Wisdom Teeth Extraction - Not too bad (1 Viewer)

[Randy Tennison]

I must finally be wise, because I had to have my wisdom teeth removed. I am glad to report that the whole proceedure is done, and has not been too bad at all!

The surgeon examined me, and said he would only take the top teeth, as they were errupted, but the bottom ones were too close to the nerve, and must cause permanent loss of sensation in my lip and jaw. I wasn't having any trouble with them, so he said let them be.

I got my IV of sedative, and honestly never knew I fell asleep. I was awake, felt a little groggy, and then noticed my mouth was very dry. I asked when I would fall asleep, and they told me they were done. Very weird feeling to have lost 30 minutes like that.

I got the percocet, and love it. Talk about getting legally stoned! WOOHOO!

Actually, there has been very little pain (even without the drugs). Just a little swelling, a little tightness in the jaw, and that's it. The thing that is driving me nuts right now is the one stich in one gum. It's loose and dangling, and my tongue won't stay off of it.

Just wanted to let anyone facing this know that it's not as bad as I was told by my "friends". I'm sure if I had the bottom ones out, it would have been worse, but modern medicine is a wonderful thing!

 

[Alex-C]

Randy,

Just to let you know, your posting is very timely. I have a consultation with an oral surgeon tomorrow about getting my top wisdoms out and I am, well, i hate to admit it, but I am kinda nervous about the whole thing.

I have been putting it off for years, but I figured it was time when within a week, pieces of both my wisdom teeth broke off in my mouth !

-alex

 

[Chuck C]

Thanks for sharing, Randy...I feel better already. I'll be getting my wisdom teeth extracted in about 6-7 weeks. However, I'm not as lucky as you and Alex. I'm getting three or all four removed, three of which are growing in sideways! Two of which haven't even popped out and never will! Man, I was lucky with all my other teeth...why do my wisdom teeth have to be such a bitch!! Anyway, I'm glad it worked out for ya, Randy.

 

[PatB]

How do you know when it's time? I was told 5 years ago that my wisdom teeth had to be "taken out immediately" but I don't know now what that meant. Do I take the word of the man who's making $$ off of the procedure? I have had what I think is some dull aching but I think that may be in my head (so to speak) but I don't know what else to look or feel for. Is the stiffness in my neck and the occasional dull pain in my ear and head my teeth acting up or my poor sleeping habits? None of my family have had this done and if I can avoid it I certainly will. And I'm scared to death too, did I mention that? :b

 

[Kenneth]

As to when it's time, that depends on if they are impacted or not. If they are impacted and still coming in then they can cause lots of pain and headaches. If they come in clean then there is really no reason to remove them.

In my case I had all 4 out at one time (right when I graduated college, so I could use my Mom's dental coverage I had during school). Two were extractions and the other two were impacted. One of those two was sitting near a nerve. But, they simply knocked me out and got all 4 with no issues. There was a some pain the first two days and the day of the surgury I was a little queasy. However, I was eating pizza and burgers by week's end (to the chagrin of my dentist who was picking the rements out of my drains, when I went for my 1 week checkup).

If you are older or have 4 impacted teeth it would probably be easier to take them out in two groups. However, if you have easy extractions then it can be best to get it over with at one time.

Cheers,

Kenneth

 

[Julie K]

Impacted wisdom teeth are a whole 'nother story when it comes to removal.

I had all four impacted teeth removed when I was 13 or so. They were growing in sideways and pushing on my other teeth. With absolutely no room left, they had to come out.

The actual pain wasn't so bad, but my cheeks swelled up like a chipmunk for days. Then I got a nasty infection and had to have the incisions opened and drains installed. That was very painful and most certainly not fun.

 

[Andrej Dolenc]

Impacted wisdom teeth are no fun. My bottom 2 were impacted, and were causing enough problems to warrant removal. Part of the problem was that they were pretty far below the gumline, deep in the jaw. To get the teeth out the oral surgeon literally had to crush the 2 wisdom teeth and pick out the bits. Good doc though, did a great job at it.

Hardest part was not getting sick and tired of mashed potatoes, soup, and runny eggs. Gotta resist that urge to eat a piece of toast or any other 'real food' while it's healing. I tried once, that wasn't a good idea..

Andrej

 

[Patrick Sun]

What? No stories of waking up in the middle and notcing the doctor's foot is on your chest as he's pulling like he's in a tug-o-war contest?
I was very fortunate that my were not impacted, but pretty straight. My problem was tooth decay (it's virtually impossible to floss and keep them clean), so I had them all taken out a few years ago.

 

[Dustin B]

What's with this getting knocked out? I didn't have any impacted, but I was conscious when I had all four removed at the same time over about an hour period. I was given lots of local though. I had it done at 8AM and my jaw didn't start to dethaw until 11PM.

The funnest part was when the third one didn't want to come out and you could hear the pliers crunch it (no speaker can duplicate that sound :p))

As for the food thing, if you are careful to chew like a rabbit you can eat real food. I was having sandwiches the next day.

 

[Andrej Dolenc]

No, I didn't come to in the middle when they were picking out wisdom tooth bits from the back of my jaw, but I did start coming to when they were finishing sewing me up. That was kind of weird. Then it was off to the recovery / sleep room to pass out again.

Andrej

 

[Ted Lee]

i had both scenarios going on.

session 1

my two lower teeth are "super-impacted". one of them is almost horizontal in my jawline just about to touch a nerve. doc (oral surgeon) says touch that one and you'll lose feeling, etc. the other one had to come out. the doc did the total climb into my lap and reach down with some scary looking tool. of course, i didn't feel anything at the time, but later that day (once the numbing stuff wore off) i thought i was going to DIE! the pain lasted almost three days...

session 2

by now i'm totally scared and don't even want to do it. doc (mr. dentist) says my upper two have to come out. personally i think he needs to make a payment on that new mercedes i saw in the parking lot. he says this one will be a breeze. he dumbs (i mean numbs) me up...five minutes later they're both in the palm of my hand. i go to work the next day.

so, for me, it all depended on how severely impacted the teeth were. i'm so happy i'm done...

 

[Randy Tennison]

Alex and Chuck,

I just wanted to let you guys know that this was really no problem. Have I hurt??? A little bit, but about the level of a sinus headache. I had the extraction done by an oral surgeon, who was obviously very good at what he does. Don't worry about it. Just make sure you get the good pain medication! Sure, it's a little nerve racking (no pun intended), but all in all, I've been through much worse!

 

[Mike Main]

As Homer says
Hmmm per-co--cet hmmmm
Mike

 

[Peter McDonald]

All 4 of my wisdom teeth were impacted, I had them out last December. I had a Valium Sedation...
I didn't know I fell asleep either until they told me they were done. It hurt a little bit after, but the pain didn't last long. I was really sleepy and chipmunk-like for a couple of days. Ahhh, but the Valium made it all worth while
Peter

 

[Ted Lee]

i don't get the whole drug thing.
i've had perkoset (sp?), valium, vicodin, and some other stuff that was supposed to make my life "happier" for a while.
none of them had any affect on me...i feel like i was missing out on something... :frowning:

 

[Alex-C]

Well...that makes me feel better. Thanks for your support. I found out that I need 3 out, 2 uppers and 1 lower.

I am nervous when I think about it so I try not to think about it...I dont even finish the posted messages that look like they could be a bad story. I have never ever had surgery.

 

[Josh_Hill]

I had mine taken out a few years back. Didnt hurt, but damn I had gause in my mouth for like 2 days and worse yet it was over Christmas Break. So I spent all X-Mas break eating Spagetti O's!

 

[Dalton]

Had the 2 bottom ones out last May. Got knocked out. The oral surgeon told me the room would start to spin when they were sedating me but i don't even remember that. Before i knew it i woke up and it was all over. I swelled up a little bit but never was in any pain. All i took was Motrin, didn't even need the percocets. I was pretty scared before the operation but it wasn't so bad after all.

 

[Francois Caron]

Only one wisdom tooth had to come out, and only because it was digging into the back of my jaw. It would be okay for about a month or two, then it would start to hurt like hell!

The X-rays revealed that not only was the tooth growing into the back of my jaw, but one of the roots had completly curved in the opposite direction! It became a fish hook!

It took an hour's worth of cutting, pulling, yanking and more cutting to finally pull that bugger out of my mouth! And despite all that, the work only cost me $150 Canadian.

Unfortunately, painkillers such as asprin, tylenol and whatever the doctor prescribed also had no effect on my mouth and the upcoming infection. I had to take the occasional day off when the pain became unbearable.

But ever since that experience, I've never had any more pain where the tooth used to be. Pulling it out was the simplest and best option.

 

[Chuck C]

boo to this :frowning: I hope I can come back and tell everyone it went smooth.