Wisdom Teeth

[Driving Park]

Just got all 4 of mine extracted yesterday. Surgery took a second because I was asleep, and I've joined the club for being hooked up to an IV. However, recovery has been less easy. I take 3 medicines the doctor prescribed every 6 hours (including in the middle of the night). I have to sleep with my head up which feels rather uncomfortable. I have had to use gauze to stop the bleeding in my mouth. One side has stopped so the gauze is out and the other is getting there. However, the swelling is starting and I've got ice packs ready to deal with it. Which is good but terribly inconvenient because both of my hands are occupied. The doctor says that swelling will be at a maximum on Thursday, and it should start to die down starting Friday. If it doesn't, it's bad. Really bad. However, everything's gone smoothly so far and I expect that to continue.

The worst part about it is that I can't play my euphonium/bass trombone for at least 2 weeks, which means I'll have to miss the most important band event of the year: All-District Band. *sigh*

So what are your experiences with wisdom teeth extractions? Have any suggestions, tips, or insights? Any interesting stories to go along with it?

 

[Bram Turismo]

Why are wisdom teeth such a pain to remove anyway? I've had 4 teeth removed, albeit not wisdom teeth, but I never experienced pain or anything similar during the extraction of those 4 teeth.

 

[Driving Park]

I was anesthetized so there was no pain. It's just afterwards that the aches kick in.

 

[nick09]

So far I have been told that I can keep 2 wisdom teeth. I have 2 other wisdom teeth where one is caught almost horizontal against another tooth and the other has not come through because it is caught right under another tooth. Luckily I'm feeling no pain at all. I have had four teeth taken out to make room for the wisdom teeth before though.

 

[GaryyC]

^^
Same situation. I have two that are growing horizontally 👎. don't they hurt as much as they do because they're connected to blood vessels? Thats what i've heard from people that already had theirs taken out.

 

[Driving Park]

I don't really know but from what the doctor told me it's just the wounds themselves that hurt, because those are some seriously deep incisions in a sensitive area.

 

[mafia_boy]

Driving Park, I've been in the exact same situation, but even worse. I was 16 at the time when I had all 4 removed while under general anesthetic, but I had the added problem of having a broken jaw at the time too which caused one to be impacted horizontally, so I was in the operating theater for around four hours. And it was around April Fool's time, so you can imagine the cruel trick they played on me.

It involved them saying I was supposed to be operated on when I really wasn't scheduled for the operation. 1/2 a destroyed ward of medical supplies and equipment, a trail of blood (from me ripping my IV out to attack the head nurse who played the joke) and a crapload of morphine later I was calmed down a bit and apologised to profusely by the staff for the trouble they caused. 2 days later I was operated on and released the next day after that. By the time I did get operated on, I had not eaten in nearly 4 days!!

I was in absolute pain for a couple of weeks after that while washing my mouth out with saline solution to stop the infection, and I was kept on Panadeine Forte and other medication to kill the pain. Then sat around with a plate on my jaw for four months while the jaw mended, then operated on again to get the plate out.

I feel for you dude....I really do, hope you feel better soon because I know the pain you must be going through right now. 👍

 

[Driving Park]

Driving Park, I've been in the exact same situation, but even worse. I was 16 at the time when I had all 4 removed while under general anesthetic, but I had the added problem of having a broken jaw at the time too which caused one to be impacted horizontally, so I was in the operating theater for around four hours. And it was around April Fool's time, so you can imagine the cruel trick they played on me.

It involved them saying I was supposed to be operated on when I really wasn't scheduled for the operation. 1/2 a destroyed ward of medical supplies and equipment, a trail of blood (from me ripping my IV out to attack the head nurse who played the joke) and a crapload of morphine later I was calmed down a bit and apologised to profusely by the staff for the trouble they caused. 2 days later I was operated on and released the next day after that. By the time I did get operated on, I had not eaten in nearly 4 days!!

I was in absolute pain for a couple of weeks after that while washing my mouth out with saline solution to stop the infection, and I was kept on Panadeine Forte and other medication to kill the pain. Then sat around with a plate on my jaw for four months while the jaw mended, then operated on again to get the plate out.

I feel for you dude....I really do, hope you feel better soon because I know the pain you must be going through right now. 👍

Thanks mafia_boy, this is made me feel better. I just turned 16 on the 6th, so I'm in the same boat. However, no surgery issues or anything. It's actually not really that painful at all right now, just a dull ache. Although, this isn't the worst of it according to the doctor. But I'll be fine. The only pain I'm going through is not being able to do that band thing that I've been preparing for for months.

And I thought not eating for 12 hours was bad!

 

[mafia_boy]

It was that bad for me dude, after 48hrs, I saw my brother with a packet of burger rings.

Because I was 'nil by mouth' I couldn't eat and I was crying and begging my older brother for just 2 burger rings. Look at how small they were and yet, I couldn't eat them!!

Then I copped the April Fool's joke the next day....it was pretty much the worst week in my teenage years. 👎

 

[Driving Park]

It was that bad for me dude, after 48hrs, I saw my brother with a packet of burger rings.

Because I was 'nil by mouth' I couldn't eat and I was crying and begging my older brother for just 2 burger rings. Look at how small they were and yet, I couldn't eat them!!

Then I copped the April Fool's joke the next day....it was pretty much the worst week in my teenage years. 👎

Ooh, that's rough. Luckily I still get to eat soft foods (ice cream ).

 

[mafia_boy]

Yeah, that was a pleasure, but that was after the operation.

 

[Bram Turismo]

don't they hurt as much as they do because they're connected to blood vessels?

I can imagine some horrific pain from those growing horizontally that begin to press on the roots of the other teeth

 

[NISM0_SKYLINE]

I had my two lower wisdom teeth removed a few years back. The overall procedure wasn't too bad. Everytime I ate though stuff would get stuck on the stitches, so I'd use my tongue to clear it out. The result was dry sockets on both sides, so don't mess with anything. The process of curing dry sockets isn't fun either. But in a couple weeks it was cured and I was fine, so my advice is don't mess with the stitches, but I'm sure that's just common sense .

 

[Driving Park]

I had my two lower wisdom teeth removed a few years back. The overall procedure wasn't too bad. Everytime I ate though stuff would get stuck on the stitches, so I'd use my tongue to clear it out. The result was dry sockets on both sides, so don't mess with anything. The process of curing dry sockets isn't fun either. But in a couple weeks it was cured and I was fine, so my advice is don't mess with the stitches, but I'm sure that's just common sense .

Yeah I'm being pretty careful about that. Hopefully it won't give me dry sockets.

 

[wfooshee]

Mine were perfectly aligned, but I couldn't reach them for proper cleaning, so they were all decayed at the back. Out they came, just pliers, no cutting and no stitches. Novacaine, pliers, horrible squeaky noises up through the jaw, and done. 1 day of sucking gauze, another 2 days of ache, Percogesic for pain, and it was done.

The worst of the extraction was that sound passing up into my ears from through the bone. I had to make him stop once, and the assistant came out with smelling salts thinking I was about to pass out. I told her I was OK, I just had to make the noise stop for a minute!

This was nearly 20 years ago now. I still live, so it must have not been that bad.

 

[nick09]

Well I'm just thankful that I inherited my father's mouth size or else I would be in quite a bit of pain. I have one wisdom tooth that close to horizontal position and luckily it is only pushing against the top portion of the tooth. I should of asked for a copy of my x-ray because it's hard to explain.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

You guys suck! I had all 4 of mine taken out at 9am and was home by 11. I was actually so bored of sitting around with my mom by 12:30 that at 1 I decided to go to my afternoon classes. I had some bruising and swelling, but nothing compared to some of the fights I've been in, so it didn't really bother me too much except for when I was outside smoking. Even the street doctors drugs didn't help against the stinging pain of cold air on the wounds.

 

[mafia_boy]

You guys suck! I had all 4 of mine taken out at 9am and was home by 11.

Go get your jaw broken and THEN get them taken out, then come back to me and say I suck.

I had some bruising and swelling, but nothing compared to some of the fights I've been in,

Mine was caused by a fight.

so it didn't really bother me too much except for when I was outside smoking.

You were lucky you didn't get dry sockets.

Even the street doctors drugs

Aka your local dealer's drugs. Just kidding. Or am I.....?? hehe.

didn't help against the stinging pain of cold air on the wounds.

Should've left the gauze there for longer.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

Yeah, getting your jaw broken changes everything, and I know the pain you would have been in as I had a friend that needed her jaw broken and adjusted to correct her bite. It was nice not having to hear her talk for a couple of weeks, but seeing her sitting there with a color and shape changing jaw wasn't pleasant.

I was warned about dry sockets because of my smoking/etc, but luckily I never felt the pain that others have gone through with them. Did anyone else keep their teeth? I still have mine upstairs. Maybe we can turn this into a "post your wisdom teeth" thread.

 

[Driving Park]

Did anyone else keep their teeth? I still have mine upstairs. Maybe we can turn this into a "post your wisdom teeth" thread.

Nope, I never even saw them. Was asleep the whole time and they never showed me when I woke up.

 

[mafia_boy]

Same, the excuse was "it's a biohazard" to which I replied, "I'm not some diseased person, am I?".

 

[Nicknamealguem]

I'll have mine removed in February, in order to use braces. I wish, though, that I would have all four removed at once. Instead, I'll have to have them removed, one at the time, with a gap of two weeks or more.

 

[Max Powers]

I got pretty lucky with mine. It only hurt for a day or so, and the pain wasn't even severe enough for me to have to take the vicodin that I was prescribed, I just used over the counter ibuprofin which was enough. I ended up selling the vicodins to some pill heads in my school and cashed in...nice.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

CHA-CHING!


Biohazard? Teeth?! I wonder if the Tooth Fairy wears a contamination suit when she goes around leaving quarters under everyones pillows.

 

[Driving Park]

I'll have mine removed in February, in order to use braces. I wish, though, that I would have all four removed at once. Instead, I'll have to have them removed, one at the time, with a gap of two weeks or more.

Now THAT is unfortunate.

CHA-CHING!


Biohazard? Teeth?! I wonder if the Tooth Fairy wears a contamination suit when she goes around leaving quarters under everyones pillows.

 

[NocturnalPS]

At 26 I finally had all 4 taken out. They kept getting infected with food getting stuck back there under the skin. I was back to eating solids a week later.

 

[Gil]

Why are wisdom teeth such a pain to remove anyway? I've had 4 teeth removed, albeit not wisdom teeth, but I never experienced pain or anything similar during the extraction of those 4 teeth.

The reason is that for some folks the wisdom teeth don't grow in properly. And almost everyone that has them removed has it done because they simply don't fit in the space allotted.
So, they have to be CUT out, not pulled out like a "simple" extraction.

Any of you that have had an easy time with wisdom teeth extraction, count your blessings.
It has the potential to truly be an uncomfortable experience, that goes on and on like the Energizer Bunny.

 

[breakpoint]

I'm 28 with all of my wisdom teeth still in my head, not sure if they need to come out or ever will though considering I have never been to a dentist. If something ever starts to hurt bad enough I will go then. Never have had insurance so I only go to doctors etc. if its just no other option.

 

[overheating]

Last month mine started pushing so hard that it broke the next tooth over. Now I am in even worse shape. Broken molar, all 4 impacted and in pain. Trying to hold out till my insurance kicks in. I am not looking forward to the extraction, have heard some scary tales of pain and suffering.

I thought I could do it but it looks like if I don't get them removed soon, things will be much worse.

@breakpoint
The sooner you get them out, the easier it will be.

 

[breakpoint]

@breakpoint
The sooner you get them out, the easier it will be.

Are wisdom teeth something comes out for everyone? If so nature really screwed up on that design huh? I have never even had a tooth ache before, not to mention never brushed my teeth until I was around 14. Bad childhood, got to an age where I realized I needed to do it and started then. Zero parenting when I was growing up, unless you call learning the ways of a fiend parenting:tdown: