hattrick

Hello, I am a college racer; as such, winter break is crucial for training for the spring. I say this because I also have to get my wisdom teeth removed this break. Not one, two, or even three... but all four. I was wondering how long I could expect to be off the bike for. I've talked to some people who have had one or two pulled out and they said they were able to get back on the bike in a couple of days. However, I also hear that getting all four out at one time is a whole different story and to expect a week to a week and half of down time in order to let the wounds heals and to avoid "dry socket". Any thoughts or comments are great - perhaps there is a biker here who is also in dentistry?

55/Rad

Everybody reacts different. I had my impacted wisdom teeth - all 4 - pulled when I was 15 and I was miserable for 10 days. My girlfriend at the time had hers done 2 months later and was freakin' because of my experience.

She was fine with reduced swelling and no pain in 3 days.

55/Rad

Duke of Kent

I had mine (all 4) removed frosh year of college during winter break. I missed 2 or 3 days, decided I couldn't take it anymore, and met up with my teammates for our morning run the 4th day. I was fine, but I would NOT recommend that anyone do this. Looking back that was pretty stupid of me, as it could have screwed me over (had I developed dry socket) for a lot longer than the extra couple of days it would have taken to heal completely.

I also took a bet with my best friend the day before I had them pulled. He obviously knows me pretty well, and knew that I would take it. He bet me $50 that I wouldn't take any of the prescribed Vicodin, at any time. I got the satisfaction of proving him wrong, and $50, and he got the satisfaction of knowing that I was secretly in a bit of pain for a couple of days.

CyLowe97

I had my two bottom wisdoms out three years ago (for some reason, I never had top wisdoms) and I was miserable for a good week and the stitches and wounds took almost two weeks to clear up.

One side effect I did not realize was that my breath was absolutely horrid until my mouth healed. It was nasty and could not quell it until the healing was done.

Good luck however you go...

hattrick

Interesting, thanks. Yeah, it's the gamble with developing dry socket that really worries me.

Namenda

I had all 4 of mine out this past May. The procedure took 25 minutes, from start to walking unsteadily out the door (mine were not impacted). Taken out on a Thursday evening, eating solid food on Saturday afternoon. Sore for 3 days, but not sore enough to prevent me from my usual activities. If given the opportunity, I recommend IV sedation and gas.

Herbsinator

I got mine taken out my junior year of high school...(this was during my basketball playing days)....I got them taken out on a thursday and I was back to school on monday lifting and playing basketball again with no problems...everyone is different so it just depends.

theshoemaker

True dat. I had a friend way back in high school that ballooned up badly and was in various degrees of pain for a month. I made good fun of her about it until I found out months later that I was going to have to get all four of mine out too. Not only that but all four were impacted (still largely embedded in jawbone requiring much more exertion to remove), whereas she only has one that was impacted. They came out at around 11a in the morning. Little did I know that my friend had organized a humiliation party to invade my privacy at 4:30p that same day. However when they all showed up to see me, my mother sadly had to inform them that I was doing quite well and had gone road trippin' with my cousin about an hour earlier.

...had very minor swelling for about 2 days and very little pain. The worst of it was the frequent taste of iron (from blood) for the first 20 hours. I hope you do as well.

mollusk

I had one removed after it cracked on an unpopped popcorn kernel. A shot of novocaine and the pliers pulled out what was left no problem. Went to the beach for the weekend and was fine. Other people I know have gotten infections and it turned pretty serious. You never can tell with these things.

It was kind of cool being awake for the procedure. Being a topside wisdom tooth I could hear all the popping as it broke loose and did not feel a thing.

johnny99

Talk to your doctor. If he is giving you antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection, then pushing your aerobic limits may reduce the effectiveness of the drugs. You probably won't need drugs for more than a week.

jschen

If you get a choice, do it at a place where they put you under general anesthesia. Then it's fast and relatively painless. Mine were growing in sideways, and they took all four of mine out at once. My oral surgeon bought me (as he did all his patients) a McDonald's milkshake right after the surgery. So I had a milkshake at 9:30 AM. He also encouraged me to eat solid food without restriction whenever I felt like it, the sooner the better, so I ate rice and vegetables at lunch. He then called at 2 PM to make sure I had eaten solid food. (Yup. Thanks for calling.)

Then a friend of mine called wanting to go out for dinner. So I had lamb shish-kabob for dinner on the day I had my wisdom teeth pulled. (Can't say no when a girl I've always wanted to go on a date with calls up and invites me to dinner!) Aside from having a bit of trouble keeping stray grains of rice from falling out of my mouth (mouth still a bit numb, so hard to tell what's going on by feel), there was no trouble with eating.

I took some aspirin for two days just for swelling, and I was given some painkillers that I never found necessary. Here's hoping your experience goes as smoothly.

hmai18

Depends on the person and how they take care of the area post-op.

I had all four of mine yanked out in one go; they put me under - the last thing I remember was counting down from 100, and the next thing I remember is being ushered into a cab by one of my housemates. I slept pretty for pretty much two days straight after that, waking up now and then to spit out blood. My right cheek swelled quite a bit, but I was never really in any pain at all. The worst part about the entire thing was the corners of mouth drying out, making it a pain in the arse trying to open up my mouth to eat/talk. Diet consisted of jello and chicken noodle soup for about the first week, moving up to mashed potatoes once I was able to open the jaw a little more, then working back into pasta.

I was back on the bike by the fourth day, but had to take it a little easier than normal.

Take care of the area; don't get dry sockets because that'll be a world of trouble.

55/Rad

I was awake when I had mine done. They hadn't even started coming in - which, as noted, requires significantly more GRINDING.

Ugggh - I had been through a lot up to that age with braces, fillings and extractions, but that was the absolute worst.

55/Rad

Enthalpic

Should only be a few days to a week before you feel ready to do some light riding. When you do start, try to keep your mouth closed and use water instead of sport drinks for a little while. Mention your training to the dentist and see what he says; he might give you better pain meds.

I am in the same boat in a way; I had some off-season elective surgery on Friday. Bloody hernia I rode with for the last 2 months. Talking with the doctor about training got me the laparoscopic version instead of the open repair he wanted to do in the first place. That cut 5 weeks of recovery off! (1 week versus 6 weeks). One thing I have noticed after a few days off now is that my legs have finally had a chance to fully recover, and feel nice and fresh. Boy am I going to enjoy ruining that feeling J

hmai18

I made sure the surgeon was going to put me under before I consented to having it done. I brought my iPod to make sure I wouldn't accidentally hear anything either.

recneps345

I just pulled four wisdom teeth this morning. I will not be Dr. recneps until May. I am a fourth year dental student. As everyone has said it varies from case to case. I had all four of mine extracted while I was awake. I was fine the next day. Ask your dentist since he is the one that knows exactly how complicated your case is. The procedure isnt too bad. You will just be sore and on meds. The last thing you want is a dry socket. So ask your dentist the appropriate time to resume riding. Good luck and you will be fine.

dogpound

I had all 4 of mine out about a month ago.
I was knocked out.
I couldn't do ANYTHING for a week, I felt terrible and I had a hard time eating.
took antibiotics for a week and some vicadin.
10 days after, I ran a 4 miler and felt ok, a bit slower than usual and my heart rate shot up the 1st mile, but I bounced back

hattrick

Funny you say that, one of my friends had two of his taken out last year over winter break and he opted for only local anthesia so he was awake for the procedure. He had to have one of them pulled and the other one surgically removed. He said that when the exposed tooth was pulled, it felt like his head was about to rip off and that the grinding and removal of the embedded one was one of the scariest experiences of his life. That being said, he recommends systemic anthesia whenever possible!

recneps345

This is exactly what the original poster needs to be hearing before his appt.

rhodeshg

Im usually pretty tough when it comes to sitting out. I had my impacted wisdom teeth out after they started bleeding one night and I couldn't get any sleep. I was at work a couple of hours after I got them out. I was in some pain, but I slept better! I didn't start training for a couple (maybe 3 or 4) of days after though. But I was still pretty active, Im a PE teacher.

rhodeshg

Oh and I would not recommend local either, it hurt like you know what!

timmhaan

DO NOT DO WHAT I DID:

my two teeth were somewhat complicated to get out and i had some seriously big holes in my gums. however, because of the pain killers i felt a false sense of being healthy. so, i went to the gym three days later. the stitches in my mouth didn't hold and i reopened the wounds (as you can imagine it was a mess). so, i had to rush back and have it taken care of quickly. that added another week to the recovery time.

hattrick

I could actually care less about the procedure itself. I have had to have bones snapped back into place and ligaments reattached; it comes with an active lifestyle. The thing that genuinely worries me is not being able to train hard after the surgery and/or if I do, developing dry socket. That is it. By the way, I will be receiving systemic anthesia so my friend's problems will be irrelevant to mine.

SpongeDad

Aside from you're body's reaction, one thing to avoid is "sucking" - I was told this tends to reopen the wounds.

I had 4 impacted molars and 4 baby teeth pulled as a teenager. I was back running by the end of the week. Still, you might want to plan your training to give you a recovery / spinning week right after the operation.

crash66

Ok, this has gone on long enough. I've heard of dry rot, dry sac, dry humor, even post-menopausal "dry-ness".

But what in blazes is dry socket?