Wisdom Teeth

**Beans** · 09-11-07, 10:54 AM

Tomorrow I start two weeks vacation. Bad part I have to get two wisdom teeth out. Anyone had this done? I am nervous as hell. I am going to go to sleep, but I am not looking forward to the recovery.

**Buttercup** · 09-11-07, 11:01 AM

I had all four of mine removed at the same time, I was knocked out for the whole thing. It was a bit achy once the sedative wore off, but I think I only needed painkillers for a day or two. You have to be pretty careful during the healing though, to avoid the sockets drying out which will take them longer to heal - so your surgeon will probably tell you only soft foods and no sucking anything through a straw for a day or so.

It was uncomfortable for a few days afterward, but it won't be so bad, Beans. Honest.

**Beans** · 09-11-07, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by Buttercup

I had all four of mine removed at the same time, I was knocked out for the whole thing. It was a bit achy once the sedative wore off, but I think I only needed painkillers for a day or two. You have to be pretty careful during the healing though, to avoid the sockets drying out which will take them longer to heal - so your surgeon will probably tell you only soft foods and no sucking anything through a straw for a day or so.

It was uncomfortable for a few days afterward, but it won't be so bad, Beans. Honest.

Thanks, I am a big wuss!

**Virginian** · 09-11-07, 11:06 AM

Ditto to Bcup's post, I had the same experience. When I came out of the anesthesia I was the equivalent of a hammered drunk dude. They had to put me in the car by wheelchair, then when I got home I fell out of a chair face first. Needless to say I didn't feel a thing for a while

Only took like 3 pain pills, just precautionary too. No biggie.

**Beans** · 09-11-07, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by Virginian

Ditto to Bcup's post, I had the same experience. When I came out of the anesthesia I was the equivalent of a hammered drunk dude. They had to put me in the car by wheelchair, then when I got home I fell out of a chair face first. Needless to say I didn't feel a thing for a while

Only took like 3 pain pills, just precautionary too. No biggie.

Wow, sounds like fun!

**Jenna** · 09-11-07, 11:19 AM

I had 2 wisdom teeth removed when I was 22, under a local anesthetic. I was hoping I could just let them grow out, but when they started to come out they hurt so much I decided to get them removed. I was living in a small rural town, so I had to take a bus and then walk for an hour in an unfamiliar town to get to the closest dental surgeon. The surgery was painful (and when I walked back to the bus stop I got disoriented and lost for several hours before I could find it), but the recovery wasn't too bad--it actually hurt a lot less than trying to let the wisdom teeth grow out.

**Trojan 42** · 09-11-07, 11:40 AM

Beans, Buttercup said No Sucking. That's your sex life ruined then.

**Beans** · 09-11-07, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by Trojan 42

Beans, Buttercup said No Sucking. That's your sex life ruined then.

SHIT!

**MacLean** · 09-11-07, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by Beans

Tomorrow I start two weeks vacation. Bad part I have to get two wisdom teeth out. Anyone had this done? I am nervous as hell. I am going to go to sleep, but I am not looking forward to the recovery.

I had two of mine done. It went something like this:

Went into the office on surgery day. They prepped me in the OR, which was just a fancy dentists chair with the usual heart monitors and such arrayed around it.

They hit the inside of my arm with numbing stuff, then put a needle into a vein and had me count backwards from ten. I made it to nine. They used Versed, which apparently works really damn fast.

I woke up seemingly a minute later with my mouth packed with gauze. I didn't hurt, but I was sore like you could tell the dentist had been working hard on my teeth.

Once the gauze came out, you could feel little stitches where the tooth sockets had been. I had pain meds and Ibuprofen, so pain wasn't a big deal. I would describe it as discomfort.

I had to go back in to get the stitches pulled out, and during the wait for that I had some very minor bleeding. I had to keep the sockets wet and drink a lot of water to avoid infection and a complication called "dry socket" which I was told was bad.

All in all, it wasn't a bad experience, and since the wisdom teeth had already disintegrated to the nerve, it cured me of a lot of pain.

**Ducky** · 09-11-07, 12:40 PM

My experience wasn't typical at all, so I'm keeping my mouth shut. I only tell people that I don't like.

**Virginian** · 09-11-07, 12:40 PM

Oh yeah, and they had to wait like 10 minutes for me to calm down enough to give me the IV. Even with laughing gas

Did I mention I'm high strung?

**Buttercup** · 09-11-07, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by Virginian

Oh yeah, and they had to wait like 10 minutes for me to calm down enough to give me the IV. Even with laughing gas

Did I mention I'm high strung?

I was out like a light - as maclean said, they had me count backward from 10 and I made it to nine.

**mavriktu** · 09-11-07, 04:35 PM

Thank goodness,at least now when I have a toothache I can just mail them in

**Jks9199** · 09-11-07, 04:36 PM

Had mine out shortly after I graduated high school. I wasn't knocked out -- and it was a good thing! I only had 3 -- but one of them more than made up for the missing one. It took the dentist pulling, and me turning my head away to pull it out... after it was broken up! But it wasn't really painful... just a neck workout.

Took a couple of weeks to heal up, but no problems. Other than an addiction to 3 Musketeers bars, which were soft enough that I could eat them while I was still on mostly no-solid food...

**Michelle** · 09-11-07, 05:12 PM

All 4 taken out and was only numbed. Had 2 black eyes after it was over with. The dentist gave me codeine which made me sick and itchy. I rubbed cayenne pepper all over my gums the following day and it worked wonders. The heat from the cayenne made me forget about the pain plus helped heal my gums faster.

My youngest son just had his taken out recently. They had him awake for the first 2 and put him under for the other two. His biggest complaint was he felt they did not give him enough Novocaine when he was awake for the first. No problem when he was knocked out other than the anesthesia making him nauseated.

I've also been told to lay off of caffeine products, aspirin and Vitamin E before any type of surgery - including oral.

In doing so, I have had very little if any pain at the dentist plus, not much bleeding. Caffeine can some how dilute the effects of the Novocaine, and Aspirin and Vitamin E will thin the blood - causing to bleed more.

All and all, its all worth it. Feels so much better. Plus you will have less dental problems in the future.

**Just KC** · 09-11-07, 05:40 PM

UGH...i remember this surgery very well.....had all 4 taken plus an additional 4......i was also knocked out. It sucked and HURT like a mofo........good luck!

**Cidp24** · 09-11-07, 06:21 PM

The surgery was not bad for me, but, MAKE SURE THAT YOU LISTEN WHEN THEY SAY NO HOT FOOD OR DRINK, NO SUCKING ON STRAWS, ETC!!!!
The dry socket I had afterward because I did not listen and drank coffee was some of the worst pain I ever felt in my life. I had to meet the dentist at 2300 hrs at his office and get the socket packed to ease the pain.

**trekgirl** · 09-11-07, 08:00 PM

I'm getting all 4 of mine out at the end of the month. One of them is up in the sinus so there is a good chance that I may have a sinus infection on top of the surgery. Uuugh...

**Resident Smart Ass** · 09-11-07, 08:12 PM

Had bottom 2 taken out last year...wife told me when i woke up in the recovery room, i was like a bumbling idiot and when she was driving me home, i was worse than drunk. felt like i had 2 big holes in the back of my mouth...and everytime i took a deep breath, felt like a gust of air was going in the hole...

Beans, you will be miserable