Very good points, thanks.

LOL  -  Yeah, that's why the chicks dig me : )

    I can think of no reason why general anesthesia would lead to increased
postop pain, but I can think of a good reason why a poorly designed
study would show this.
    Specifically, the extractions have to be randomly assigned.  If this is
a retrospective study, it is extremely unlikely that the selection is
random.  A patient having simple extractions of erupted molar teeth is
far less likely to either ask for or have suggested by the surgeon that
the extractions be done under general anesthesia than a patient having
removal of deeply bony impacted third molars.  Furthermore, I would bet
that patients requesting general anesthesia as a group are more anxious,
and it is quite likely that this may also select for more stoic patients
opting for local anesthesia.
    BTW, you get tough guy points for having all 4 out in one day.  This is
more often done with general anesthesia, if for no other reason than it
is prudent to minimize the number of GA inductions, but ordinarily for
patients having 4 wisdom tooth extractions done with local I'd advise
them the have the 2 left and 2 right done separately, so you are left
with a side to chew on more or less comfortably.  OTOH, there's
something to be said for getting it over with.

Steve

I just had my wisdom teeth removed yesterday (All 4 - Male 35), and
decided to do a local anesthetic only.

Two reasons, one, I just didn't want to go under, and two, I had heard
"Dr. Dean Edel" quote a medical journal as saying people who did so,
experienced less post-operative jaw pain.

I misspoke in the doctor's office, and said "reduced recovery time",
but either way, he said that was bad information.

Is anyone aware of the study I am talking about?  Where might I find
it, if it exist?  I tried a search, but to no avail.

Thanks for any help,

Troy

ps - The best reasoning Dr. Edel could come up with, was that when a
patient is "out", the doctor may stretch the patients jaw more.