<p>....they are impacted.... :( I really will look into getting it set up. Didn't enter my mind that there will be alot of kids doing this over spring breaks everywhere. I think our insurance covers all but around 500 bucks as my older son just had his done yesterday & he has our same insurance through our company. Crazy kid was out eating french onion soup with a beer last night. No meds for him. He's tough & rough. I saw him this morning and there is no redness or swelling what so ever. I can't believe it. Said he has no problem but is a little tired. Looks like he breezed through this thing. Hope his brother has some of his older brother's genes in there somewhere.</p>
<p>Jamzmom: My son was pretty good too, chipmunk for a day and then fine. But get it on the books sooner than later. Sounds like they trot through Patten Hall on a regular basis! Another odd piece: if ever hurt and son taken to ER, other dr. or similar; make sure they know their home address is KP, not "real home" or you will get the bills and it is a mess to fix.</p>
<p>i dont think i even have wisdom teeth... i asked my dentist about it and he said its something that just might never come up...</p>
<p>SUCKERRRSS!!!!</p>
<p>Not sure if this is a change in policy...but I graduated from KP with my wisdom teeth intact. In fact didn't have them taken out until my first year in medical school (waited till on active duty for the free dental care) My parents did have to sign a waiver saying it wouldn't be KP's fault or whatever, but as far as I know there was not a requirement that you had to have them out. Might want to check on that if they aren't bothersome. </p>
<p>on the flu shot: another one of those ole wives tales. There is no correlation between getting the flu shot and it causing the flu. Unfortunately there are a few people out there who end up getting the flu before the flu shot really takes effect and they will attribute them getting the flu to the flu shot. The flu shot also doesn't prevent all types of flu unfortunately. So it is still possible to get the flu even if you get the shot, it simply makes the probability low.</p>
<p>okay, i'll jump off the ole soap box now. Good luck on the bronchitis, I've probably got it right now as well, but I still won't go to the doc for it, haha. I'll just self medicate with good ole cough syrup.</p>
<p>after reading what I just typed I realized how off topic it was, but I'll leave it anyway. Any more thoughts on the courses that are bad/good at KP?</p>
<p>KP - The current policy is - no wisdom teeth, no choice. Current parents & students, please check with the school dentist. </p>
<p>Back on topic: if kids do not do well academically i.e. fall below 2.0 GPA, they must go before the Academic Review Board (ARB) to discuss what to do, i.e. academic probation, summer school, setback or be "asked out." The Superintendent must approve a "setback" i.e. staying back a year (due to illness, academics, etc.). It happens. Alums do not like it, as they used to just kick them out. Most kids, when doing poorly, tend to leave on their own and transfer elsewhere. The interesting issue is Jr. year and beyond, when if kicked out or depart, the student must pay back the government, which can be very hefty; same if they do not keep up their license for the proscribed time. They have made a point of chasing people recently...</p>
<p>Weski, glad you knew this information. We did sign the waiver but there was nothing on it stating that wisdom teeth must be extracted so glad you're letting us know. With the older son, a problem popped up and infection set in causing terrible pain and I'd hate to see it happen to Jamz while on sea year. Prevention? Probably for the best they make us do it I guess. I still have mine. :) Boss had his out a few days before his own wedding. Can you imagine!?</p>
<p>Man, I love having our very own in-house doc! LOL May we ask? What active duty did you do? Which branch I mean. I'm assuming Navy since your recent location might be a hint? </p>
<p>Update on Jamz: He's not allowed to lie down.... Medical rack-in pass was only for yesterday. Said the base of his skul feels like someone hit it with a sledge hammer. I mailed two boodle boxes crammed with yum stuff today to make it all better.</p>
<p>Boss must have been so kissable for wedding and honeymoon! :)
Jamsmom: Check with the DDS to be confirm, but sounds like a good idea. These are the kinds of things that I wish someone had sent a letter on or told me, which is why I am posting. Don't ask how I know all this, but through experience...
KP: Robotussin DM is good stuff! Just don't cook any meth!</p>
<p>weski: yes the setback issue has definately become an issue to some alumni in recent years. There were some other issues that I think bothered the alumni more, and I don't think the idea of setbacks was the main concern. I won't get into it b/c it's probably left to a personal conversation, but academics were one part of it. Technically you are correct on the junior year issue; however, I have never heard of anyone actually being forced to pay back the government anything, even if they leave senior year. There is always that possibility, but I think it is rare. They have however instituted new alumni tracking procedures that have tightened the noose around alumni. There have been reports of someone having to pay money back; however, these are unconfirmed and I think there would have been a bigger stink made if it were true. </p>
<p>As for my branch of service....well how could I ever transfer out of the Navy. But this five years as an ensign thing is getting old, especially when all my classmates are LT's now. I guess I'm supposed to salute them, haha. </p>
<p>Tell Jamz to keep taking his pain meds until they're gone, even if he feels he doesn't need them. Much easier to keep pain down than get it down.</p>
<p>The DDS at KP, Dr. Lewins, is really good. I've worked with her personally and keep in contact with her as I've somewhat turned into the contact for midshipmen who mention they'd like to go into medicine. I'll have to ask her about the wisdom teeth thing.</p>
<p>Oh and how I know about the Dextromethorphan (DM). That stuff is a godsend for me. I'll try not to put my organic chemistry skills to work with it though. And to save you money in the future; have no fear about buying the store brand of that stuff. The DM is the same no matter what name is on it. It's amazing the markup that Robitussin has.</p>
<p>Just had an interesting conversation with a 3rd classman's sister at the local store. Yes way down here in NC we have two guys up there that live within 3 miles of each other. We have 3 guys within 10 miles. She was asking about our son and she said that her brother had to have his wisdom teeth removed over Christmas break. He just got back from his first sea tour. Spoke to my wife about this also and she says we got a waiver signed by his ortho to allow him to enter with his wisdom teeth. As far as being off topic as strange as it may be it is probaly more on topic since this could affect the guys academically if this problem came up causing them to lose sea time. </p>
<p>Since finding this site last week I have started doing a few more searches for KP info and run across an obligation document yesterday, the langage was leaning towards graduates that try to avoid their commitments after graduation. It was made to read like this has been a problem in the past. Not to concerned about this at present since I'm sure that he will change his mind several times before he graduates.</p>
<p>Although I have some ethical issues with making someone undergo what is essentially an elective surgical procedure I do agree that it is in the midshipman's best interest to have their wisdom teeth removed prior to sea year. I don't know the official policy of the Academy at this time, but I will try to get some word on that from the dental department in the near future for everyone. The risks of 3rd molar extraction are fairly low as far as I know so in my mind the benefits of not risking a problem with sea year outweigh the risks of the procedure.</p>
<p>As for the graduation commitments. This issue really started to come up with the graduation of the class of 2000. It wasn't their particular class, but I guess the Maritime Administration finally started to implement some new procedures and made the trackin system a little more advanced. They have since implemented a web-based tracking system that all graduates are required to report to annually for the length of their commitment. In the old days it was much more lenient and people weren't tracked all that well. I used to hear of stories of some graduate who worked for a NASCAR team or something similar. Not sure how true that was, but that would definately not fly anymore. I think it the Administration is simply getting better at keeping track of the graduates. I think they even allow graduates to keep their usmma email addresses after graduation so that they have a way to communicate with them. Before they had no real way of getting hold of people if they moved and didn't update their information.</p>
<p>I'm looking at March 3 to the 5th for good dates for this thing to happen. He's gonna kill me.....</p>
<p>JM: haha. he might love you for it depending on what they give him for pain. Alot of the post-op results depends on what type of procedure he has to have done. I'm a wuss so I went for the full general anesthesia route (helps that the navy pays for it), no pain after the procedure until I decided I didn't need the pain pills anymore. Let me tell you what a bad decision that was. I was back at school the next day. Just keep on top of the pain and should be fine. </p>
<p>BTW there are some general dentists who will do this procedure depending on the difficulty of the procedure needed. Might save you some money to avoid the Oral Surgeons if you can.</p>
<p>Hi, I haven't posted for a long time, but was just catching up on the boards. My son, currently a KP senior, had his wisdom teeth removed over Christmas AFTER his first sea year (he was B split). I don't remember hearing any requirements about mandatory wisdom teeth removal or signing anything to that effect, just that orthodontics had to be complete before entering. Is this something very recent? He was impacted and had some minor healing issues, so he was pretty miserable for the entire 2 weeks of Christmas break that year. </p>
<p>On the grade/setback note, it has been amazing to me that I've heard of at least 4 seniors who have been disenrolled from the Academy this year since September. One of these was a discipline problem, the rest were grades and Sea Year failures. I'm astounded that these guys made it this far, rings and everything, and just couldn't cut it anymore. One was a very good friend of my son's who just couldn't get it together after failing his Sea Project. So they have to stay on top of everything all of the way through. My son is now worried about the CG licensing tests over everything else at this point. I told him I have confidence in him--after all, we have non-refundable deposits on several rooms at the Inn at Great Neck for graduation weekend!</p>
<p>kpmom: you are correct that you need to stay on top of the academics until the day you graduate. Most of the time if a senior is kicked out for academics there were warning signs way before. They probably struggled from day one and it finally caught up to them. I think it is also rare that a senior would be kicked out for grades unless they were a setback already or had other problems on top of the grades.</p>
<p>Tell your son not to worry about the licensing exams. Everyone passes the exams, rarely it takes two or three attemps, but I have never heard of someone never passing them. The senior licensing seminars and the overall education at KP prepares us well for those exams and to be honest it was almost a dissapointment. You work so hard and get yourself all worked up for them and then they turn out to be not so bad. Just think there are people out there with little more than high school educations who pass these exams (those who work their way up from unlicensed). The key is to study what the school tells you to study, study the prep books (you'd be amazed at how similar the questions are), mark your books well so you know where to find stuff quickly (many of the exams are open book), and try not to stress out. If he's a deckie two important keys are to: 1) know your terrestial navigation very well so you get >90 on that closed book portion and 2)know your Rules of the Road so you get >90 on that closed book portion as well. The 2nd one is pretty easy, CAPT Hard almost over prepares us for that exam. </p>
<p>Overall relax before the exams, I went camping the weekend before....at that point you either know it or you don't and all studying is really going to do at that point is probably stress you out.</p>
<p>this may be way off the topic, but reading Kp2001's post about stress and testing brought something to mind-</p>
<p>getting up an hour early before a test and playing video games does several important things: it wakes those brain cells up and gets the synapses firing, it keeps you relaxed, and it prevents you from last-minute cramming- which is at the root of changing those correct answers to incorrect ones! Just a tip I learned awhile ago that really seems to work (like scratching your left arm when the itch is on the right one- under the cast!) Try it!</p>
<p>KP-the older son had a valium before the surgery was to take place. I smiled at him when he swallowed it knowing he wasn't gonna care if they removed all of his teeth about 20 minutes later. I was told that he pointed to the machines and said, "Hear that beeping lady? Well you just don't let it stop." My big brave engineer son who's afraid of a little needle to send him night-night and needed a valium....</p>
<p>Navy2010, we have some catchin' up to do my friend. I've missed you! I hope my Plebe understands all this.... I will really remember the tips before big tests. I'm writing that one down. Emailing as soon as I can!!</p>
<p>Navy2010 - You really must think I've been into the wine. Someone was talking to me & I fired off "post quick reply" that wasn't to you! LOL So blonde. I need to go to sleep now. Sorry. I do love the video game tips though!</p>
<p>kp2001: Thanks for the advice on the licensing exams, I will pass that on to my son. He is also a deckie and is planning to sail, at least for several years while he decides what to do with his life! He loved being at sea and misses it now. I like what you're doing, going to med school, although I don't think he'd do that. Law school may be an option, though!</p>
<p>There are now several threads on wisdom teeth removal - are we trend-setters or what? Dentist on another thread has some good advice #51 - <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=1692919#post1692919%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=1692919#post1692919</a>.</p>
<p>This is right up there with the "undies" discussion.</p>