Removal of wisdom teeth

[CelestialVoices]

Here's my experience with wisdom teeth: had them out last November under general anesthesia (I took 15 mg of Valium about 20 mins before my appointment and then got an IV of sodium pentathol) and this was done on a Friday. I laid in bed all weekend with the icepacks on the side of my face and was back to class on Monday with no swelling/or bruising whatsoever! I consider myself lucky there.

BTW: All 4 of my wisdom teeth grew in at 15 years of age totally normally and didn't start bothering me until last year (gave me such bad headaches that I was crying) so I told my dad/stepmom that they needed to GO! and to think my stepmom wanted me to wait until January for insurance to kick in...

I think you will be okay, just follow everyone's advice.

[moli]

My wisdom teeth have never really bothered me. The first one hurt a whole bunch for a day or two when it was coming in. The second one was a little sore but nothing bad. The third one I didn't even notice had come in until the dentist told me. I get headaches, but I don't know if it's because of my teeth or if it's just inherited bad sinuses. I'm hoping that since my wisdom teeth never gave me problems before they won't be too bad when they come out.

[thatgirlwithbraces]

I got my lower wisdom teeth extracted today. Evidently, I don't have any upper wisdoms teeth at all. Lucky about that, I guess!

I followed my pre-operative instructions completely. I recommend everyone to be sure and listen to what the doctors say and do it.

So I went in for the operation. First I was asked to rinse my mouth out with a sort of menthol wash. Then I was hooked up to a monitor that measured my heart rate and blood pressure.

The doctor (very very handsome, BTW) came in and talked to me. Asked me how I was feeling... If I'd had anything to eat...etc.

He put in an IV. They numbed my arm as they put it in. I was glad about that.

I laid back, talked for a minute, and closed my eyes. Next thing I know I'm awake in the same place I was. A nurse was there and she helped me up and guided me to the recovery room. My mouth was stuffed with gauze, which was very annoying.

She briefly explained my post-operative instructions. I was to keep the guaze in until I got home. Then I was to take my pain killer with some water and then change the old gauze with fresh gauze. I was also to use the ice paks on my jaw to alleviate the pain and swelling.

My father came in to get me and I tried to get up, but was told I had to be taken out in a wheelchair. I was a little woozy anyway. So I didn't really care either way.

I was pushed to the car by the nurse and I got up and hopped in my Dad's truck. I was in some pain. Mostly I was parched! That was the worst part. My mouth was incredibly dry. My throat was scratchy.

We had a long ride home with me trying to talk with a mouthful of cotton. It's hard to do. I finally got out my PDA and typed a list of the soft foods I wanted from the grocery. Spaghetti O's, ice cream, pudding, and fudge pops. Perfect!

They prescribed me Hydrodone, which is a narcotic mixed acetominaphen.
And they gave me something for nausea, too. I haven't really needed the anti-nausea pills. And luckily, the Hydrocodone isn't making me loopy. Just a little tired is all.

My jaw is quite sore and a little swollen. I've used the ice packs periodically. I've taken two Hydrocodones since I've gotten home. The experience wasn't that bad really. Sure, it hurt, but that's to be expected. The worst part was the guaze in my mouth and the dry mouth after surgery. My bleeding stopped after a few hours.

If anyone has any more questions, just ask me!

Later,
Meghan

[bethne3]

I have to say that I think everyone is different when it comes to wisdom teeth removal.
I had all 4 of mine taken out on Monday and I am still in a lot of pain/discomfort.
I've known people who were fine that same night after getting theirs out. Good luck though! You will feel so relieved after you are done with the procedure!

[**shinyhappybraceface**]

Not to be a downer since everyone's been terribly positive about this experience considering...since my experience is still rather fresh in my mind, I guess I'll add my two cents' worth...

I had mine (all four) out this morning at 10:00 a.m. (it's 6:30 p.m. my time right now) and I feel like absolute garbage. I was told no eating or drinking for 8 hours prior to my surgery...and I was so hungry that I had a headache going into it...not sure how much my headache affected my mindset, but here it is:

First of all, I ate something from the no-no list (handful of popcorn) on Thursday afternoon, and bent my bottom archwire. No pain involved, but my ortho's office is closed until Monday. After my oral surgery, I found out that I must have damaged an upper bracket that I wasn't aware of because the surgeon said that he had to remove it. It's the one furthest back on my top, left-hand side of my mouth. And I'm probably not going to be able to open my mouth wide enough for a while to have my ortho fix it and the bent wire. So I'm kicking myself now for breaking the rules.

Also, I had the nitrous AND an IV because my insurance wouldn't pay for anesthesia unless they put me out entirely - and I couldn't afford to pay for it out of pocket. So, I started out with a heart monitor and something to check my blood pressure periodically. Feeling fine until they put the thing over my nose for the nitrous - started to feel claustrophobic - and then just plain drunk. Then I cross the threshold where I would have stopped drinking (if I were drinking) and just started to feel like I'd have the worst hangover - the room was spinning. Then they put the IV in my hand.

When I woke up about an hour and a half later, the doctor said that there were some complications due to an extra vein or something (?) - he said that it was only common in Native Americans and Eskimos - anyhow - it caused me to bleed quite a bit more than usual.

When I left the office, I left with three prescriptions - Amoxicillin, Prednisone, Hydrocodone and an antibiotic mouth rinse. (I'm too lazy to get up and check to see what the name is.) My dad took me to fill the scripts, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot at the pharmacy, I started to gag on the gauze and vomited for about 10 minutes - that was fun.

The Prednisone makes me dizzy and nauseous. I only took one of the Hydrocodones when I was first losing the numbness from the Novocaine - I'm definitely taking two the next dose because it didn't help. My mouth is throbbing.

I've been trying to eat stuff - pudding, ice cream and I made some applesause yesterday - to keep me from feeling sick with the medicines...

Guess I'll stop complaining and go back to bed.

[Megera_S]

I got all four of mine out 5½ years ago. They had to be surgically removed because they still hadn't come up yet (but were causing all sorts of problems - mostly headaches...) I also got mine out A LOT earlier than most people (at age 16 and they'd already been bugging me for four years).
I got put under to get them taken out and even though I was absolutely terrified it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. They also didn't put me out very heavily because I woke up almost as soon as I was wheeled into the recovery area (and pulled off my heart monitor which made all the nurses freak out ) and I'm sure because of that I wasn't sick afterwards. And I was EXTREMELY chatty on the drive home, I'm sure my mum wanted to shoot me

Like a few people have said: be religious with icing your face. My pamphlet said 20min on, 20 min off. I actually set my alarm so I wouldn't forget. I didn't swell and bruising was only noticable when it got to the "yellow" stage (and I just had a slight yellow tinge on my cheeks).
Also: Depending on how impacted things are. Your jaw could technically be fractured so no hard foods (carrots, nuts, ice etc) or you could do a lot of damage. I stuck to the soft foods diet for a fair while because even when I tried to eat softer french fries the incision would bleed (and I got REALLY sick of soft foods).
I'm sure I was in a lot of pain (and I know I was pretty miserable) but I honestly can't remember much of how bad it was now.

Good luck

[jenns91civic]

Shiny, I hope that you are doing better a couple days post op, but I have to comment on some things you said.

Nitrous + IV sedation is the norm for IV sedation (which is NOT a general anesthetic, contrary to popular belief of patients). For future reference, if you don't like the effects of the nitrous, i.e. if it's not helping you relax, tell someone. They can reduce the concentration of it or discontinue it completely. For me, nitrous has no effect whatsoever even on the highest concentrations they can use.

Pain. Pain is normal and with pain often comes vomiting. The med making you nauseas could very well be the hydrocodone/acetaminophen. Hydrocodone is a derivative of codeine which is notorious for causing nausea. Incidentally most people who claim they are allergic to codeine are simply having a very common side effect...Do not take two hydrocodone tabs unless it says on your prescription that you can. It is a narcotic which you can easily overdose on and it isn't a single medication. Vicodin is a brand name for hydrocodone and acetaminophen (Tylenol). You can also easily overdose on Tylenol. So again, unless your prescription says "Take 1 to 2 tablets..." do not take more than 1. More is not necessarily better.

I'm not sure why they prescribed you prednisone. I've never seen that given after extractions. It's a great antiinflammatory because it is a corticosteroid, but ibuprofen is also a good antiinflammatory and has fewer side effects. Obviously your oral surgeon has his/her reasons though so I'm not arguing that.

The mouthwash, chlorhexidine, is commonly prescribed post oral surgery because of its antimicrobial properties.

Finally, be sure you take ALL of the antibiotics as prescribed. That is the most important medication that you got.

And if you have any questions, don't ever hesitate to call your surgeon and ask. That is what they are there for. You can also ask here of course, but your surgeon is a better resource for some questions.

I hope you are recovering well,
Jenn

[**shinyhappybraceface**]

I mentioned that I had the Nitrous + the IV sedation only because originally, I was only to have the Nitrous. My insurance wouldn't cover anesthesia unless they did the Nitrous in combination with the IV. I never want the Nitrous again. It was the most awful part of the ordeal, in my opinion.

The pain is easier to deal with now that I've stopped taking the Hydrocodone. The O/S prescribed 1-2/day, but even splitting one pill in half felt like too much for me. It was making me dizzy and I felt as though I couldn't get my brain to properly function. The pain wasn't nearly as intolerable as the side effects of the drug.

I'm now just taking the Prednisone and the Amoxicillin. I'm also using the oral rinse 3x's per day, as prescribed.

They prescribed me the Prednisone because of the swelling due to a cut vein or something (they mentioned that it had something to do with a trait found in Native American and American Eskimo people, but I was too groggy to comprehend it all)...

My face is really puffy, despite the fact that I've been icing it regularly (and carefully) - but no bruising yet.

I've called the office twice in the past couple of days to clarify things and to get more information.

Thanks a lot for your input, Jenn. I really appreciate it!

Amanda

[jenns91civic]

I'm glad to hear you are moving along with the healing process. The facial puffiness could be from the prednisone. That is a notorious side effect. Then again, swelling is at its worst days 2 and 3 after surgery. Sounds like you got a very knowledgable oral surgeon. I wouldn't worry too much about any movement you're having with that missing bracket. I know it's frustrating but you won't go back to square one. If you haven't already, just call your ortho and let them know so you can get in as soon as the swelling subsides enough. Take care,
Jenn