OT wisdom tooth extraction

[WendyLovesPeter]

dentist says my teen may need this. I have him scheduled with oral surgeon. Any idea how long this will affect his activity level - to start baseball training soon... how long til the running and weight lifting is safe after oral surgery? And I realize weight lifting prob won't affect his teeth. But, I am worried about infection, and I consider every weight room and gym a MRSA haven.

 

[Tina]

I had all four wisdom teeth removed a few years ago. The actual "surgery" took about 10 minutes (they put me out, at my request). I missed that day from work and that was it. Back to work the next day, no problems, nothing.

 

[bcinohio]

My DS(15) just had his wisdom teeth extracted 2 weeks ago. He was swollen for a week and then fine. He plays the trombone and wasn't allowed to do that for a week but after that he has been fine. He had all 4 extracted and it took 15 minutes from start to finish. I was shocked at how fast they did it. He was given a weeks worth of antibiotics and vicaden for the pain. He only took the vicaden for the first day after that he only took ibuprophen.

Good luck.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Alot of this will depend on the condition of the teeth. Is it all 4? Are they impacted or is this to prevent an impaction in the future? My nephew had his pulled last year...he's 18...and he competed in his ROTC Raider meet that same week...with Doctor approval. I waited until I was in my mid twenties to have mine done. By then I had 4 severely impacted teeth. The only thing that brought me into the dentist was that one got an infection The oral surgeon prepared me for the possibility that he might break my jaw because the roots had grown into my jawbone. With all of that, I think it was probably 2 weeks before I felt right. I was back at work in 2 or 3 days but I wouldn't have exercised for a few weeks. I'm not sure about infection but everything is open back there for a while. I remember having to irrigate with a syringe after eating for almost a month.

 

[TxRabbit]

Just some advice on warding off the swollenness that can occur with having wisdom teeth pulled. My mom did this for me when I had mine out at 17 and I did this for my then BF now DH when he had his out in college.

The cycle is:

20 minutes ice packs (my mom used the kind with the screw tops?)
20 minutes nothing
20 minutes heat
20 minutes nothing

repeat...repeat...repeat...

I didn't swell at all. Neither did my DH. Just a little bit in the morning after sleeping all night, but it went down quickly after being awake for a while.

I was knocked out. So was DH. Once we were home and basically continuing to sleep...that's when my mom did this and me to DH. Just prop pillows on either side of the face and set a timer and do it for as long as you can stand it.

 

[dawson5]

I had mine taken out when I was 15 or 16. I was awake for the whole thing, just had laughing gas. I had little to no swelling and actually went to a basketball game that night. I remember being starved afterwards and going home and eating soup (I guess I wasn't supposed to?) and swallowed one of the swab-thingy's they put in the spot where the tooth was.

I really wouldn't worry about him in the weight room, I can't imagine a teenager going about and putting his mouth on things. Maybe just set him up with some hand-sanitizer and tell him to keep his hands clean.

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

I really wouldn't worry about him in the weight room, I can't imagine a teenager going about and putting his mouth on things. Maybe just set him up with some hand-sanitizer and tell him to keep his hands clean.

obviously.... but may be you don't realize how long MRSA lives on non porous surfaces and how resistant a germ it is. It can live a LONG time. I think we would all be disturbed if we knew all the places and surfaces it was living out in the community.

Please don't discount my concerns. I work as an RN in infectious disease. I know this stuff!

 

[DisneyLover83]

I had mine out last August and I was told no physical activity for 1 week, it has something to do with the clots. The oral surgeon will be able to tell you how long he needs to take it easy for.

 

[dawson5]

obviously.... but may be you don't realize how long MRSA lives on non porous surfaces and how resistant a germ it is. It can live a LONG time. I think we would all be disturbed if we knew all the places and surfaces it was living out in the community.

Please don't discount my concerns. I work as an RN in infectious disease. I know this stuff!

I don't discount your concerns, I just think of a teen as being more responsible. Especially now after you saying you are a nurse who specializes in that area. I would think he would be more cautious/religious about sanitizing and hand-washing than another teen.


You would be surprised what I know about MRSA. I almost lost my cousin and his wife five years ago to it. Both are horribly disfigured because of it and he was given last rights. Thankfully they both pulled through, but it was touch and go for quite a while. (I am assuming that by MRSA you mean staph infection, correct? Both in their mid-30's when they contracted it.)

 

[tzolkin]

Alot of this will depend on the condition of the teeth. Is it all 4? Are they impacted or is this to prevent an impaction in the future? My nephew had his pulled last year...he's 18...and he competed in his ROTC Raider meet that same week...with Doctor approval. I waited until I was in my mid twenties to have mine done. By then I had 4 severely impacted teeth. The only thing that brought me into the dentist was that one got an infection The oral surgeon prepared me for the possibility that he might break my jaw because the roots had grown into my jawbone. With all of that, I think it was probably 2 weeks before I felt right. I was back at work in 2 or 3 days but I wouldn't have exercised for a few weeks. I'm not sure about infection but everything is open back there for a while. I remember having to irrigate with a syringe after eating for almost a month.

This. There really is no way to tell.

My DH had his pulled (two at a time) and went to work an hour later both times.

I was put out for mine (impacted). I just couldn't get over the anesthesia and wound up sleeping for 2 days. I also have a bleeding disorder, so I still had bleeding for quite a while. I was dating DH at the time and remember I was still quite bruised almost a month later when I flew to visit him.

My siblings had theirs out in the same manner, but didn't have the anesthesia/bleeding issues so their recovery was much faster.

My mother had her jaw broken to remove hers when I was a kid. It was horrible. She was hugely swollen, bruised all down her chest, and couldn't eat/talk forever. That's why she insisted my siblings and I have ours removed in our late teens.

 

[magik]

I had all four of my wisdom teeth out when I was in college because they were impacted. I went to yoga class the same night they were taken out (still had the gauze in my mouth over the wounds), followed doctor's orders about ice/heat and what I was allowed to eat. When at home I kept wet tea bags over the wounds for the first day or two. A few days later I felt totally normal.

My boyfriend on the other hand did all the same things I did (except the yoga), and he swelled up a lot and missed work for a few days after because he felt so horrible. They had break up one of his teeth in order to get it out, so I don't know if all that hitting and hammering in his mouth made the difference or not. His were impacted as well. He also kept losing clots a lot more than I did after the fact so his wound kept reopening.

Both of us had the same "twilight sleep" sedation, both of us had to have the teeth cut out, and both of us reacted very differently to the process. I was barely uncomfortable or inconvenienced, and he was miserable and in pain and missed work.

I think it's going to be one of those wait-and-see type of things.

 

[HunnyPots]

My husband had all four surgically removed - all four were impacted. He came home and spent most of the day playing video games. He got up the next morning and played golf, no problems whatsoever. The next day was sunday and he slept THE ENTIRE DAY! Guess he overdid it a little! Anyway, he was back to work the next day and it was like nothing ever happened.

My daughter had hers out at 16. She had no pain but the anesthesia made her cry like a baby! The surgeon did tell her to take it easy for a week and sent her home with a bottle of vicoden. She never took a single one, just Tylenol or Advil and she was fine. The hardest part for her was no carbonated beverages for a week!

 

[princessmom29]

Mine were imacted and it took 2 hours to chisel them out of my jawbone. It took 2 weeks to start eating anything that wasn't run through the food processor and another 2 to do full solids. For the first week I could barely ope my mouth wide enough to get a spoon in, and could only consume liquids in small quantities. I had real trouble swallowing the antibiotics. I felt like my jaw had been broken, and the amount of swelling I had was similar to a friend who had jaw surgery. My sister on the other hand had a 15 min extraction. She was back at work the next day and doing fine. It is really hard to tell how you will do.

 

[dis-happy]

It's different for student athletes. My ds had his out and he's a competetive tennis player. We waited until after the season and big tournaments had conluded. The doctor had him taking it easy (not training) for a week or two. I"d talk to the oral surgeon and see if you can wait until summer to have it done.

 

[wdwfan16]

I had all four out as a teen. I was away 10 minutes later and out of school for about a week. I would think he would have to avoid stuff that for a few more weeks to allow for complete healing. He needs to avoid a dry socket.

 

[scrapquitler]

I had two taken out at once. In the dentists office, with just novacaine. I was in and out of there in like 15-20 minutes. He was fiddling around in my mouth and extracted them and I didn't notice that's what he was doing until he was done. When I left, I had a prescription for tylenol with codeine and antibiotics. I took exactly one dose of the tylenol/codeine and then never had another one (but then again, I never took any pain meds after the first day post c-section, either).

I think your experience totally depends on the position of your teeth and your own tolerance for pain/discomfort and how fast you heal.

 

[englishteacha]

I have a bad wisdom tooth story. I waited till I was 27 to have mine out. Let's just say 4 impacted teeth, miserable recovery, 2 dry sockets, and a full week of agony. The surgeon said that my teeth were some of the most difficult he's ever encountered in 20 years of oral surgery. Even when I felt OK to go back to work, I still was eating only oatmeal, soup, ice cream, and apple sauce. I was also very bruised, so I hated looking in the mirror. I looked like I'd been hit in the face.

My husband felt ok after 2-3 days. He had his teeth out when he was 27, too.

If I were to do it all again, I would have had them out as a teen. Every teen I know who's had theirs out have bounced back wonderfully. Unfortunately, I had no insurance as a teen, and since my teeth weren't bothering me then, I wasn't worried about it. By the time there was a problem, it was a big problem.

 

[ohlas]

If possible try to do it durning the summer, my daughter had hers done when she was 17. In the summer time when we had nothing going on for a week. She is a whiny thing too it took a week to stop milking the you made me get my teeth pulled out lol line...

I got mine done when i was in my late 20's and im still paying to fix the back teeth that it messed up. It got impacted and never hurt so didnt know till i woke up on morning with half my face swallow, and it was thanksgiving day.

 

[jakoky]

My 18 yr old daughter had hers out in sept...funny story though, after she comes up, she is pretty drugged up, she says to me (while biting down on gauze and slurring), "mom, they put the IV in and told me to got to my happy place, so i thought about DISNEYLAND and then they were telling me they were done"...HAHA, she didnt remember anything except thinking about disneyland...
anyways, she has a high pain tolerance, and had no problems at all...she was eating within 4 hours, had no bruising, almost no swelling at all...she was very lucky...she thought she could go to the gym the next morning, and within 10 minutes was back home...

My son is due to get his out in the next month or two...hoping he is as lucky as her...

Good luck!!!

 

[mykidsand_i]

It all depends!!!! Every one is different...like others have said- there are many different things that could make it 'easy' to get over (like a week), but on the other hand, it could be a longer recovery time. It depends on what his wisdom teeth are like-

are they impacted??? Recovery may take longer
are they starting to pop through??? May be quick and simple
will there be infection??? Could add a week or even two weeks of recovery time-

there is no way to know. I had mine pulled 9 years ago and it was worse than going through childbirth! I was kind of 'put under', but I could still hear and feel things going on. To this day I cannot stand to hear someone crunching hard candy, because my jaw starts to hurt! It was a horrible thing for me to have done- other people it barely effects them at all!

My total recovery time was a little over 2 weeks! And I was MISERABLE for those 2 weeks! I had impacted wisdom teeth, my lower jaw had to be broken, I got a major infection- it was not good.

No one can tell you exactly what to expect, because every person is different. Some have no problems at all, and others have not had it that easy!!!