Wisdom Teeth Removed - Update Post #46

[LtlTee]

I had 3 wisdom teeth removed at the same time at Tufts Dental School in Boston. I kid you not by saying I had some discomfort the first day and was FINE the next day and eating solid food by the third or fourth day. I'm still amazed!

I do remember using ice packs for swelling and maybe some otc pain medication for the second day.

I think I don't remember many details as it wasn't an awful experience.

Good luck to your daughter. I hope things goe as well for her.

This was similar to my experience. I had two impacted wisdom teeth taken out on a Thursday. I had taken that day off from work and the next day also, hoping that I would be feeling ok by Monday in time for work. I was really dreading it and expecting the worst. All the worry was for nothing though -- the next day I felt so good that I never needed anything stronger than Tylenol, and I was bored at home on Friday so I went shopping! I hope your daughter's extraction goes as smoothly! Good luck!

 

[alldiz]

DD (19) is having her four wisdom teeth removed on Thursday. All four are impacted. Two are lying sideways. Any suggestions from those of you who've had this done that might make her experience easier. I'm really not looking forward to it and it isn't my mouth!

Is she being put to sleep....is an oral surgeon removing them?
That would be better....

When she gets home.....Have her rest on recliner if possible...
DONT have her lay flat down....to go to sleep...
Keep head elevated.....Blood will rush to extraction site....and it hurts...

ICE ON AND OFF EVERY 15 MIN FOR 24 HRS....REALLY HELPS SWELLING.

My oral surgeon wouldn't do it all in one shot....
You might want to break it up in two...
so she has a place to eat...

Get some type of syringe....to put water in....to flush
the wound to wash food out of it....
Wound takes a few weeks to close totally...
Good luck
Kerri

edit...ABSOLUTELY NO SUCKING ON STRAWS AS ABOVE POSTERS ALSO SAID

 

[JulyGirl]

Pain meds and ice are really all you can do to help. I had four impacted wisdom teeth taken out at once and the minute the doctor's pain meds wore off, I was miserable. Also, my face was swollen for about a week, so don't panic if swelling does not go down in a couple of days.

 

[KelNottAt]

I was 19 when I had mine removed, too. As if the procedure itself wasn't bad enough, I fainted and hit my head when DBF (now DH) convinced me I was gonna get something called socket rot.

What a sweetie. Sorry girls, he's taken.

Ice, advil, Rx, no straws.

 

[disneynutt1225]

I had all 4 removed at the same time a couple of years ago, and I have to say if I had to do it all over again I would. I was in a lot of pain prior to getting the surgery done, so it was immense relief when they were out. I had a wonderful oral surgeon - he really was great. I remember NOTHING about the surgery - all I remember is going into the office, sitting in the chair and then waking up in my car (DH drove me, of course!).

The most important thing to remember is no sucking on a straw! I wasn't hungry my first day and I didn't really need any pain meds until I wanted to go to sleep. And even then it was more of a precautionary measure. Ice packs helped a lot, and I didn't have any bruising on my face (which is a normal side effect of the surgery). Swelling was minimal as well.

The only things that bothered me were my sutures. I had to go back a week later to get them removed because they were pulling a lot and hurting me.

Oh, and a PSA: don't eat popcorn a week after getting wisdom teeth removed. I wound up getting a kernel stuck in the hole and I needed to be on antibiotics because it got infected.

Other than that, it was a great experience and I'm so glad I had the procedure done. Definitely get all 4 removed at once because if you only do it 2 and 2 and you have a bad experience, you're not going to want to go back!

Good luck to your DD Feralpeg. I'm sure she'll be fine!

 

[crz4mm2]

Ice. Do what they tell her to do.
I had mine out years ago. I followed instructions to the letter. Did not have one bit of problems.
My friend just had hers removed a few months ago. Her experience was not as good. She tried to "get better" faster (read= did not follow instructions) and ended up with dry socket.

 

[luvflorida]

My daughter had her wisdom teeth removed last year. She was fifteen at the time, and I remember thinking that seemed awfully young to have them removed.

Like your daughter, all four of her wisdom teeth were impacted and two were completely sideways. She had an oral surgeon do the work, and she was given anesthesia and was completely out for the procedure. The doctor knew she was nervous about the procedure, so he prescribed some type of sedative that she could take the night and morning before the procedure. However, after reading about some of the side effects, I opted not to have my daughter take the sedative. She was nervous the morning of the procedure, but she did just fine.

The actual procedure was over in about an hour. The dentist did say that my daughter's wisdom teeth were rather large, and that he had to extract the two sideways teeth in pieces. The worst part, for me anyway, was waiting for her to come out of the anesthesia so that I could go to the recovery room to be with her. I was in the waiting room, and I could hear the nurses and doctors talking to her and trying to get her to come out of it.

I remember she slept a lot that first day. She also seemed to have quite a bit of bleeding for the first few days and the gauze in her mouth had to be changed frequently. She took her medication and that helped tremendously with the pain. She also iced her cheeks every 20/30 minutes for a day or two. The swelling was the worst on about the third or fourth day. She had chipmunk cheeks for a few days.

Considering how impacted and sideways her teeth were, and how large they were, she did remarkably well! She spent a few days sleeping, watching movies, eating soft foods, and getting lots and lots of attention. She was a real trooper!

Good luck to your daughter!

 

[froglady]

I had 3 wisdom teeth removed at the same time at Tufts Dental School in Boston. I kid you not by saying I had some discomfort the first day and was FINE the next day and eating solid food by the third or fourth day. I'm still amazed!

I do remember using ice packs for swelling and maybe some otc pain medication for the second day.

I think I don't remember many details as it wasn't an awful experience.

Good luck to your daughter. I hope things goe as well for her.

This is similar to DD's experience when she had all 4 removed at once. Her boyfriend asked if he could stop by to see her, and I told him sure.

He was amazed that she wasn't "a quivering lump of misery like I was after mine were removed" She had minimal pain (after the first 24 hours) and swelling. The biggest problem was getting pain medication into her, as her oral surgeon had ordered liquid, which kept running out of her mouth. I finally gave her a pill, which worked better.

 

[Lynn CC]

DS's were impacted plus they had to make a 1" incision on one of his molars to let that come up. What a mess, he was in bed for a week. This was 3 years ago at age 17. Let her rest as long as she wants, lots of ice packs for days if there is a lot of swelling, soft foods such as jello, applesauce, pudding, scrambled eggs, pastina after a couple of days, soups.

It's not fun when they are impacted.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

had 4 removed recently
take the meds

 

[almacdonald]

I had all 4 wisdom teeth extracted at the same time. I was also knocked out for the procedure. I think that's the only way to go. If I would have had 2 removed at a time I'm not sure I would have gone back for the second 2!

Go out and buy a big bag of frozen peas. Divide them up into 6 small ziplock bags. Frozen peas are awesome for icing since they mould to your face! Get your daughter a pair of mittens, and have her hold the peas up to her cheeks. It will keep the swelling down and it feels oh so good! By having 6 bags you can have 1 pair in use, 1 pair ready for the next icing session and 1 re-freezing after use (if that makes sense.)

 

[Mom2Ashli]

A bra works as the best ice pack. Fill the cups with bagged ice and than tie to around your head. That is what they told me to do 15 years ago and it worked great.

No SUCKING on straws at all.

 

[mla2177]

Get some Italian water ice or ice cream. I ate a lot of it and pudding.

 

[MzDiz]

A bra works as the best ice pack. Fill the cups with bagged ice and than tie to around your head. That is what they told me to do 15 years ago and it worked great.

No SUCKING on straws at all.

Please tell me that someone took pictures!

 

[Snowysmom]

My oldest DS has his out a few years ago and it wasn't as bad as he or I had expected. 2 of his were almost sideways in his jaw, near a nerve. He was in alot of pain for the first couple of days so we made sure he stayed ahead of the pain with the meds. After that, tylenol worked for him. He did get nauseous if he took the pain meds on an empty stomach so check with the doctor to see if your DD should eat something with the meds. DS used bags of frozen peas on his face. We stocked up on the soft foods-pudding, mashed potato, jello, etc. He had his done on Friday and by Monday he was much, much better and went to work. I will have to say he had an excellent oral surgeon who unfortunately has retired. Younger DS needs his out this summer and I have to take him to someone else. I hope everything goes well for your DD.

 

[rascalmom]

Back to the ice packs - if she is having all four out, get at least two (one for each side). Don't get the little teeny ones - you want to ice pretty much the whole side of the face.

Hopefully, you are taking her to an oral surgeon. Are they putting her under? If so, they rarely do only one side at a time. I did mine two at a time - I don't recommend it. I still didn't feel like eating & then I had to go back to get the others done. One recovery period is better.

I would call her doctor's office and let them know she had problems with the Amoxycillin. They can give her something else- people react differently to these things.

If she is really prone to nausea with pain medication, ask the doctor if he can prescribe some Phenagren. It helps with nausea....it will also make her very sleepy.

All those ice packs may give her the chills - warm a blanket in the dryer. A nice cozy treat.

 

[DVCLiz]

Hi Peg!!! Good luck with Kendall's wisdom teeth. I nursed DD through it a few years ago, and last week a friend of DDs had them out, and I helped her, too. (Her mom died a few years ago.)

We were told at the oral surgeon's to ignore the on/off ice times and just keep ice on continuously for the first 24-48 hours. I have to say - it helped tremendously - she wasn't swollen AT ALL - just a tiny, tiny bit. We bought a Rubbermaid product at the grocery store that is designed to keep juice boxes cold. They are little ice pouches that come 3 to a box. I bought 2 boxes of them, so we could use one set, refreeze one, and have one set frozen ready to go.

Instead of a bra we used a pair of panty hose. We tied a knot in the hose right where the leg reaches the crotch, and then cut the toe off the leg and slipped the ice pack down into the leg. Then we put the hose around her face so the crotch was under her chin, the ice bags were right on her cheeks and the legs of the hose could be tied over the top of her head. It worked like a charm!!!!

Milkshakes and smoothies eaten with a straw - cantaloupe cut into tiny pieces, gazpacho, macaroni and cheese, yogurt - that's what she ate the first day. Anything soft that will fill her stomach. It just needs to be in her stomach so the pain meds work properly - also it's easier to come out of the anesthesia if her stomach isn't empty.

The little syringe weas great for DD, but they didn't give it to us right away - that was something she will get today at her 1 week check up.

Honestly, it was much easier than I thought. She was on pain meds the first day, but felt well enough to take a short walk around the neighborhood the next day and was back at her job by Saturday.

Good luck!!!!

 

[WDWVillain]

honstely when I had mine done 27 years ago, they had problems getting them out, they broke etc. I only had two taken out at the time. after, I had not one problem, I did not even use the pain meds...........NOW, 27 years to date, the other two have been braking up in my mouth, and guess what? yes, I need them out. THAT I am dreading, my teeth are older, and they are braking already! they are going to have to dig them out!! eewh.

What ever you do, make sure all 4 come out so she will not have to go thru what I am going thru now! (the dr. was orginally going to take all 4, but changed mind when he got in there?? )

and just follow dr's instructions to what they want her to do, she will be fine in a day or two!

 

[Liliyana]

I never did get mine taken out! Actually, I had no dental visits between the ages of 14 and 27 *blush* due to insurance, or lack of. So when I finally went, on the x-ray I had 4 totally impacted wisdom teeth that I'd never known existed, and yep, mine are all sideways. I have a pretty small mouth/jaw. He left it up to me whether I wanted them taken out or not, something about it being risky because the roots are wrapped around the nerves. Here's the amusing and interesting part... at that dental visit, I had my back bottom molar extracted, which was the reason for the visit. In the two and a half years since having that done, OMG! The wisdom tooth that was behind the now non-existing molar, and sideways, has slowly moved forward and turned itself right side up. It took the place of the extracted tooth, as if it had never happened. Pretty sweet, huh?

 

[minniecarousel]

My 24 year-old DS had all 4 out about 2 months ago. This was done on a Friday and he went to work on Monday afternoon. He was pretty out of it on Friday. He actually went to a baseball game with my DH on Sunday. His jaw hurt for quite a while, but not enough for pain meds. His fiancee took good care of him (now THAT felt weird - not being the one to take him in for it and not being his nurse!)