Wisdom teeth, boo! Update pg 3

[Pea-n-Me]

I had mine removed senior year. All four were impacted and one had to be broken to get it out, which caused nerve damage and facial numbness that I still have to this day. Recovery was uneventful and I went to dance practice that afternoon. I didn't dance but I led the practice, gave directions, and observed (I was the captain). Overall, it wasn't that a bad. Having my tonsils removed at age 25 on the other hand...

DD needs her tonsils out, too.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

DD needs her tonsils out, too.

Three words: Tylenol Cool Burst. It made recovery a million times more tolerable than those awful prescription drugs they gave me. I didn't discover it until about three days post-op, but it was smooth sailing after that.

 

[North of Mouse]

DD 14 is having her wisdom teeth pulled on Thursday in the morning. She wants to go out Thursday night. I've left it at "we'll see" because I imagine she is not going to actually feel like it after the procedure... but does anyone remember how long recovery is?
Doctor said 4 days of doing nothing. I seem to remember only being out of school one day, the actual day of the procedure. I realize we have to actually see how SHE does, but just wanted an idea of what I should and shouldn't be cancelling, if she'll definitely not be in classes Friday, and if I need to plan on being home all weekend with her.

When she sees how she looks, she will change her mind. Both of my children at 17 had theirs out and they didn't look or feel so hot - were glad to have pain meds and rest like the Dr. ordered! No way would I have even allowed them to go out!

 

[pocomom]

Thanks, I guess we will plan on her not being too mobile until the following week and see from there!

 

[Domo]

I hated having my wisdom tooth removed. Damned thing splintered in my mouth. But I guess it made me fanatical about brushing/rinsing so not all a bad thing.

 

[tzolkin]

They are all impacted.

Yeah, as others have said surgery for impacted teeth is completely different than having the teeth "pulled".

DH and I both had ours done around the same time when we were in college. He went in, got them pulled, stuffed some gauze in his mouth, and went to work. Mine were severely impacted plus I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia and couldn't really wake up for a few days. I thought maybe I was being a baby compared to him, but I still had bruising on my face over a month later so it was obviously more physically traumatic.

DD just had hers removed a few weeks ago before heading to college. She was crazy irrational/emotional following the surgery-- she was convinced that they didn't really do the surgery but cut out her tongue-- lots of crying and blood everywhere. (She has never even had a cavity, so I think "sober" she would not have understood what to expect numbness to feel like.) Later that afternoon she came downstairs and said, "Well, I think that finally wore off. I'm good now."

The surgery was Friday morning. She seemed pretty good over the weekend, but she did call in sick to work on Monday. After that she was fine, but it was well over a week before she felt like she could eat solid food.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

DD 14 is having her wisdom teeth pulled on Thursday in the morning. She wants to go out Thursday night. I've left it at "we'll see" because I imagine she is not going to actually feel like it after the procedure... but does anyone remember how long recovery is?
Doctor said 4 days of doing nothing. I seem to remember only being out of school one day, the actual day of the procedure. I realize we have to actually see how SHE does, but just wanted an idea of what I should and shouldn't be cancelling, if she'll definitely not be in classes Friday, and if I need to plan on being home all weekend with her.

DD#2 (23) just had all 4 pulled two weeks ago. They did one side on Monday and the other on Friday because she freaked out Monday. (Claustrophobic and panicked under the anesthesia)

Lots of pain and drooling blood on Mon/Fri. Fri was worse because they pulled two other teeth and one wisdom had settled on a nerve.

She pretty much slept those days. Tuesday and Saturday were better but still hurting. By Wednesday, she was fine. She hurt for just over a week with the 2nd extractions because of the nerve issue.

Put a waterproof cover on the pillow and cover with a dark towel. She drooled in her sleep alot. She had an antibiotic, mouth rinse, prescription ibuprofen and hydrocodone.

 

[smiths02]

They are impacted, so she is being knocked out and actually having oral surgery? There is no way she is going out on Thursday night.
1) She shouldn't be that active after surgery
2) She will either need to take percocet as instructed and be pretty loopy/knocked out (I am incapable of doing anything save for sleeping on percocet) OR she will be in pain.
3) She has to be really careful how she eats and drinks because of the healing from the surgery and the medication she will be on
4) She will probably look funny and talk funny--which would make me not want to leave the house

I had mine done on a Friday morning. I was able to leave the office (someone else was driving) and walk into Target and fill my own pain perscription, but then I ate something and took Percocet as directed. I was pretty out of it until the next morning. I didn't like the Percocet, so I just took ibuprofen after that and was okay. I returned to work on Monday on just ibuprofen, still a little puffy, but not really in pain and not hugely swollen.

 

[nkereina]

I had all four removed at the same time and all four were impacted. I didn't have anesthesia, only laughing gas. Within an hour after the procedure, I ate a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries. The oral surgeon encouraged me to eat like normal and not change any of my habits except to avoid drinking through a straw. I was fortunate that I had no complications other than a little swelling in the face, and I probably could have gone out that night if I wanted to. I was not in a lot of pain at all, but I did have to keep some gauze in there for a while, which is the only thing that would have prevented me from going anywhere.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

They are all impacted.

My DD had 4 impacted wisdom teeth extracted a couple years ago. She was in no shape to do anything that first day. She spent the day on the couch with ice packs on her cheeks. The pain medication made her very sleepy. She tried to do some knitting and I have pictures of her mid-stitch but fast asleep!

She did develop dry socket which was not fun. We had to make several trips to the oral surgeon's office over the next week so she could have medicated packing put in the socket.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

DD 14 is having her wisdom teeth pulled on Thursday in the morning. She wants to go out Thursday night. I've left it at "we'll see" because I imagine she is not going to actually feel like it after the procedure... but does anyone remember how long recovery is?
Doctor said 4 days of doing nothing. I seem to remember only being out of school one day, the actual day of the procedure. I realize we have to actually see how SHE does, but just wanted an idea of what I should and shouldn't be cancelling, if she'll definitely not be in classes Friday, and if I need to plan on being home all weekend with her.

DS16 had all 4 of his taken out on July 29th, just over a month ago.

He slept in the car until we got home, then got really agitated and angry when we got home (effects of the anesthesia for him...same thing happened in Feb when he had shoulder surgery). It took me about 4-5 hours of continual monitoring while he cried, drooled into a towel, hit pillows, etc because he was frustrated for reasons he didn't know. He was also convinced that he was physically unable to swallow (hence the drooling) and if he tried he would choke to death. We literally started with a DROP of water just so he could be convinced he could in fact swallow lol We all find it hilarious now, but at the time, it was not funny in the least!

After the anesthesia wore off, he was fine. He was in pain, but the Norco/advil combo helped and he recovered quickly. He was back to football conditioning by Monday, although he didn't do any weight lifting (couldn't anyway because of his shoulders) 5 days after the surgery, I asked him if it was worth it to get all 4 at the same time and be done forever, and he said he was 50/50 on it. 10 days later I asked again, and he said YES! He took Norco for about 5 days. A little swelling, but not much. He hates taking medication, so he wanted to be off of it as soon as possible.

The night of the oral surgery, however, there was NO WAY DS was able to do anything or go anywhere! The anesthesia affects him way too much. I was supposed to speak at a meeting at 7pm that night and I had to cancel to stay with him. He couldn't even be alone, much less go out gallivanting all over town. Had he gotten them out on a Thursday, he would have not have been able to go to school Friday. He could barely walk up the stairs the next morning. The anesthesia takes time to wear off, and activity should be limited while on prescription pain medication until you know how the patient will react! (esp for kids, who are not used to the effects of narcotics)

YMMV

 

[tzolkin]

I had all four removed at the same time and all four were impacted. I didn't have anesthesia, only laughing gas. Within an hour after the procedure, I ate a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries. The oral surgeon encouraged me to eat like normal and not change any of my habits except to avoid drinking through a straw. I was fortunate that I had no complications other than a little swelling in the face, and I probably could have gone out that night if I wanted to. I was not in a lot of pain at all, but I did have to keep some gauze in there for a while, which is the only thing that would have prevented me from going anywhere.

You must have had local anesthesia at least (the numbing shots), right? I can't imagine a doctor would perform a surgery without any form of pain relief. DH has to argue and sign a waiver any time he has had a minor filling or something and wants to refuse the shots.

 

[Princesca]

I had all four of mine (impacted) removed in my 20s. I had bruises all the way down my chest, swelled up, the antibiotics made me throw up (which was a barrel of monkeys let me tell you)... I don't think she's going to want to go out. Invest in some bags of frozen peas, they lay over the face really well, like bean bags. If she's on the "good" pain meds, it will be a few days of fading in and out of sleep.

 

[nkereina]

You must have had local anesthesia at least (the numbing shots), right? I can't imagine a doctor would perform a surgery without any form of pain relief. DH has to argue and sign a waiver any time he has had a minor filling or something and wants to refuse the shots.

Yes, of course! They started me on the nitrous oxide and once that took effect, the oral surgeon gave me novacane shots on both sides. I just meant they didn't put me under with anesthesia like some people do when they get their wisdom teeth out. On the nitrous oxide, they could have stabbed me in the eye and I would have thought it was hilarious!

 

[jerseygal]

Both sons didn't feel like doing much for about 5 days, one was 19 and the other 18 at the time. Most important is to listen and following icing. Second go around we used a socks stuffed with bags of peas, easy to refreeze. Thank goodness, both went well, no dry socket. GOOD LUCK to your DD!

 

[NHdisneylover]

I think it varies a lot per kid.

DS17 had 2 of his out earlier this summer. They were impacted (he'll have the other 2 in a few weeks--they do 2 at a time here and under just local anesthetic, not general).

I had planned on calling a taxi for on the way home, but he said he felt fine and asked to take the tram and stop at the cell phone repair place. He used ice packs (as recomended) and took ibueprofin that first day, but was actaully pretty fine---didn't even end up eating the yogurt, etc we had stocked up on; went out to Pub Quiz that night and had a burger.

I did not have it nearly so easy in my 20s, and was basically out of comission for a week after having all four of mine out at once.

 

[ZuZugal]

My DD21 just had all four wisdom teeth out today. Impacted. She is currently in the recliner in a whole lot of pain, even with the meds. Awesome oral surgeon, but he can't promise no pain!

Everyone is diferent though.

 

[pxidst119]

My 14 year old dd had all 4 of hers out this summer. The first day she thought she was going to go out too. After the surgery she was swollen, talked funny, and her breath wasn't smelling so fresh. Ultimately she didn't want anyone to see her for about a week with her chipmunk cheeks. She healed quickly and besides the swollen cheeks she was feeling mostly normal by day 4. Day 3 was the worst for swelling.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

 

[Mrs.Milo]

My DD had hers out when she was a senior. We wanted to avoid anesthesia, and requested the Dr remove 2 at a time, starting with 1 side and then the 2nd side 2 weeks later. He wasn't crazy abOut the idea but agreed. So she had shots to numb and then laughing gas. It went great, they were impacted, and she actually did go out with a friend the first night, felt fine while her friends who had anesthesia and 4 out at once were sick for days.

I will add that I got several recommendations on the oral surgeon, he was excellent, no bruising or swelling at all. Now I hope she will do the same with the grandkids, and that they can handle it as well as she did.

 

[tzolkin]

Yes, of course! They started me on the nitrous oxide and once that took effect, the oral surgeon gave me novacane shots on both sides. I just meant they didn't put me under with anesthesia like some people do when they get their wisdom teeth out. On the nitrous oxide, they could have stabbed me in the eye and I would have thought it was hilarious!

That makes more sense.

That's the trouble with threads like this. You often can't tell what people mean by "anesthesia" (local, iv sedation, general).

DD probably would have done better if she just had local anesthesia like you, but I assumed that would be more traumatic with how impacted they were. Turned out since she didn't remember the actual surgery she freaked out because she thought they had cut out her tongue (she was numb and bloody, but in her brain she was convinced that the doctor hadn't done the surgery because she couldn't remember it so the only logical conclusion in her frantic state was that they cut out her tongue instead of removing the teeth). The nurse then made it worse by telling her "If you don't calm down, you can't go home" so she thought they were some sadistic monsters who were holding her captive after mutilating her. Way more traumatic than just being aware of the whole surgery.