Wisdom Teeth Removal

[Bearvet]

DS17 is having his wisdom teeth removed (all 4, impacted) on Friday. I scheduled it this way figuring he'd have the long weekend to recover (Memorial Day). We really can't do it in the summer - DH and I will be gone for 3 weeks and DS is the QB for his high school football team, so football conditioning and camps are scheduled. If we wait until Christmas break, the surgery may be more difficult. The oral surgeon felt that the sooner the better.

So, a few questions:
Please recommend things I should have on hand for when he gets home - food, ice packs, OTC meds, etc.

DS had arthroscopic Sx on his knee 1 1/2 years ago and had a lot of vomitting due to the anesthesia. Should I find out what he had and ask them to use something different? Or just realize that he has a sensitive stomach and to be prepared...

I hope I'm allowing enough recovery time. I know everyone's different, but I'm hoping the Sx day plus 3 full days will be enough for him to go back to school. Any thoughts? Luckily his AP exams are finished!

Thanks for your help - and please - no horror stories! DS21 had his out around this age and did fine, but DS17 always seems to get things worse.

 

[wendinator]

I had two wisdom teeth removed when I was about 34. It's all a bit of a medicated blur in my memory now, but here's a few things I remember...

Most of the mushy/easy-to-eat foods are sweet. I got pretty tired of pudding, yogurt, jello, etc. Mashed potatoes were awesome.

Keep the holes clean. You don't want to get any food stuck in there. My husband used an empty syringe to flush water (gently!) in the hole to keep it clean and get out any food that was stuck in there.

They'll probably tell you this, but don't drink with a straw. Rinse with salt water.

It'll be a major drag for a while. Then... just a medicated blur in his memory.

 

[PirateFairy8]

I would at least mention something about the anesthesia, I reacted badly to it twice. My dad always double checks with the anesthesiologist now and lets them know that it ends up making me very sick.

 

[AKL_Megs]

So, a few questions:
Please recommend things I should have on hand for when he gets home - food, ice packs, OTC meds, etc.

DS had arthroscopic Sx on his knee 1 1/2 years ago and had a lot of vomitting due to the anesthesia. Should I find out what he had and ask them to use something different? Or just realize that he has a sensitive stomach and to be prepared...

I hope I'm allowing enough recovery time. I know everyone's different, but I'm hoping the Sx day plus 3 full days will be enough for him to go back to school. Any thoughts? Luckily his AP exams are finished!

Thanks for your help - and please - no horror stories! DS21 had his out around this age and did fine, but DS17 always seems to get things worse.

I had mine (4, all impacted) cut out when I was about 17.

A three-day weekend is sufficient for a nice recovery.

My FIRST and MOST important piece of advice is to EAT SOMETHING (anything) before taking any narcotic pain meds. I was prescribed Vicodin, and was in such pain, I took one without eating anything. Big mistake. The anesthesia meds mixed with the Vicodin wreaked havoc on my stomach, and I VERY PAINFULLY threw up in the kitchen trash can (that was as far as I could make it.)

With that said... things to eat!

Jell-O pudding and gelatin (pick some favorite flavors and have them ready to go), applesauce, baby food (in fruit flavors), popscicles, frozen fudge bars, yogurt, cottage cheese, soup. These are GREAT for the first day especially, and beyond. You can hardly open your mouth to gum anything.

On day two, I was less swollen and could gum stuffing, mashed potatoes, canned veggies, basically anything a baby could gum.

Ice packs ar GREAT! The softer, the better. I remember them giving me something that wrapped around my head, and when it got warm and my mom replaced it with those blue packs, it wasn't as nice. If they give you one of these, ask for two.

Be prepared for waking up to a LOT of blood on your pillow the first morning. I was shocked, but it was normal. My mom freaked out.

Of course, be prepared for chipmunk cheeks almost immediately, and they last about a week.

I wish him luck, but it's not as bad as some make it seem!

Eat something! Right away! Even if he has no appetite!

 

[mjkacmom]

Keep the holes clean. You don't want to get any food stuck in there. My husband used an empty syringe to flush water (gently!) in the hole to keep it clean and get out any food that was stuck in there.

.

Don't do this in the beginning!!!! The reason why you can't use a straw is to prevent a dry socket, literally the most painful condition you can have. After surgery, a blood clot forms, and sits in the whole. Under the blood are raw nerves. If the blood gets dislodged, there is nothing between the nerves and the mouth. This happened to me, and it was 2 full weeks of torture (lost 15 pounds). I had to go to the surgeon every day, sometimes twice a day, to have him pack it. I've had 5 children, both ways, and a dry socket is much worse than childbirth.

The rest of mine healed fine, and I would've been fine after 3 days. I've thrown up after being put out, but I was awake for the surgery (with a valium drip - I was a happy camper).

 

[Nohal]

DS had his taken out when he was 20. Two of them were impacted and sideways under the gums. It took longer than they expected and they had to give him more anethesia. He stayed in his bed and I gave him a bell to call me and a pad an pen to tell me what he needed. Along with all the food that was mentioned, I gave him carnation instant breakfast to get more nutrition into him. Good luck.

 

[Cinderella94]

I'm 15 and had all 4 of mine (impacted) removed about a month ago.

They were removed on a Friday morning, and I missed school on Monday and I think Tuesday also. It wasn't too bad though. On Friday I came home and did nothing but sleep--ALL day! I didn't feel like eating, but on Sunday I ate Jello, mac & cheese, and ice cream.

I didn't have any dry sockets or other recovery issues, and chipmunk cheeks went away by Thursday.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

When I had all 4 out they were not impacted so I just had novacaine and was good to go back to school after 2 days with no ill-effects.
Now DD, on the other hand, needed to be knocked out for her extraction. It only took 10 minutes to pull the 4 teeth and we left for home in half an hour. Unfortunately, she apparently had swallowed a lot of blood and half way home she threw it up in the car.
I recommend taking a barf bag with you!

 

[bfeller]

Definately get the ice pack that wraps around your jaw over head. It is called a jaw bra around here. It is easier to keep on and ice is the key to less swelling.

I bought one of those snow cone machines and made snow cones for my DD when she had hers out

 

[HeatherC]

One other thing that I suggest is to have them give you prescription painkillers right away. I had them actually call mine in to CVS before I left the office. I picked it up right away and took two before I even got home. For the first day I took them every 4 hours and by day 2 I had no pain.

For some reason, painkillers are more effective if you take them before the actual pain starts.

Hope it is as smooth as possible for him.

 

[GoHogs]

My doctor recommended the following:

Fix the boxed Kraft Mac and Cheese, don't add the milk or butter, only the powdered mix, then add extra cheddar cheese. He just said to add a hunk of cheese and mix it in till melted. The extra cheese helps "hold" it together in your mouth so it doesn't get little pieces everywhere. It worked great for me and tasted good.

 

[Lintasare]

Be warned your son may not be able to swallow a pain pill alone. I know when I had my wisdom teeth out I kept gagging on my pills. I found by breaking it in half and taking each half in a spoonful of yogurt worked well.

I only took the vicodin for 2 days after that I took Aleve and for me it worked better than the vicodin.

 

[J Le]

My reaction to the anesthesia was being really cold which they said happened occasionally. Have an extra fleece on hand.

 

[AKL_Megs]

My reaction to the anesthesia was being really cold which they said happened occasionally. Have an extra fleece on hand.

My reaction? I asked if the Fed-Ex man had come by yet...

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

DD had hers out last Aug at age 14, all 4 impacted though immature. DS had all 4 (impacted) out this past March at almost 19.

Both got chipmunk cheeks, no dry socket. We did foods by the book. No straws. They get REALLY tired of sweet things. We stuck to the smoothies, shakes, yogurt, applesauce, the first 2 or 3 days. I served cooled "cream of" soups on the 3rd day and soft cooled mashed potatoes. I think on the 4th day I made real soft mac n cheese from scratch. They were SICK of yogurt, smoothies, shakes. DS enjoyed ice cream longer than DD did.

Both get sick from anesthesia. They gave DD phenergan in her IV and kept her another 2 hours to prevent nausea in her. That worked. I was there ALL day though. DS did NOT want to go under like his sister and insisted on just numbing and gas. Surgeon said that was fine. They just tell you to do the IV unless you ask. Surgeon said some do 4 impacted this way and he would be fine. He did great and did not get sick from that. Both got sick from the pain pills. At the 24 hr mark DS went off Vicodin and to 3 or 4 Motrins and felt SO much better. DD did not come off the Vicodin for several days.

Good luck. Glad those 8 impacted wisdom teeth are behind us! Oh, at the 3 week mark, when you think you are safe, DD's lower hole got infected and she was on antibiotics again for a week. They both had antibiotics for the first week also.

Both were given those ice head wraps to wear home. And both took about 4-5 days of really taking it easy.

ETA: When DH and I had our impacted wisdom teeth out in the 80's, we were just given novocaine and gas. I don't remember any of it either. No biggie. DD did like being knocked out with IV though. IV sedation is the norm now, not sure WHY that changed.

 

[J Le]

I forgot to mention... something that might make him feel better is a visit from the tooth fairy. Even though I was in my 20's, I got $20 - $5 a tooth!!!

 

[NMAmy]

I just had mine out last Wednesday. Get several ice packs--that way you can always have one in the freezer. I was able to eat ice cream, yogurt, pudding, chicken broth with noodles, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. I didn't eat anything for the first 24 hours.

I found that the Vicodin only helped for about 2 hours and then the pain would come back. I switched to ibuprofin and that actually helped me more.

I'm still swollen up and my jaw is bruised. Had to take my mom to the ER today and it made for an interesting conversation with the ER nurse who wanted to check to make sure I hadn't been abused. After I told her what was going on, she kept me in ice bags for the rest of our stay.

 

[Lintasare]

My only reaction to the anesthesia was some nausea so I had to lay in the recovery room with an O2 mask on for half an hour before my doctor would release me. A friend of mine had a weird reaction to her anesthesia. She swore up and down there were deer in the recovery room and they were trying to hunt her.

I got lucky, I didn't swell at all. You couldn't even tell I had gotten mine out except for the fact I could not open my mouth all the way to talk.

Now my sister...my sister is the lucky one. She doen't have wisdom teeth so no surgery for her.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I had all 4 and it took me 2 weeks to fully not be sore. They had to stand on a chair and pull out my top teeth, apparently, and those HURT.

I was crying by the end of week one because of so much pain.

ICE PACKS.

I had mine out at the end of the summer.

 

[taylor3297]

I had all 4 of my impacted wisdom teeth out when I was 21 (many moons ago), I was not totally put under but was given a twilight sleep. I did not get the chipmunk cheeks and I only needed to take the pain medicine for one day. After that Tylenol was fine. I can't take ibuprofen or motrin. Both make me toss my cookies. Just follow the doctors orders and everything will be fine.