployable. Being non-deployable can cause the Army to force you out of the Service. Is that what you want?
Anyway, oral surgery isn't all that bad these days. Modern techniques and "good drugs" make it fairly painless. If your wisdom teeth are impacted or decayed, then having them out is a good idea. It's free. As my Alaskan friends say (long before Nike), Just Do It.
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Sir,

The reason I ask is because my wisdom teeth do not bother me. I am currently a CAT 2 Dental which is still deployable, however i keep being told i have to get them removed by the dental clinic.
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Lt Col Jim Coe
Lt Col Jim Coe
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SSG (Join to see) I gotta ask. Did they say why the teeth have to come out?
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