Foo - Removal of wisdom teeth, how severe is this procedure?

I just had my triannual dental cleaning. Had some X rays, and my wisdom teeth are more or less perpendicular to my normal teeth. I am told as they grow more, they will push against my normal teeth. So I am having a consultation scheduled with the oral surgeon. I know I need to get them out, but I'd rather not have the only sign of wiseness I have taken away :(.

So the question is, what is this procedure like? Are you awake during the operation? I kind of hope not. Most importantly...
How long does the operation take? And, how lovely is the recovery?

All depends on how one goes about it. I had all four growing in sideways, and they were all removed at the same time. The place I went to puts the patient under and gets the job done in about 20 minutes. Right afterward, I was given a certificate for a free milkshake at McDonalds and encouraged to use it right away. I was encouraged to eat whatever I felt like with no restrictions, as long as it didn't hurt.

At lunch, I had some rice and vegetables. My oral surgeon called to check on me at 2 PM, hoping to hear that I was eating solid food. He told me to keep eating whatever. Later, a female friend of mine who I kind of liked called asking if I wanted to go to dinner. I told her that I had just had my wisdom teeth pulled, but sure, I'd go. And that I was allowed to eat anything. So we went out for Indian food and I had lamb kabob for dinner. Yum.

I was told to take some Advil to keep the swelling down for three days, and then afterward to continue as I saw fit. And given some painkillers. I never touched the painkillers, and as soon as three days was up, I stopped taking the Advil.

That said, I know others who have had less pleasant experiences.

Procedure is to remove the lower jaw to get the Wisdom Teeth out, no anasthesia, and recovery time is 2-5 years (Kidding!)http://www.1emulation.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/wheelchair.gif

Look at a sedation anasthesia dentist or dental surgeon. It will ache after, that's a given! It's better than the alternative though and recovery time varies, generally a few days.http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/happy/045.gif

Unless they're impacted, the top teeth are a piece of cake. If the lowers have erupted, they shouldn't be too bad either. If they have to dig out the lower ones, it could be an ordeal (speaking from personal experience as a conscious victim). The recovery also can vary, but expect 2-5 days, depending on the depth of the teeth and your body's natural recovery process. You may be limited in what you can eat for a couple days beyond that.

If you're awake through the process, it is not pleasant, but it is a lot less expensive, and you will avoid any potential after-effects of anesthesia (nausea, etc.). Ask the dentist how deep the lower ones are, and whether or not he expects that they'll "come right out". If he (presuming a male dentist :o) makes it sound like it could be unpleasant, and gives you the option to sleep through it, it might be worth it.

I had that done when I was 19, I think. I had all four done at the same time. They put me under for the operation. There was some complication with mine (I forget what), so I was in there for quite a while. There was this poor girl waiting to speak to the surgeon for a consultation when he comes out with my blood all over him to tell my mom about the complications.

I think it took a few hours for me, but again I was under the whole time. Recovery was oh so lovely. Mouth hurting and not really being able to open or move it much. It doesn't last for too long like that, a day maybe two? Then you have to wash out the nice holes left behind many days after so you don't get a dry socket. I was careful with washing mine because I was told a dry socket would be worse than the operation itself.

Are you getting all of them done?

I removed my own. Pliers, my trusty pocket knife, and a bottle of Jim Beam. I was back out fighting bears and chewing on rocks that very afternoon.

Get a good oral surgeon and spend the extra money for the "good" anestesia.

Another thing....get them out now at your age. I never knew I should get them out young and apparently neither did my parents. By the time I got to them (about age 30), I had severe complications with 3 of the 4 (luckily the "1" that was ok was the one bothering me). The other three were so bad, the doctor said, "let's hold off on them until/unless they do bother you now".

It wasn't that bad as I was knocked out when it was done...just a few days of eating really, really soft stuff only. I was doing a lot of meatballs food processed into almost a paste and then mixed with tomato soup for a while.

I had two wisdom teeth pulled at age 16. It was not bad and the anesthesia (Sodium Penethal) was great. I wonder what questions they asked me?

I need my upper right pulled as it has broken, so whoever gets it done first can give a report.

When I had mine out, they gave me some anesthetic, the oral surgeon grabbed the tooth w/ some pliers and a nurse snuck up behind me and hit me in the head w/ the hammer. Then the surgeon pulled the tooth and it didn't hurt as much as the konk on the noggin' from the hammer. He gave me a prescription for five days worth of scotch which I was to apply liberally to the gaping hole in my mouth. YMMV.

I was 18 and had all 4 out at once. I recommend that in the interests of getting it over with. I had an IV of "twilight sleep" which is demerol and valium. I enjoyed it. I was flitting in and out of consciousness, felt no pain, and did not care what was going on. I remember being woken up and not wanting to. My mom took me home. Rx strength ibuprofen was more than adequate for any discomfort. I was good and did not drink alcohol (college freshman) and so did not get dry socket like many of my dormmates did. (I guess freshman year is a popular time to get 'em out?) I remember eating lots of mashed potatoes and pudding for about 3 days then I was fine. You'll be fine.

Had my two bottom wisdoms out three years ago when I was 30. Luckily, I didn't even HAVE upper wisdoms (I think aliens took them that night I got the probe, but that's another thread altogether....)

One was impacted and another was perpendicular from where it should have been. I was knocked out from the anesthesia and remember waking up asking for my teeth as a souvineer. I asked about 100 times, but they didn't give them to me. (Bastids!!)

Recovery was PAINFUL. It's as miserable as I have ever been in my life from physical pain. Sure, they'll give you pain meds, but good luck swallowing them. Every mouth movement was painful. The bleeding, the changing of gauze for a few days. Ugh. It was not fun.

One side effect during the healing no one told me about: Hideous breath. My mouth smelled like a sewer no matter what I did or ate until the stitches faded away and the healing began in earnest two weeks later. It was nasty.

In any case, I'm glad it's over and done. Hope you've got insurance (or your parents have it for you...) Good luck, Cow....

Mine were still under the gums.

Once they gave me enough codeine to not care anymore (I am immune to laughing gas, probably has to do with how I am like a living version of Dr. Giggles to begin with...), they cut my gums open, extracted the teeth, and stitched up the gums (using that itchy and poky black thread too).

It wasn't too bad. Only thing that sucked was I had that extraction so I could get a root canal done without risk of the tooth exploding (the wisdom teeth were shoving all of my teeth together with great pressure due to my jaw being WAY too short for them...sadly after the operation, I now can get stuff stuck between my teeth).

Oh, and if you are a sleepwalker, be sure to let your driver home know this beforehand. My grandmother nearly had a heart attack when I "snuck" out of the office while she wan handling my payment, and I crawled into the passenger seat of the car.....then when she got home, I got out, climbed up the huge step from the garage to get into the house, went to my room, and plopped face down onto the bed until sometime the next day.

....yes, they gave me a whole crapton of Codeine....I was completely out of it.

Had my uppers out when I was about 30. They put me out to do it and I was glad. The roots had grown up into my sinus cavity so the oral surgeon had to clean up and sew up the sinus lining and my gums. Still I could "feel" anything minty or spicy I ate in my nose for a couple of weeks. It was weird. I had two days or so worth of pain killers and I wish I had more. It wasn't pretty for me.

SB

Was the nastiest f***ing I*^% I ever went through in my life three weeks ago. Holes are healed and all is well now, but the bleeding perfusely from the mouth for the first day, and having trouble eating the next few days after that because any little thing will bang against the sites and hurt like a beach. Oh, yeah, and getting nasty bits of food stuck in the gapping wide holes filled with blood clots, which then require the skillful hands of a caring spouse with a bamboo skewer and 10W halogen light to remove... The rotting smell from my mouth for the first week was delightful, too. I'm glad its over!

Can somebody explain dry socket?:( :o

The dentist did not specify how many are to be removed but...
I got a little pink slip that was given to me but was also being sent to the Oral surgeon that says
Extraction (please circle appropriate tooth)
1, 32, 16, and 17, are circled. Judging by the position of the #'s, they look like 4 wisdom teeth tome.

Sounds like I will spend a lot of time on bike forums after surgery to pass the recovery time...

One positive note*
I was told that because they are just starting to really grow (but heading toward a painful path), the roots are way underdeveloped. So extracting now would be the easiest time possible.

Extraction (please circle appropriate tooth)
1, 32, 16, and 17, are circled. Judging by the position of the #'s, they look like 4 wisdom teeth tome.

Sounds like I will spend a lot of time on bike forums after surgery to pass the recovery time...

Yep - each tooth is designated with a number, and them's the ones that are your wisdom teeth. You're getting all 4 yanked at once.

One positive note*
I was told that because they are just starting to really grow (but heading toward a painful path), the roots are way underdeveloped. So extracting now would be the easiest time possible.
That's exactly why I said earlier that you are at the perfect age to do them....so do them now. They have much more potential problematic severity if you wait until you are older. I wish I'd known this info when I was a teen.

Go to a good dentist. Take whatever drugs they offer. Then beg for more. I had a military dentist remove two f my lowers. Simple, but not pleasant procedure:

Two shots of anesthetic per tooth. Large dental pliers. Dentist's boot on my chair for leverage. Being told to "have some discipline and quit screaming". Issued a three day supply of gauze and and 800mg Motrin. No, I'm NOT kidding. The movie Hostel had nothing on this guy.

I was awake as the dentist had to use a medical grade hammer & chisel.

One positive note*
I was told that because they are just starting to really grow (but heading toward a painful path), the roots are way underdeveloped. So extracting now would be the easiest time possible.

Sounds like yours should NOT be a big deal. My one piece of advice is if the dentist perscribes pain killers get them filled right away, or even befoer the surgery.

I had all 4 out. Mine were very very messy. As in my father was a pedodontist and decided he would not refer me to the usual oral surgeon (e.g. so bad he wanted the best even if he was 50 miles away, something it is hard to do with regular patients). I had a general, also something that usually would not happen. Felt fine waking up, but once the anesthetic wore off it was quite painful and the d@mn pharmacy took forever to fill the painkiller perscription.

If no one answered the dry soccket question. When the tooth is pulled a blood clot froms. If yuo rinse too vigorusly you can wash it away. This results in a dry socket. Food can get caught and it is often painful. Over 90% of the time dry sockets are entirely the patients fault. Listen to the dentists directions and DO NOT rinse like a madman.

It depends on how embedded and jacked up your wisdom teeth are. Mine was stubborn as hell. On his first attempt, the doc actually put his foot on the chair and leaned back with his weight to pry one molar out -- and failed!! :cry:

And that was the left side. Because of the trauma to my jaw, I had to schedule a second visit for the right side :o

I just had my triannual dental cleaning. Had some X rays, and my wisdom teeth are more or less perpendicular to my normal teeth. I am told as they grow more, they will push against my normal teeth. So I am having a consultation scheduled with the oral surgeon. I know I need to get them out, but I'd rather not have the only sign of wiseness I have taken away :(.

So the question is, what is this procedure like? Are you awake during the operation? I kind of hope not. Most importantly...
How long does the operation take? And, how lovely is the recovery?


depends on how impacted they are and who's doing the cutting

my rural dentist yanked mine(all impacted) when I was 18, just novacaine, took about 25 mins and lots of yanking and a few stitches, plus they have this little gizmo that looks like a plastic hat with a thumb screw in one side, it goes over the tooth then the screw splits the tooth in half and out the pieces come, he used that on 2 of them, I watched some of it with a hand mirror

recovery isnt so bad cept for the bleeding, tea bags were the only thing that would stop the bleeding, gauze and pressure wasnt working, 3 days later and its prettymuch back to normal, about 2 weeks for the holes to completely heal

I'd suggest getting someone to drive you home. I've had several teeth pulled over the years because my teeth are too large for the size of my pallet. I had some molars pulled that hurt a helluva lot more than the two wisdom teeth I had yanked. I think it all depends on your history of reactions to anethesia.

My Pop is a dentist (btw, my avatar is a copy of a 48 inch image of mine Pop hung in his office). Dry socket is quite painful but there is a cure for it. It's some black foul smelling goo that is placed in the socket and immediately removes the pain. If it does not work, there is always loratab 7.
The kind of dentist that does the procedure depends on how difficult the extraction will be. If the roots are not well formed then you may have it done by a general dentist. If the roots are well entwined in the jaw, then you are usually knocked out by an oral surgeon so he can get his knee up on your chest for leverage, and you don't hear all the cussing.
It's not fun, but as far as surgeries go, it's about as easy as they come. Remember you are having foreign objects removed from your skull and it's not going to cost $75,000, which is the minimum you would have to pay if you went to any other Dr.
The anesthesia that is commonly used is Valium, intravenously administered (so you won't care what they are cutting on) and a local (so you won't feel being cut on).
Typical heal time is 2 or so weeks, you will be uncomfortable for 4-5 days, and the holes in your jaw will heal over in 6-12 months.
I had dry socket something awful when I had all 4 of mine pulled (got knocked out for it), but in retrospect getting the spacers for braces was worse.
Oh and you are going to have to have someone drive you. They should not even preform the procedure unless you have a ride. And eat a few pain killers before the Novocain wears off, that way you don't have to hurt for 45 minutes while your body absorbs the painkillers. They (painkillers) also help make daytime t.v. more tolerable.
Tea bags help with bleeding (use black tea, not green tea). Tea has tannic acid in it, which is an astringent.

Good luck, you will do fine (most common surgery in America)

--A

I've put off making an appointment with my referred oral and maxillofacial surgeon - but bit the bullet today. Off for preliminary consultation on Wednesday...

All mine were impacted, they even had to cut one in 3 pieces as it was growing around my jaw bone. Luckly they put me out and was on pain killers for a couple of days, so, no sweat;)

Yes it will suck big time, but thats why you get vikes:)

BAD STORY (maybe you shouldn't read this one)
My brother when he was about 16 had to have his wisdom teeth removed, and the procedure was done in a private hospital not a dental surgery. This turned out to be a very good choice as it was discovered once the procedure commenced that he (and all males in our family on my father's side) have a rare allergic reaction to one of the treatments used to reduce the production of saliva. His heart stopped and was paralyzed for a few days after the operation. He is very lucky the hospital had the equipment to deal with this.
Steve.

If you're interested in saving money, you might want to check out a university clinic and have them removed by dental students. If you don't mind hearing things like "what's THAT?" and "ok, now what?" during the surgery, it's not a bad way to go. Just budget a bit more time, since the dental instructors need to oversee everything (they also ensure that the students don't mess up your mouth).

Well I am going to a place, Great bay oral surgery.
I have a consultation October 3. My Boss actually had this surgeon for this very operation, said he was excellent. Also, my mother had him for a tooth implant, had hte same comments. I feel much better now.

I think I salivate a lot, at least the ortho lady says so. They gave me something to attempt to make my mouth bone dry when I got my braces on. I think that if I have not had a reaction yet (had braces readjusted several times), it will be okay. Thanks all

30 years ago I was told I should have my sideways, under the gums, lower wisdom teeth removed or they would ruin my other teeth, rot, and cause general havoc. They're still there, and they haven't caused a single problem.

I'm having all four yanked in 2007. I already maxed out my dental benefits for 2006. As I was reading this thread, I remembered some of those great old Three Stooges shows. Remember "anaesthetic" was a bonk on the head with a huge mallet? I expect your experience and mine won't be quite as traumatic.

Or you could do it like I've been told they do it in the new jackass movie. With a rope and a dragster.

30 years ago I was told I should have my sideways, under the gums, lower wisdom teeth removed or they would ruin my other teeth, rot, and cause general havoc. They're still there, and they haven't caused a single problem.

Same here every dentist I have seen in the last 25 years has wanted to get mine out. They did not come in at an angle and have never caused me a bit of trouble. I expect I will die with them.

Ive had 2 out last year, and 2 out the year before. The older you get, the more it will hurt. We dont heal as well, as we age. I was in my mid/late 30's. Three of them were impacted, 2 were sideways, and one was close to the bone or something. That one hurt like a bugger. I was put under both times, and both times I puked after I got home. About 2 days later my cheek swelled up real big. My jaw was very still for a couple weeks after both times, and it was hard to open my mouth to eat. It also changed my tastes for foods. I was absolutely convinced I had dragon breath, but when I kept appologizing to everyone at work for my horrible breath, every time they said they smelled nothing. There is a really bad taste in your mouth after too, and you may find bits of teeth and bone in your mouth.

One of my lower ones started to hurt real bad, and I had to go back and they soaked a gause with pain killer of some kind, and crammed it in the hole to leave for 3 days. The first time, I bit the heck outta my cheek, since I couldnt feel it. I really bit it into a bloody pulp and it was excrutiating for 2 weeks. The chewed up part was about half the inside of my cheek, and when food touched it, owwweee!!! I think being shot hurts less. The second time I made darn sure I kept the gause in my cheek until I completely got the feeling back.

Rinsing out the bottom holes gets really annoying, but if bits of food get in the hole, and the hole fills in over it, thats bad. Takes at least a year for the hole to fill in completely. A few months for it to fill in near the top. I rinced out the hole after every meal for at least 2 months.

30 years ago I was told I should have my sideways, under the gums, lower wisdom teeth removed or they would ruin my other teeth, rot, and cause general havoc. They're still there, and they haven't caused a single problemWell, my dentist said the thing right before I moved out to go to university. A little over 10-years later, they've pushed my lower teeth forward enough that my canines are now rotated about 20-degrees. The two outer incisors are also rotated about 10-degrees and are overlapping the middle incisors a tiny bit. Looking from the top down, the row of lower teeth form a square U shape rather than semi-circular. Hope I don't have to get braces after getting the wisdom teeth pulled. :(

One of my brother's wives was told to get hers out, but ignored it for a few years, too.

Eventually, they caused enough damage to her jawbone that it became susceptible to infection. She ended up with some form of slow working, lingering bone disease that required part of her jaw to be removed. Luckily, they were able to reconstruct it accurately enough that her face still looks pretty much OK. One of her dentists wanted to basically cut off that whole side of her jaw, which would have left her disfigured (and pretty severely disabled, as far as speech and eating, etc.)