Wisdom Teeth Advice

I just made my appointment to get all 4 of my wisdom teeth out February 13th - Happy Valentine's Day to me, right. I'm freaking out. I hate everything about the dentist and if they didn't hurt, I probably wouldn't get them out.

Any advice for me? I'm really nervous about the pain, will I be awake (I hope not), and dealing with a bloody mouth freaks me out too, lol. And then I'll probably say something totally stupid to my boyfriend!

How long did it take you to fully recover? I'm a wimp so I planned for it to get them done as soon as I'm done with my classes and work that way I have the rest of the week to recover. 

I got all 4 of mine pulled at the same time. I was sedated though, make sure you ask if you want that done, I don't think they'll automatically do it without your asking. And if you are sedated, you need someone to drive you home. 

I ate mashed potatoes for food the day I got them removed, and then normal food the next day. It took a long time for the sockets to heal though, a few months (I want to say 6ish?). Don't eat lettuce or rice! They are a pain to get out of the sockets. I was fortunate to not get dry sockets.

I had all four of mine done under sedation. I had them out on a Friday and went back to work Monday. I wound up only working a half day as the pain meds made me loopy. I was OK by Tuesday though.  I think it just depends on how many are impacted. My top two were out but the bottom two had to be cut out. I mostly ate mashed potatoes and soup.  I agree stay away from rice for a long time. It definitely took longer than I thought it would for them to close up but I thankfully had no complications.

It took me a full week to recover and return to work, but my sister went camping the next day after having hers out so it depends on the person. I'm a huge baby and terrified of the dentist, but it's not as bad as it seems, I promise! Good luck to you!!

I was sedated and then on pain killers for several days afterwards.  It makes it easy but probably more messy.  This was years ago but I still remember waking up and having drooled blood all over my hair and pillow.  Hopefully that doesn't happen to you!  But because of that my advice is to not wear any favorite clothes or use any favorite bedding, just in case!

I'd just plan to veg out in front of the TV with some smoothies and pain killers. 

HAHA that's crazy! I'm getting my last wisdom tooth removed on the 13th too. I had three of them cut out like 6 years ago (I think the 4th was buried too deep at the time). the last one finally grew out, so hopefully a simple extraction will be easier to recover from. Have yours grown out, or will they be cut out?

whether or not you opt for anesthesia or not is entirely your choice--I chose not to, since it's not necessary. if you choose not to, definitely bring your ipod/mp3 player and blast music so you don't have to hear all the drilling.

some people recover easier than others--I guess my doctor hit a nerve or something, because my jaw was swollen for like two weeks afterwards. it hurt to even smile for a week, and I could barely open my mouth for a couple days after surgery :/. but I know people who had painless recoveries, so I wouldn't worry too much. just make sure you eat soft/mushy foods and avoid straws until your stitches heal.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I know I want to be knocked out completely - I have really bad fear/anxiety with everything at the dentist. At this point, I'm not too nervous because they have just been hurting so bad that I need/want them out already. The past couple of days have been fine - no pain but before that they were awful! 

Unfortunately I can't get them out as soon as I'd like. I'm on my mom's insurance and they will cover 80% of the xray- but none of the extractions until NOVEMBER! Ugh. So the whole insurance thing has put a stop to it for now - but she is trying to figure stuff out.

How are you feeling, sheeee?  I hope they put you to sleep after all. At least ÿou have the long weekend to recover!

I just got mine out in August -- all 4. It affects everyone differently... it took me almost a week to totally heal and eat real food, but my boyfriend ate food the very next day! the best advice i can give is that unless you're in severe pain, switch off the prescription stuff ASAP and switch to advil! Around day 2 or 3 i started feeling really out of it and nauseas when i'd take the pain killers so i started taking advil and not only did i feel more like myself, but my giant chipmunk cheeks were getting better and better by the minute!

Well my mom couldn't get around it with the insurance company/her employer. It looks like I have to wait until November, or pay out of pocket (yikes!). 

But actually they have hurt at all for the past week! Yay!! That's a huge relief because they were hurting pretty bad. Maybe one was just popping through more? 

Were you in pain because they were erupting, or were they hurting deep inside your gums (e.g. they hadn't emerged but were crooked and hitting something)? if the former, it might actually be for the best that you wait.

I just got my last wisdom tooth removed a few days ago, and it had been fully erupted for months--the dentist wanted to remove it when it was just starting to come out, but I got lazy/too busy and never scheduled surgery. It literally took two seconds with a pair of pliers, and that was that--after the local anaesthetic wore off, I didn't even feel any pain or discomfort.

My first three, however, were soft-tissue extractions--meaning an oral surgeon had to drill and slice open my gums for an hour. Recovery was the worst. I wish I waited until they were fully erupted :/

I have one that bugs me occasionally. It starts to push up and because it starts to break through it creates this weird flap of gums over that tooth that is wiggles around. About 6 months ago it got mega infected. They put me on antibiotics and told me to come back in 2 weeks to have it pulled. I did as told but when I went back he showed me my xray where you could see a tiny piece of food stuck in the flap. He told me to go home and make sure to use one of those gentle picks that looks kinda like a pipe cleaner to clean it. He said I had plenty of room for my wisdom teeth but that the one was acting up going up and down. The good news is that since I became more aware of how to care for that weird flap I haven't had a problem since and haven't had any pulled.

Some advice until you actually can get them out. When you brush, be super gentle but thorough. Use a soft bristled brush and get all nooks and crannies. Heavy scrubbing is not only painful but it can make the gums swell. Take ibuprofen but only as needed and not all the time because it is pretty hard on your stomach if you take it for extended periods of time. If they are swollen that day or have loose gums around them avoid super hot or cold foods. I found that mouthwash significantly increased my sensitivity and pain so the dentist recommended swishing with saline. It's gross but effective. Just dump a tsp of salt into a small cup of water and swish. Exercise your face gently a few times a day by make facial expressions by smiling, opening your mouth, making ducklips, etc. This helps keep the facial muscles loose instead of getting all tight and making the pain worse.

Hope you feel better soon!

Originally Posted by americanclassic /img/forum/go_quote.gif

My first three, however, were soft-tissue extractions--meaning an oral surgeon had to drill and slice open my gums for an hour. Recovery was the worst. I wish I waited until they were fully erupted :/

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I had the same thing too, all four of mine were impacted so I had them all sliced out at once.  I was awake and they just numbed my mouth as I watched a Dawson's Creek re-run on the TV! (Yes, this was several years ago).  It hurt at the time but wasn't overly terrible.  I felt a lot worse when I got in the car and looked in the mirror and their was blood dripping from my mouth on to my shirt!!  However, I got them removed mid-day on Friday and was back to classes on Monday. 

I had all four removed all at once. They were growing in sideways and pushing all my teeth together, and they would have eventually made all my teeth crooked. But bcs they were growing in sideways, they couldn't get pulled (nothing could be seen coming up through the gum). I had to be sedated for oral surgery and the teeth chipped out of the bone. I was drinking smoothies for about three days. The stitches were sewn in with dissolving thread...which dissolved in about week. The 'pockets' took (I think) about a year to fully fill in. My face was noticably swollen for about a week. Throbbing, head-achy pain for a couple of days :/   But all in all, very worth it. 

Originally Posted by tgooberbutt /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I had all four removed all at once. They were growing in sideways and pushing all my teeth together, and they would have eventually made all my teeth crooked. But bcs they were growing in sideways, they couldn't get pulled (nothing could be seen coming up through the gum). I had to be sedated for oral surgery and the teeth chipped out of the bone. I was drinking smoothies for about three days. The stitches were sewn in with dissolving thread...which dissolved in about week. The 'pockets' took (I think) about a year to fully fill in. My face was noticably swollen for about a week. Throbbing, head-achy pain for a couple of days :/   But all in all, very worth it. 

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Same here, all 4 of mine were impacted and growing sideways inside my gums.  The dentist said that this is somewhat common.  I too had oral surgery to get them sliced out, but I was awake!  I recovered quickly though.  From what I have noticed (from an informal survey of about 5 friends and I) the ones who went under anesthesia had a longer recovery period than the ones who just had general anesthesia.

I had all four of my wisdom teeth out when I was 30. I wish I had gotten it done years earlier. The pain would come and go as they moved. Anyway, my dentist said that if I had gotten it done years ago they could have done a more simple extraction, but I had to have oral surgery. My brother had a not-too-bad experience with his. I was knocked out for the surgery, which was great. In fact, I'm really freaked out about IVs, so they gave me a shot first so that I wouldn't have to see the IV.

The swelling in my cheeks went away quickly, just a couple days. The pain was not fun, but worth it. I took a pill that was a mix of Vicodin and ibuprofen, and that was very helpful. The healing went really well. For three of them, it feels like nothing was ever done. The fourth one was more extreme, so there is still a depression in my gums there. That was my first surgery of any kind, so it was much better than I feared.

However, it turned out I was highly allergic to the antibiotics they gave me (Amoxicillin; same family as penicillin, so I apparently can't take anything in that antibiotic family. I have since found out that I am also allergic the family of sulfas, but not as badly.). /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I tried Benadryl first, went to the doctor for something stronger, went back to the doctor for something else even stronger, but the reaction kept getting worse and worse until my body was one big hive/blister from my shoulders to my ankles (I am grateful that it didn't affect my face). The itching was out of control and I was so swollen that my skin felt like it was going to burst. I wanted to die, because there was no relief. I woke up the morning of my wedding anniversary that year and told my husband I needed to go to the ER, now. They fixed it.

Even with that horrible experience, it was worth it. Tooth pain for years is ridiculous and is worse in the long run than excruciating pain for a short time.

I had my wisdom teeth removed 2 years (I'm 24 now) and I regret  not getting it done sooner, as it moved some of my teeth around slightly ( i wore braces for 4 years) now... I did NOT go under, and was completely awake during my extractions, and all of my teeth were impacted (which meant stitches afterward). They gave me a local anesthetic, and laughing gas... that's it. in fact I remember the nurse talking to me while the dentist did his thing. I didn't feel ANY of the teeth being removed except for the last one ( I screamed because I felt him pulling it), to which he said, "Damn... I can't give her anymore anesthetic, she will have to go have surgery at a later date"... and I stupidly told him (while giddy because of the gas) "oh noooo, it's ok, haha (like an idiot) go ahead and pull it" so he did, and it hurt... a lot. he gave me some hydrocodone (I took a few and it made me feel sick and tired all the time so I threw them away) he said it was difficult to extract my impacted wisdom teeth because my roots were not normal and twisted around my nerves like tree roots. In fact, they had to leave some of my roots in my jaw for fear of causing nerve damage. People say I am crazy for not going under... but it didn't hurt, I felt nothing "/ I think the worse thing that happened that day was me eating an ice cream on the way home and my husband (boyfriend at the time) going "aawwwww maaann" because I dripped ice cream all over myself and his truck. I couldn't feel the ice cream and instead of getting it in my mouth, I had it all over my face hahaha In all it took about a week to recover, I went back and they removed the stitches and all was well /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I had two removed.  Both of the bottom ones were a problem.  One came in side ways, opened the hole in my gum but wouldn't come through and I got a horrible infection in my mouth.  The other was a full, bony impaction and with those they cut through the bone.  I was awake...if you can call it awake.  They give you this combo of drugs and you actually feel awesome in a stoned kind of way LOL.  I told the dentist I loved him!  I felt no pain or distress because I guess those drugs are the "good" drugs lol.  So I really don't think you need to be knocked out.  You really will not feel a thing and your awareness level is totally dull.

I know I had a huge bruise on the full bony one and I felt like I'd been punched in the face but both of mine healed quickly and I didn't have horrible pain.

Good luck to you.  Wisdom teeth are really stupid :-D

I never had mine out and I always recommend that people get a 2nd and 3rd opinion before having it done, unless there's an actual medically necessary reason to remove them.

When I was in my 20's a dentist recommended having then out before they started to cause me trouble, because it would be more difficult and painful to remove them when I got older.  When I switched dentists, the 2nd one agreed.  

I never got around to getting them taken out and I'm now almost 42 and haven't had any problems.  

I'm 30, and I need to have my wisdom teeth out. They are not impacted, but there just isn't room for them in my mouth, so my teeth are starting to get kind of crooked. I'm nervous about it, but some things just have to be done. I wish I had done it sooner.