Wisdom teeth coming out--any advice?

ABTOMAT-47

ABTOMAT-47

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Well, it finally happened. Thought I could live the rest of my life with slightly off-kilter wisdom teeth. Ain't happening. Got an infection in one of them a couple weeks ago so it's time to deal with it.

All four are are grown and visable. Upper two are fully erupted but angled, lower two have very slight bone and gum impactions. Good thing, since it apparently won't be so hard to yank 'em.

Any tips to make the going easier? I've planned to have all out at once in about three weeks. Some friends advised doing only one side at a time, but I don't want to double my recovery time. Figure I want to keep the liquid dinner time down to a minimum. Of course the soonest date they had available was right before my birthday. Looks like I'll be drinking my cake.
 
Hello ;
I am sorry to hear that you are most likely in a great deal of pain as we speak. You will not be allowed to drink out of straws ;even though you will be doing a lot of liquids. Jello and some puddings were kinda nice too. I felt 100% better as soon as I got out of the dentist office. You might want to have some water or other beverage for the ride home. expect your mouth to be super dry when they are done with you. I was out of it and had to be driven home due to the medicine they gave me that knocks you out. Hope you have dental insurance. This procedure will be like buying a custom knife.
good luck and hope you have a speedy recovery.
Jay
 
Don't smoke afterwards.........(that is if you normally do).

Make sure and get a moderate pain med. script even if you don't need them, fill them and have them handy, especially if it's on a friday.

Make sure and do not get them pulled on friday, this way if you have problems of any kind you can always go back the next morning.

These are all mistakes I made, friday pulling and smoking equals a terrible weekend..........:eek:

Honestly, it's not that bad, unless you get a dry socket like I did and then smoke on top of that.

You really should do one side at a time or uppers and lowers separate.

Robbie Roberson.;)
 
Thanks. The pain isn't bad right now, but it was earlier in the week. Over the last few years I've had minor problems with them but nothing like this.

No dental, but I get general coverage of the two that are bone impacted, plus all other related expenses. The two others won't be all that much extra, I guess I'll put off new tires for the Jeep.
 
ICEPACKS! 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off, alternating between sides. Should keep the swelling down.

As far as the pain meds go, don't be a hero, don't wait until the pain hits. When you jaw starts to throb, take the meds.

If its at all possible, go to an Oral Surgeon instead of a Dentist.
 
Holy Crap, it's going to hurt like hell! Yeah, they may be a little sore now, but man-oh-man just wait...

Mine were impacted and covered, had them all out at once thankfully (why go through Hell twice?). Bled for two weeks. Hurt like holy hell for a month. And ached for six months. Tylenol with Coedine didn't do sh*t.

I do hope the doctor's putting you under for the procedure.

Good luck,
-Bob
 
Mine were so easy. Yanking them didnt hurt because of the novacaine or whatever it is. Sorta achy for a week or ten days, but nothing terrible. Honestly, its no big deal. No need to worry. Trust Powernoodle. :thumbup:

cheers
 
Don't go to the dentist Bob W went to. Don't follow Bob's post-op procedures. Several things must have been wrong. Tylenol #3 is not strong enough for your situation. Get it all over at once and follow instructions to a T.
 
As you can already tell, everyone is different! I had all of mine out when I was in the Air Force. A couple of them cracked badly coming out and the dentist had to fish for the splinters. He was great -- he got everything out nicely and I healed quickly. Hardly any pain.

On the other hand, I didn't take much in the way of pain meds when I had a foot amputated either, so what do I know?

I do agree about an Oral Surgeon rather than an ordinary dentist but I don't believe in ice packs -- they end up irritating the surrounding nerves so much that it hurts worse when you take them away. Rinse with salt water instead, for any dental procedure.

It's your choice of anesthesia, but talk it over with the surgeon carefully. Knocking you out entirely is probably not the best idea, unless you are really freaked about dental work, which it doesn't sound like you are.

Water to drink afterwards is definitely a good idea. In fact, orange juice is good, too, to help your body get over the stress.
 
just make sure and follow your doctors orders. if you do have any problems call your doctor immediately, don't wait until you're about to die to call. good luck i hope you do well. later, ahgar
oh, and by the way cold applesauce is pretty good.
 
You're right to get 'em all at once.

Mine were fairly easy. It was sore for a few days, but I never felt the need to take any of the pills they gave me. That was a mistake because the pills were, I later found out, a combined pain killer and antibiotic. Fortunately, I suffered no infections. But, ask about the pills.
 
ABTOMAT-47 said:
Well, it finally happened. Thought I could live the rest of my life with slightly off-kilter wisdom teeth. Ain't happening. Got an infection in one of them a couple weeks ago so it's time to deal with it.

All four are are grown and visable. Upper two are fully erupted but angled, lower two have very slight bone and gum impactions. Good thing, since it apparently won't be so hard to yank 'em.

Any tips to make the going easier? I've planned to have all out at once in about three weeks. Some friends advised doing only one side at a time, but I don't want to double my recovery time. Figure I want to keep the liquid dinner time down to a minimum. Of course the soonest date they had available was right before my birthday. Looks like I'll be drinking my cake.
Click to expand...

I would get one side done at a time, I had the ones on my left side out last july No need for a liquid diet. The day I had it done I drank a couple of those Boost protein dietary supliments when I got hungry.

You can chew on the other side of your mouth with out much trouble. If you get both sides done you will be eating nothing but yogurt for a week. The next couple of days I ate soft foods like Kraft mac n cheese, chef Boyardee ravioli, Sandwiches on soft white bread. Fruit like grapes peaches, cantalope.

Rinse your mouth with saltwater after every meal and before bed. Don't swish hard! My dentist put a suture in top and bottom so I didn't have to worry as much about dry socket.

I got a prescription for 18 Vicodin, I still have 16 left. I took one when the novocane wore off and one before bed. The nexy morning there was very little pain so I just took tylenol.

BTW cake is soft you can have birthday cake, Doritos on the other hand, It was over a month before I ate those.
 
Lots of interesting advice so far, but the best was from Ahgar - follow your doctors orders.

I had a pretty easy time with mine, had all 4 done at once. Oral Surgeon put me under, and I didn't realize I had gone out. All of a sudden they're telling me to get up. I said "Bullshit - Take my teeth out! I havent got all day!" They led me to the recovery room, and I crashed for about 45 minutes in some wierd looking astronaut style chair.

(Do have someone drive you, cause if they use a general, you'll be groggy.)

Followed the doc's instructions to the tee, hardly swelled (thanks to the icepacks,) and kept the pain under control. Didn't need the pain meds (percocet - whoah!) after the second day.

The evening of the day I had the surgery, my Father fixed an awesome roast, with gravy and mashed potatoes. I was staring longingly at the roast, and wincing at the thought of the mashed potatoes with broth. My Dad noticed my expression, and got my Neice's baby food grinder. He cut a slab of roast, ground it up, mixed it with some gravy, and put it on my plate - sort of a roast pudding. Sounds gross, but it sure hit the spot.

Don't fret about the cake - Have flan!

Best of luck to you!
 
Get 'em all out at the same time, have pain meds ready in case you need them (not aspirin or naproxin because they inhibit clotting), and eat soft, room temperature stuff for a few days. I was lucky - almost no pain besides a little "soreness" and no complications. If you order sesame noodles, tell them not to put sesame seeds on them! You don't want a lot of small seeds in your food until your gums heal.

Good luck
 
It wasn't a big deal for me. I took about half the Tylenol with codeine they gave me and then decided I didn't need it any more. I took all the antibiotics, of course.

Buy a lot of stuff to throw in the blender -- bananas, protein shakes, ice cream, yogurt.... :cool:
 
I had all 4 done at once; Do have someone drive you. Do go under anesthesia if you have the option. take the pain meds. I was eating food the same day. ok, the next day, as i slept for about about 1 1/2 days.
 
Don't go to my dentist... I still can't taste or feel the left side of my tounge very well from the procedure four years ago :thumbdn:
 
I went to an Oral surgeon and had all 4 out.
Took only a few minutes, gave me a big bottle of vicoden to combat the pain I never experienced (zero pain and swelling during or after) and I smoked right afterwards with no dry sockets. It was a blissful experience.

My experience is in sharp contrast to everyone else I have talked to. Perhaps the surgeon was especially skilled.

My advice:
Don't go to a Dentist
Don't waste money getting put under, it is a quick operation
Pray for a good surgeon.
 
Thanks for all the thoughts. I am going to an oral surgeon, and he did or does teach at Tufts so I figure he's bound to be decent. The plan so far is to get an injection to not-quite knock me out.

Gong, did he mention anything about the madibular canal? I gather that a lot of wisdom teeth can interfere with it and cause problems with removal.
 
Everyone is different. In my case the wisdom teeth were coming in perpendicular to the molars! It was rather upsetting to see the x-rays, to say the least. :eek:

For my procedure, I was given a general, and after I came out of it, I ended up eating soft stuff like oatmeal, apple sauce and ice cream for the next few days.

Unless it's a simple procedure, an oral surgeon is usually the way to go.
 
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