Wisdom Teeth Extraction: Complications?

[schoen]

Has anyone here had problems after they had their wisdom teeth removed? I ad mine out about two weeks ago, and it has been one thing after the other. The Oral Surgeon told me that it would be a difficult extraction, and once it was over he did say it was one of the most difficult he has ever done.

Since I have been home the pain has been awful. I was on vicodin for a full week, and then moved to taking it as needed. I had an infection, which I had to go back in and get irrigated. I have holes in my sinus' from the roots of my top teeth. In the past few days I have been feeling much better, and I haven't taken vicodin since Thursday.

My jaw is stiff and sore, and I can't open it very wide. My OS has seen me a few times, and is very involved in my case. I am just wondering if others had problems? It is frustrating. Most people feel better by the next day!

 

[edwardsfire]

I had all 4 of mine removed by the Military (you cant have them)
and had no complications.
I went back to duty 3 days later.
Mine had not yet even broken the skin. They had to "cut" them out.
But, all in all...a good experience considering.

 

[RadioNate]

yes - I had awful problems. Could you have a dry socket? I think you'd know as it is excruciating. I had that and an infection. It was horrible!

I was super annoyed by all my friends who felt fine in a day or 2.

 

[rascalmom]

It's been a long time, but I did have complications.

Initially, I went to my family dentist to have my impacted wisdom teeth extracted. That was my first mistake! He had a lot of difficulty getting the first one out (so much so that I didn't let him try any others!!) and I ended up with horrible bruising & post-surgical bleeding.

I went to an oral surgeon for the second one (I didn't have upper ones) & even though the procedure went much more smoothly, I ended up with a dry socket.

This is all back when I was in college; ironically, I married a dentist.

I work part-time in the office. Complications are not terribly unusual, but it seems weird for you to be having this much discomfort two weeks later. Are you rinsing with warm salt water at this point? You should be past the point where you are at risk for a dry socket (caused by losing the clot in the wound), so the warm salt water would help with healing. Check with your OS first though - his opinion is much more educated than mine! (and he is familiar with your case)

 

[KirstenB]

Yes, I went back in for a checkup the week after. The receptionist asked how I was, and I said not so good. Nothing hurt really bad, but I was really fatigued, and generally felt bleh. The dentist looked in my mouth, did something, and I felt a big rush of fluid. It must have been some infection gunk built up, because after that I started feeling better. I was so paranoid about the whole dry socket thing, I didn't really consider anything else could be wrong.

 

[PatsMom]

I had four impacted wisdom teeth removed by an Air Force dentist. The extraction was bad enough that when he ran into me a few years later, he remembered me as soon as he saw the x-rays in my file. I had dry sockets following the extractions which were incredibly painful. Being the military and single, if you weren't hospitalized, you were expected to be on duty. I had them done on a Friday, a friend of mine signed me out, took me home, gave me pain medication. By Monday I was back on work - still on pain meds but functioning.

 

[KimmyDisneyNerd]

I was extremely lucky, had all four removed and all had to be cut. I had no problems at all. My BFF had her's out about 2 months ago and has had NOTHING but issues. I felt bad cuz I bragged so much about it being nothing.

Good luck, hope you feel better soon.

 

[schoen]

I did end up having a dry socket in at least one of them. When the OS opened the gum to irrigate the area he said that the socket was dry. He said it was impossible to tell if the clot had formed and then dislodged, or just never formed at all. That explains some of the pain on that side.

I am feeling much better, but this has just been a terrible experience, and I have been feeling like I am some sort of weirdo for having complications.

 

[RadioNate]

I did end up having a dry socket in at least one of them. When the OS opened the gum to irrigate the area he said that the socket was dry. He said it was impossible to tell if the clot had formed and then dislodged, or just never formed at all. That explains some of the pain on that side.

I am feeling much better, but this has just been a terrible experience, and I have been feeling like I am some sort of weirdo for having complications.

my dry socket took forever to heal. Did they pack it with the clove tasting gauze? Do they still do that? I had to go and have it repacked daily for a week or so and then every other day and then a few times week etc, etc. I think I was in and out of the office for a month.

 

[schoen]

He didn't pack it. He said it was already healing on it's own?

 

[Cool-Beans]

If they say, "We may have knicked the bone, which will cause you some pain, but I've written you a prescription for Percocet. If you need something stronger, give me a call, here's my home number...You may not have much pain at all, though." FILL THE PRESCRIPTION! Fill it immediately.

Don't figure, "Well, maybe I'll have pain, maybe I won't. And I handle pain pretty well, so..." Don't wait for the crap to wear off and the pain to kick in! "Knicked the bone" is code for "pain akin to labor pains, it'll be so bad you can't focus on anything but the pain, sorry 'bout that."

Fill the prescription and swallow the pills. That's my advice.

And prepare to be down for a couple days.

Never had the dry socket, but I followed the directions.

Best of luck.

 

[pigletgirl]

I had:
1. Drill into my jaw because my tooth was so impacted.
2. A dry socket
3. Vomiting from the anesthesia and pain killers
4. Major infection from the vomit and dry socket.

I also lost a bunch of weight over the period of about 6 weeks. About 20lbs or so. I could hardly eat.

Most people dont get it that bad.

 

[tazdev3225]

I agree with the pain meds. I had 3 severely impacted teeth and the roots were curved around my jaw bone so they had to cut into it. I just know that Tylenol 3 was my friend. They were taken out in August, in November I was back with the side of my face swollen from my ear down my neck and in extreme pain. The surgeon irrigated the site and a huge amount of something came out. It turned out I had something get into the wound site and it got seriously infected. Make sure you really take care of the wound sites. It does get better.

 

[bumbershoot]

I had all 4 of mine removed by the Military (you cant have them)

My brother was in the air force and he kept his. Guess when your situation is so complex and your roots are wrapped around your facial nerves that you're being given a 50% chance of complications including facial paralysis, you do get the right to refuse.

He found a civilian dentist 10 years after getting out of his 4 years of service who was able to take them out and he's been better ever since.




OP I'm sorry you feel so bad. Keep contacting them, let them know that you're not OK and they must take care of you!

 

[englishteacha]

Mine were awful as well. All 4 out, dry sockets, sick from the meds...I was miserable. I was still eating soft foods 2+ weeks later. I'm sorry you're so uncomfortable. I'm lucky that my friendly neighborhood dentist was able to pack the dry sockets so I didn't have to drive an hour back to the surgeon.

 

[CharityLynn]

I hated mine, he wants to take all 4 but I've only let them take 2 so far. The pain was unreal, then my gums healed over the stitch, they had to put me on gas just to get the stitch out, I wish they had given me a shot instead it hurt so bad. They had to drill to get one of mine out too.

 

[megthewonderful]

I had a terrible infection afterwards. I had my wisdom teeth removed a few days before going back to college after winter break. The first night back at school, I was experiencing terrible pain. When I woke up the next morning, one side of my cheek was swollen and everyone was telling me I looked like a chipmunk! I went to the school infirmary and they informed me that I had a bad infection. I did everything they told me to care for the incision sites, but obviously it didn't work! The pain was terrible, but the infection cleared up quickly after getting some antibiotics.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I had a horrible time with my extractions. It basically took 2 weeks until I really felt OK again. I had 4 wisdoms plus 4 premolars all removed at once, so I could get braces. So 8 teeth at once - and I was awake for the whole thing!! I was afraid of the anethesia so I didn't want any (or pay for it).

After the surgery, I had so many complications. I had 2 holes between my sinuses and mouth. I had at least one dry socket. The worst - my entire lower right-side face between my chin and jaw area (almost to my right ear) went completely numb. A nerve was damaged during the extractions. The numbness went right up to my lower lip, but not into my mouth, so I could still feel food and chew. I remember the sinking feeling that something was wrong when the novacane didn't seem to wear off of my lower face and it remained numb. The surgeon said it could be permanent, but thank God, 6 weeks later the nerve started to heal. I was VERY fortunate. My face is about 95% of what it was, which is certainly good enough.

But basically it was an awful experience. I was on vicodin for days, until I couldn't stand how it made me feel. My jaw just ached for 2 weeks. My face was bruised for days and days. I was in bed for 3 full days after the surgery, since I felt sooo awful with bleeding and pain. I don't know how people just get right back up and get on with life - I was out of comission for basically 2 weeks.

Ugh! But it was all worth it - because of the extractions, I was able to get the braces and they did their job, and I have a normal smile now.

 

[Bluestars]

I had all four removed at one time. I was told it was easier to do them when you are younger, so even though I was having problems with two of them, they recommended removing all four. I was so glad I got it all over with at once.

Luckily, I didn't have any problems. I don't know if it made any difference or not, but I was put on antibiotics several days before my wisdom teeth were removed. This was to prevent infection. I didn't get an infection.

 

[phragmipedium]

I had a terrible infection afterwards. I had my wisdom teeth removed a few days before going back to college after winter break. The first night back at school, I was experiencing terrible pain. When I woke up the next morning, one side of my cheek was swollen and everyone was telling me I looked like a chipmunk! I went to the school infirmary and they informed me that I had a bad infection. I did everything they told me to care for the incision sites, but obviously it didn't work! The pain was terrible, but the infection cleared up quickly after getting some antibiotics.

The same thing happened to me, but literally three weeks after my surgery. I enjoyed my pain meds and thought everything was back to normal. Then one night I ate a tortilla chip and it kinda poked the area and I thought, "Man, that hurt." The next morning one cheek was *enormous* and the other was normal. I had all four out surgically under general anesthesia, and my oral surgeon split half his week in another town - he happened to be an hour away when I woke up like that, but my dentist got me in right away and gave me antibiotic which took care of it. No problems other than that.