Wisdom Teeth removal question

[Cindy B]

I think its time for them to be removed. I've had a dull ache which has been going on for almost a week now.

My wisdom teeth stopped growing and have basically never finished, so I have a bunch of half-teeth... (weird I know...)


How much does it hurt?


I need to go to an oral surgeon, how does that work? Do they put you under? Do they just cut along the gum and yank them out? Do they just do the one that hurts or all of them?

Will I be out of it for a while? How soon to recover?

 

[tonyswife]

I had my wisdom teeth out last summer. All four were impacted. I had general anethetics. But, that is your choice, they can do a local is you so desire.

It doesn't hurt too much. I was given vicodin to take home with me, but I only used one. I just took tylenol to deal with the pain for the next few days. Just follow the doctor's instructions and you will be fine.

Your dentist should be able to refer you to an oral surgeon. They will perform the surgery in their office most likely. It is outpatient. Mine took about 3 hours from arrival to leaving.

It will only take a few days to recover, it's not major surgery. It's way more scary before you do it than it actually is. Don't sweat it. You'll be glad when you;ve had it done because you won;t get those painful infections in the gums by your wisdom teeth anymore.

Good luck!

 

[NandP]

I had my 4th and FINAL wisdom tooth pulled on THURSDAY LAST WEEK... mY FIRST 2 WERE REMOVED when I was 18, the 3rd at 38, and now the last and I'm 41... This one hurts now... big time, I think I have a "dry socket" so I am getting pain killers and an antibiotic tonight..

I tried to hold on to them forever.. but 3 DDS's made me take them out over the years !


Good luck !

 

[hercamore]

In the last few years, dd, ds, and myself have all had our wisdoms out. We all went to the same oral surgeon.

For impacted teeth, I would recommend being totally knocked out. Both DS and DD recovery was about a week before they could eat regularly again. Not much pain, but their cheeks and jaws were swollen and stiff for about 4 days or so.

My teeth were not impacted and I just had local and laughing gas, cuz I was pretty tense! Took about 20 min, and I went home to do yard work. Piece of cake. I had a little swelling. Just took advil.

I am really glad I got rid of those hard to clean teeth.

herc.

 

[HoneyPooh]

I work for an oral surgeon and we recommend that most people have all 4 done at once under general anesthesia. Especially if you are over 30 or so because they are harder to remove as you get older due to your roots doing funky things . Get a recommendation from your general dentist for a good surgeon and if he/she knows his/her stuff you should feel pretty good within 48 hours. As some above posted, you will probably be a bit swollen for a week. You should have a one week post op visit to make sure that everything is healing properly. We give a script for vicodin but many people feel sick when taking it so they stick to advil and do fine. If you want something to make you sleep a bit more, ask for Tylenol #3, it has a touch of codein in it. I love the stuff when I have a sinus headache! It depends on your pain threshold and how difficult the extractions were. When we do all four under general it takes an hour from start to finish. Sometimes it takes an extra 20 minutes if you are very easy to medicate. If things like cold medicines make you very drowsy you may also find it takes a little longer to feel focused after the anesthesia. You will need to make sure you don't do ANY smoking for 2 days afterward. That's one of the primary causes of dry socket. The sucking motion of smoking will dislodge the blood clot forming in your gums and you end up with dry socket. I've never had it but I'm told that it's very very very painful. Same goes for drinking from a straw or spitting, the action can dislodge the blood clot. We do tons of these and very few people have any problems afterward if they follow the instructions we give. Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to PM! Sending good thoughts your way .

 

[believe]

I had all 5 of my impacted wisdom teeth removed. Didn't have to take one pain pill after the surgery. MIL came to help DH take care of me, but it was me that was fixing dinner and breakfast for DH and MIL. DH had 4 removed and he was up playing Euchre that night.

 

[chell]

Originally posted by HoneyPooh
I've never had it but I'm told that it's very very very painful. Same goes for drinking from a straw or spitting, the action can dislodge the blood clot.

I have had it and it is very painful. If you think that you are loosing a blood clot shortly after your removal call them right away and let them know so that you don't get dry socket. Not many people get it, but I'm one of the lucky few in life who get what others usually don't. The medicine they put on it is so very nasty. My clot came out shortly after arriving back home because I was getting sick from the packing material. I'm very sensitive and stuff bothers me easily. But I am always the exception.

My suggestion is to go with an oral surgeon. My regular dentist tried to get mine out and only removed one. If you go to the oral surgeon they will put you under then next thing you know those teeth are gone and you are on your way home.

 

[Cindy B]

My health insurance will cover the charge for an oral surgeon if the wisdom tooth is bony and impacted. What constitutes bony and impacted?

As long as it is covered under the oral surgeon, I will go that route. My medical coverage is much better than my dental coverage.

 

[Beth76]

It wasn't really a huge deal. Both of my parents were there to take me to the appt and then home. I remember really weird things about being "under" though. I don't really remember it hurting a whole lot, just really swollen for several days afterward.

Funny story.....we had just gotten home and I was taking the gauze out of my mouth. Well, one peice was stuck, it would not come out. I kept pulling and pulling and it just would not come out. So, I called my mom over and she looked at me (trying really hard not to laugh) and said, "Honey, you're pulling on your tongue."

 

[Disney-Kim]

I had mine out 2 months ago. I only had the bottom ones out. (tops were out many years ago) and 1 was impacted and required a stitch.

It wasn't bad. I swear. I went to a top notch oral surgeon. I was in/out of the office in less than 45 mins. I went under and felt nothing. I took Percocet for the first couple days after the surgery and then just Tylenol. I was on a pudding, jello diet for about 4 days at least.

I would go thru it again if I had too. I was really scared but it went really smooth.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I had all 4 pulled last summer, all at once. The oral surgeon knocked me out with a general anesthetic, then I think he used a local after I was out (I couldn't feel my tounge for a few hours after waking up). I had them pulled on a monday, was walking around the house tuesday, played Ultimate Frisbee wednesday, went back to work on thursday.

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

Do you know what oral surgeons use to pack your mouth after having your wisdom teeth taken out? Cotton Candy. Yes you got it, that wonderful treat you love at the fair has more absorption power than Brawny towels and gauze put together. So if you want to pay tribute to one of the great medical discoveries of our life time, come to the Fair Food poll and vote for Cotton Candy. The mouth you pack may be your own.

Jeff

 

[sunni]

I had my wisdom teeth removed as a preventitive measure years ago. There was no room in my mouth for more teeth and x-rays showed 3 wisdom teeth (though not close to erupting yet). As I was planning a family, I didn't want to be pregnant and have trouble or have problems later in life... so I said "can I have them removed now?" He referred me to an oral surgeon and it was a piece of cake. The worst part was having an IV (I could choose local only had I wanted) for the anesthesia. He wasn't so good at that part and poked me about 7 times, and I have a thing about needles. What he gave me didn't truly put me under, but he assured me I would think I was because I would have absolutely no memory of it. The only thing I vaguely remember is a flash of him stitching, but not pain at all, it's like that time didn't exist.

A funny story about it: My mother took me since I would need a ride home. While she was in the waiting room, after I had been back there for some time, she heard me scream... loudly. She said it took all she had not to run back there! I have no idea what I screamed about, I don't recall any pain or problems... that is an excellent drug they use! My poor mother had a worse experience than I did!

I went to bed that afternoon and felt fine the next day. I only called in because I was so swollen... chipmunk cheeks! Only used the pain meds (Tylenol w/codeine) the first day.

Hope your oral surgery goes well... don't worry, I used to be such a scaredy about such things and I did fine.

 

[gymnasticsmom68]

FYI when they tell you not to drink from a straw or smoke afterward DON'T. Trust me, you DO NOT want dry socket!!!

 

[arminnie]

I sprained my ankle on a Saturday night. Then I went on Tuesday to have my wisdom tooth out and on Wednesday I left Ca to take my first business trip to Cincinnatti (which is really in Kentucky). My leg hurt but the tooth wasn't that big of a deal. I was 40 and had had the tooth for well over 20 years. The dentist (oral surgeon) deadened it and then just yanked it out. It was ok and didn't even swell up.

This was in a new job or I would never have agreed to leave home after all of that.

 

[battricia]

I had my wisdomteeth out when I was 18, one month before I graduated highschool. It wasn't terrible. I went to an oral surgeon. Mine were impacted so they had to cut open my gums. I was put under (thank goodness!) and I woke up a while after they were done. I went home and just hungout for a day layin around the house, the next day my mom made me go to school, so I'd say I was only out for one day after the day of the removal. My face was all swollen and bruised, but I wasn't really hurting that bad. They prescribed an extra strength pain med (I think it was tylenol w/ kodine) but I didn't take any, I wasn't feeling all that terrible.

tricia.

 

[browneyes]

That pain medication they give you will make you a little loopy. It took me a week to not look like I'd been beat up by a big bad wolf though. I stayed bruised longer than I thought I would. I went to work 2 days afterwards and I must've looked awful, people would look at me and ask me why in the world I wasn't home. It took me about 2 weeks to be able to eat normally again, but they put stitches in my gums, and those things were such a pain.

All in all, I am so glad I had those things out. I went to my dentist. I don't do too well going under in surgery (I like to sleep too much when I'm put under). I don't have as many migraines since I had my wisdom teeth removed.