Wisdom teeth removal - experience for treating?

[_19disnA]

Many dentists no longer prescribe narcotics due to the potential for abuse. Might vary by dentist, but I doubt you can insist they do something they don't think is wise. There are several pain reducing over the counter pills available that your dentist can recommend. For school age children, it is probably good to plan ahead and have the necessary procedures done early in the summer vacation so they have time to heal before needing to return to school.

 

[dcassetta]

Lots of good advice here about different soft foods. Do make sure and avoid rice. It sounds like a good option because it’s easy to swallow, but those little grains can get into the extraction site and really cause an issue.

 

[LilyJC]

My youngest just had all four wisdom teeth out a month ago. Our surgeon did not prescribe narcotics. Instead we stayed on top of the pain by alternating ibuprofen (600 mg) and Tylenol every three hours. The day of surgery after returning home, we did ice packs on 20 minutes/off 20 minutes until bedtime. The next day we were told to do warm compresses on the same schedule to manage the swelling. No straws, instructed to do salt water rinse throughout the day, and very light teeth brushing. We used cottage cheese, pudding, and ice cream at first as that’s all she could tolerate. We added mashed potatoes the next day. We tried Jello, but she wasn’t a fan. A week after surgery is when she was told to start gently cleaning with the water syringe. She had her surgery on Thursday morning and insisted on going to her golf practice the following Monday

 

[JLTraveling]

It's just person by person, and as someone said upthread, a lot depends on the dentist. I had pretty extensive oral surgery, including the wisdom teeth. No drugs, just the local anesthetic. And my dentist was so very gentle, there was very little trauma. On his advice, I took a couple of Advil as soon as the anesthetic had worn off enough that I could swallow, but before it was fully gone. Went straight to Disney from his office (still lived in Orlando then, and my family has a long history of recovering from medical/dental stuff there). I stayed off the rougher rides, but spent the better part of the day just walking around and going on gentler attractions. Dole Whips were my best friend! I also found out that the pulled pork and mac and cheese from Pecos Bill's is pretty easy on the mouth.

By about 6pm or so, I was starting to feel kind of beat up. So we went home and I relaxed on the couch. Slept propped up on a few pillows that night. The next day I was sore but manageable. I WFH so I went back to work that day. Round the clock Advil, along with soft foods like scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and cream of wheat, and I was fine in a couple of days.

 

[BrianL]

I had all four out at once in my early 20's and recovery was very easy. They told me to take one pain pill when I got home - that was the only one I even took! After a day or so it ws totally fine. I did have gums that had swollen up over the tooth, so honestly the pain beforehand was much worse than any pain afterward.

My number one peice of advice though is that for the first 12 hours or so after he is home, take away his phone! When I got home, I didn't go to sleep, but rather started making phone calls - high-as-a-kite phone calls that I don't remember at all. It was a few weeks later I was telling a casual acquainance that I recently had my wisdom teeth out, and he was like "I know. You called me. We talked for half-an-hour." Oops! Apparently I did this with several people. I wouldn't want him to start dialing or these days texting/posting stuff, espcially not to a school crush or anything! Maybe the anesthesia is different these days, but I was way out of it, but not so out of it that I couldn't use the phone!

 

[Skip Coffee for Rope Drop]

My son just had two removed. Our O.S. prescribed 1 week of prescription strength ibuprofen (800 mg) and an antibiotic because of the open wounds in the mouth. There will be nothing more but doc will say to come back in 1 week if there is pain.
Food = scrambled eggs, pudding, mashed potatoes, ramen noodles,

 

[AppleDumpling]

I had all four wisdom teeth removed, under general anesthesia, when I was in my late 20’s (30+ years ago). Obviously everyone is different, but it was not nearly as bad as I expected. Had it done on a Friday, and felt well enough to go to work on Monday. Spent the weekend relaxing and eating soft foods, milkshakes, etc. I took Tylenol and also had a prescription med but don’t think I even needed that. I remember the pain being bad for about the first 24-48 hours; then just a little soreness for a few more days. About a week later, I had to go back to the oral surgeon to have the stitches removed, but don’t think that kind of stitches are used anymore.

 

[sipnride]

My wisdom tooth removal taught me two things:
-Nitrous makes me incredibly paranoid. Thank God they were able to find a vein and knock me out, because I was about to start screaming.
-Percocet makes me nauseated to the point of vomiting.

If you don't already know how those meds affect you, this is not a great time to find out.

Anytime someone's prescribed an opioid is, most likely, not a great time to find out you are sensitive to it.

I definitely appreciate the point people have made about whether the surgeon is particularly skilled at reducing trauma. No doubt that's probably the most important factor, though I'm not sure how much control most people (or OP in particular) have here since cost, location, and referral systems make shopping around extremely difficult for many, and even when those are not barriers it's not very easy to get that kind of information on most oral surgeons.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the four surgeons I had were average at best when it came to reducing trauma. The last one was particularly interesting: Christmas Eve (sucks to discover an impact near the holidays), 90 minute wait as one of at least 20 people in the room waiting on a single surgeon. Called to the back, local applied immediately, impatient poking to see if I was number about once every 30 seconds. After firmly holding him off for at least 5 minutes I finally let him have a go at it and he just starts hacking away at my gum. 15 minutes later he yanks it out and exits stage left without saying a word leaving me with the assistant to clean myself up. The assistant hands me a towel does some rinsing and such then hands me a scrip for ibuprofen while prompting me towards the door. Having suffered through a great deal of pain from a previous surgery that I would have described as delightful in comparison, I start making a fuss in the waiting room about how the surgeon had hacked up my mouth and next thing you know I've got a percocet scrip. As I said previously, that particular recovery wound up being the easiest thanks to all the things we planned for and did right.

If I had gotten home and discovered it was making me nauseas that would have sucked, so I get your point, but personally I'd rather take the painkiller and risk the a side effect than to take a weaker one that I know won't relieve the pain, especially when it comes to my teeth.

Finally, I have no doubt nitrous can have a bad effect on people. I would not recommend as a default, but it's definitely safer than sedation, so if someone is anxious to the point where they literally can't sit still (this was me when I got a root canal - never "needed" for my wisdom teeth) then nitrous seems to be a better option. I was fully sedated for the first two surgeries (didn't know any better). The grogginess/confusion lasted for days and led to poor decisions eg smoking, eating things on the naughty list, but worst of all, driving when I clearly shouldn't have! I'm grateful that I managed not to crash, but when I finally got all my faculties back I realized I couldn't even remember visiting my cousin who lived 15 miles away.

 

[Moliphino]

Finally, I have no doubt nitrous can have a bad effect on people. I would not recommend as a default, but it's definitely safer than sedation, so if someone is anxious to the point where they literally can't sit still (this was me when I got a root canal - never "needed" for my wisdom teeth) then nitrous seems to be a better option. I was fully sedated for the first two surgeries (didn't know any better). The grogginess/confusion lasted for days and led to poor decisions eg smoking, eating things on the naughty list, but worst of all, driving when I clearly shouldn't have! I'm grateful that I managed not to crash, but when I finally got all my faculties back I realized I couldn't even remember visiting my cousin who lived 15 miles away.

If anxiety is an issue, wouldn't an anti-anxiety med like Xanax or valium be better? I had surgery on my eyelid with only valium (and possibly some local anesthetic? I don't even remember) and I had zero cares in the world. They were cutting and stitching my eyelid and I was chatting with the doctor and nurse like nothing was happening.

 

[sipnride]

If anxiety is an issue, wouldn't an anti-anxiety med like Xanax or valium be better? I had surgery on my eyelid with only valium (and possibly some local anesthetic? I don't even remember) and I had zero cares in the world. They were cutting and stitching my eyelid and I was chatting with the doctor and nurse like nothing was happening.

Now that you mention it - yes! I'm honestly a little confused now as to why that isn't offered by oral surgeons while those other options almost always are.

 

[mom2rtk]

Now that you mention it - yes! I'm honestly a little confused now as to why that isn't offered by oral surgeons while those other options almost always are.

You can ask. Before my older son's wisdom tooth removal, I asked the oral surgeon for some xanax to have on hand since he's an anxious sort. Oral surgeon was happy to oblige. I really think it helped.

 

[kuhltiffany]

Between myself and my 2 teenagers, we’ve all had ours out in the past year. Lots of great advice so far. We found it was better to not eat anything but liquids the first few days (Boost drinks), so nothing disturbs the stitches. To reduce infection, make sure you use the syringe they give you to flush the holes on the bottom out every time you eat. I felt sick from the salt rinses so switched to Colgate Peroxyl, it worked great!

 

[NotUrsula]

IME, the most commonly prescribed narcotic pain med for tooth extraction is Tylenol-3, which contains codeine rather than oxycodone, and also IME, the typical scrip is for 4 days worth; after that you should be able to switch to regular OTC analgesics if you don't develop complications needing treatment, such as dry socket. (If the person has taken codeine before for any reason, you should be able to predict reactions, but if not, an Rx anti-nausea med is a good idea.) Tylenol-3 makes most people sleepy, which is also good for recovery.

I had all of mine done separately as they developed problems (insurance, not my choice), and I got dry sockets every single time except the last one, in spite of being very careful; I was told that some people are just more prone to it. My big caution is GO TO AN ORAL SURGEON!! Do not let a dentist do the work. A dentist did my first one, and encountered difficulties because of the shape of the root; I now have nerve damage there and a very large gap in my jawbone where the wisdom tooth and the molar next to it used to be.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

From experience:

1. No food for 12 hours beforehand.
2. Plenty of anaesthetic, both gel and injection - get enough and the procedure doesn't hurt, just feels like a tugging sensation.
3. Take either a tranquilliser beforehand (usually a benzo like Xanax). If you do, make sure it has taken effect before you get the teeth pulled and not too late so they've worn off! The guide is the half life of the medication.
4. A dab of alcohol under the tongue beforehand helps.
5. Try to avoid solids for a while afterwards - soup is very soothing.
6. Paracetamol works afterward for pain, Ibuprofen for the swelling and inflammation.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

your son is recovering nicely, Toesmom.

 

[toesmom]

Update: procedure went well, minimal pain because we followed the medication schedule, he just feels sore, but not in pain. Soups, jello, yogurt, freezies so far. Thanks everyone for the advice!

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Update: procedure went well, minimal pain because we followed the medication schedule, he just feels sore, but not in pain. Soups, jello, yogurt, freezies so far. Thanks everyone for the advice!

Great to hear it all went to plan!

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Following because my son will be having his out in October. I am dreading it, he is autistic and gets very grumpy when he is uncomfortable. The first couple weeks after his tonsil surgery when he was a kid were absolutely awful, I'm really hoping this goes better for him!

 

[toesmom]

Following because my son will be having his out in October. I am dreading it, he is autistic and gets very grumpy when he is uncomfortable. The first couple weeks after his tonsil surgery when he was a kid were absolutely awful, I'm really hoping this goes better for him!

I think the main thing is to try to make sure he doesn't feel alot of pain, so keeping the meds schedule is good. A lot of really good ideas in this thread have helped my son. Good luck!

 

[aprilgail]

I would not recommend having multiple wisdom teeth on opposite sides of your mouth removed at the same time. Makes eating virtually impossible. Suggest having one side done and then a few weeks later return for the other side removal. If you remove on one side, you can carefully eat using the other side of your mouth until it heals.

I had all 4 done at once and my daughter had all four done at once and no issues eating. Mine was worse because they were impacted growing sideways- hers were a bit easier. I ate soft food but right after hers she had wendys chicken nuggets and fries and was fine. My biggest issue was not being able to use a straw since I always use straws!