Wisdom Tooth Extraction

[Mrs. Bradbury]

Tomorrow my youngest child (18) is having his wisdom teeth extracted. None have broken through the gum. This isn't my first trip to this particular rodeo, but I'm wondering if there are any improvements to aftercare since my daughter had hers removed years ago.

My plan is regular drugs, ice packs, a soft/liquid diet, and no straws. Any other suggestions?

My biggest helpful hint from experience is to just leave it alone the first few days. Swishing can wait, lol. Neither of my two older kids (or I) had a dry socket with this approach, which I understand can be extremely painful.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[runwad]

Tis the season, my dd18 is getting her's out on Friday . My oldest dd had no problems with her extraction and was at grad parties the next day eating wings! I hope all goes as well for 2 DD. No advice just wanted to commiserate. Good luck.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

The doctor should give you clear instructions before you leave. I'd go over them carefully with your child and help them understand how painful it can be if the directions are not followed exactly as the doctor says.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Best of luck. Our ds 2 had all 4 of them out at once. He just laid on the couch for 3 days and took lots of painkillers and was miserable. He also had complications but dont know if it was actually dry socket.

As others have said follow the oral surgeons instructions and if there is any problem dont hesitate to call them.

 

[LJSquishy]

Just have her follow the aftercare instructions precisely and she shouldn't have any issues. I had all four of mine removed at once (two of the four had not broken through the skin and were growing sideways so they had a lot of digging to do), took the pain meds as directed and after two days stopped taking the meds and was 100% fine. I never once felt any pain and everything healed up quickly.

 

[tvguy]

Just follow the instructions to the letter. My DS had his out at 18, DW had her's out at age 23, no big deal. Easy for me to say. I still have mine and I am almost 59. No issues, yet, with them.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

When I had mine out I got a dry socket and it hurt pretty badly. We went on an RV trip (Disney, maybe? Can't quite remember) a 2 days later and I was pretty miserable. I felt like I followed the directions carefully, but still got the dry socket, so who knows?

 

[seashoreCM]

No swishing. Or rather no full mouthfuls of water either.

I haven't tried this one but I am thinking that opening your mouth often while chewing is a good idea.

Eat more slowly to cut down the chances of biting your tongue.

I had all 4 wisdom teeth taken out but in two sessions, left side first then right side a few weeks later. This way I had one side to chew on.

Oddly enough, or rather, luckily for me, I did not have any pain on either side. I had already bought some painkiller pills after the first appointment but did not use them.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

 

[bababear_50]

My advise is to listen very carefully to your daughter....my lesson learned with youngest son #3
He kept complaining of pain and feeling like there were tooth fragments left behind...ok I was a bad mom and told him to "suck it up'...well a visit to the dentist revealed "Bone Shards". He actually went through 2 months (4 dental visits) of these appearing and them having to be removed. Whenever he wants something he says hey mom remember when you told me to "suck it up" and the guilt sets in.
this explains bone shards.
http://www.animated-teeth.com/tooth_extractions/a-tooth-fragment-sequestra.htm
Best wishes
Hugs Mel

 

[amcnj]

There seems to be a wide variety of recoveries. My son had discomfort for that first day or two and then was pretty much OK. Hopefully your child will be one of the quick recoveries too.

 

[seashoreCM]

Suck it up.

Not a good choice of words in this specific situation. Could turn into a pun with bad results when it comes to extracted teeth and dry sockets.

No soda straws was suggested earlier for the purpose of preventing suction.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

Thanks everybody. We're home, and he's having more bleeding than my older son and daughter had. We're icing - he got this cool headwrap to use with reusable ice packs, a BIG improvement from a bag of frozen peas! - and have moved on to biting down on teabags; just gauze didn't work very well. He's in general not very cooperative, so this could be a long day. Ugh.

 

[angierae]

My husband also had the aforementioned bone shards, it was a mess. For me, I came home, slept for a couple of hours, and then was fine (mine were partially erupted) but I was nervous about eating for about a week. But very, very little pain, and no swollen face.

 

[WDWNY]

I had mine removed before they broke through the gum as well. I don't think I stopped bleeding until 36 hours after went through a ton of gauzes. Was swollen for a long time and didn't eat solids for over a week because I couldn't open my mouth enough to get anything in there. It was a mess. Hopefully he heals a lot quicker than I did!

 

[jmmess]

I didn't have mine taken out until I was in my mid-30s. All 4 were removed at the same visit. It actually wasn't that bad and would easily do it again over whitening my teeth. Yowzers! I was in pain for 2 days afterwards when I did that!

 

[MMCD]

DS3 is 14yo. On our last visit to the orthodontist told us that DS3 should get his wisdom teeth removed this summer at this young age. His wisdom teeth are soft now and gets harder as he ages. The ortho sat in a lecture discussing how the trend should be targeting early teens. I know our dentist told us to get our DS2 who was 16 at the time to get his wisdom teeth removed because his wisdoms were projected to come in crooked. DS2 had his removed a year later.

I had dry sockets. I was in pain for 2 days before I called it in. I think I got it because I didn't know I needed to be premedicated due to my heart condition. I had to get a tetnus shot in the b*&^ with the longest needle i had ever scene.

 

[dancin Disney style]

My advice is to have everything ready at home prior to the surgery day. Including the meds. When my DD had hers taken out a couple of years ago we were only given the prescription as we were leaving to go home. I then had to take her with me the pharmacy which was not ideal.

OP....the aftercare instructions are probably the same today as what you mentioned. Just confirm everything with the surgeon. We used large bags of frozen peas as ice packs. Just be sure that you toss then in the garbage after you don't need them as ice packs anymore.