ROGER E. ALEXANDER, D.D.S.
Through the years, dentists who perform dentoalveolar surgeryhave perpetuated many myths and other unproven beliefs fromone generation to another. Sometimes, these beliefs originatedin older textbooks, while others were given birth by mentorssharing anecdotal experiences with their students. Even today,many of these scientifically unsupported statements are perpetuatedin surgical textbooks and in continuing education forums andare passed on to students in dental schools. In todaysevolving environment of evidence-based medicine and dentistry,these anecdotal observations do not withstand scrutiny. Thepurpose of this article is to review the more common surgicalmyths and to test their validity against scientific evidence.