Dental Health Forum - wisdom teeth removal

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Q: wisdom teeth removal

asked by: Duchessljb on January 19th, 2008

Experienced User

O.k.! So, on February 7th, I'm having my wisdom teeth removed.

They are already erupted into my mouth and I use them like normal teeth; they have never given me any issues with pain, however, they're far enough back in my mouth that they're hard to clean behind (I have a special toothbrush for cleaning, but flossing is a no go, even for the dental hygienist!), and I've already had several small cavities in them.

Technically, this was my decision to have them out (it was recommended, but not considered a do or die situation), so I decided to do go ahead and do it in the hopes of preventing further oral issues.

The pros are that the teeth are already out in my mouth and are not causing any kinds of issues (even crowding is minimal). The cons are that it seems that at least a couple of them (possibly all) are set in the jaw bone, which means bone may need to be removed before they can get to the tooth.

I don't have a high tolerance for pain, however, this past year, I had mouth/jaw/head issues for nearly 3 months with a tooth that was dying (I didn't know this, my dentist at the time claimed it was TMJ; when I got a second opinion, the new dentist sent me to an endodontist who confirmed that I had a dying tooth), and ended up having a root canal.

I'd always heard that root canals were these horrible, awful experiences and mine was completely painless. I felt the tiny pinch of the first Novocain needle and then not a thing for the entire rest of the time. I was given heavy duty drugs for later, after I came down from the numbing, but I never needed to take any and actually worked that evening, after the procedure. The endodontist office was very surprised that I wasn't in pain and didn't have to take any of the prescription meds when they called to check on me a few days later.

I also had a wrist surgery that I was given percocet for that I never needed to take (again, docs were very surprised that I had no pain afterward and didn't take anything).

I'm not pretending that it isn't going to hurt after the drugs wear off or that I won't need someone to be there to take care of me for the day, but I was in awful pain with my jaw for almost 3 months where I could barely eat, sleep or concentrate on anything but the pain, so I figure if I can make it through that, I can deal with a few days to a couple weeks of tooth socket pain.

I would like some first hand stories (especially anyone who doesn't have pain/infection issues with their wisdom teeth, like me) and would love to hear what the rest of you dealt with so I can be better prepared.

Don't worry; you won't scare me if your experience was awful and you won't give me false hope if it was a completely painless experience. I just want to hear some stories. Any tips you found useful would be nice, as well.

Thanks, everyone! Very Happy

Replies(29)

TMJWorld

replied on January 20th, 2008

Extremely eHealthy

well mine went fine--they cut through the gums and i went n to get them out. i was awake the whole time and it was really quick. get the pain meds as fast as you can and take them. I didnt that was a mistake. lol

then for the first few days eat cold and then slowly warm up. no sucking through a straw. use biotene mouth wash cause you wont be brushing for a while. this mouthwash is for this stuff. Razz

then use ice and heat--it feels so good.

dental_floss

replied on January 20th, 2008

New User

Mine has just started growing, but it is interesting to hear everyone's stories. Good luck for your procedure, Duchessljb! Hope its not too painful. Let us know how it goes. =)

Biani

replied on January 21st, 2008

Experienced User

I got all four of mine out at the same time. A couple had erupted, and the other two were just poking through my gums, but to the side, it was weird.
Anyway, i didn't feel any pain during the procedure. But i did have to get another shot of sedatives or whatever they are called cause halfway i started to feel a little sensitivity. It was mostly pressure and the tugging that was felt. Creepy to see all that blood and to know it was mine...
Afterwards, i drove myself home, and even stopped at the pharmacy to get my prescription. I didn't talk, of course, my mouth was still numb, i could barely hold the cotton in.
I swelled up and looked like buzz light year! i followed instructions to avoid it, but i guess my doctor was too rough with me. I even developed a bruise on my cheeks. It hurt to touch my face even lightly, i couldn't wash my face normally. I took a lot of pills, and other than my face hurting from the swelling, and the feeling of pressure in the extraction point, there was no real pain.
The thing that was killing me was not to be able to eat solid food for a while.
After a week or so everything was back to normal. I still had huge holes in my gums, which have evened out nicely. It took them like 3 months or something like that. It was quite annoying as food got stuck in the holes every time i ate, and at first i couldn't brush well in that site because i would bleed again.
So, mainly uncomfortable, and it's over soon enough. Don't worry too much about it... well, i don't know how worried you should be about them having to remove a little jaw bone though... good luck!

Users who thank Biani for this post: Duchessljb

Biani

replied on January 21st, 2008

Experienced User

Oh! almost forgot to tell you about another important issue that happened to me in the process...
my mouth STUNK for a while. But really REALLY stinky. Awful. I would brush, use the mouthwash my doctor gave me, and i still smelled pretty rotten. The thing that helped was to rinse with a mix of normal water with oxigenated water, and rinsing with warm water mixed with some salt. That got the funk out. If you're ever in need of getting rid of that bad smell after the extraction, these two things work great.

TMJWorld

replied on January 22nd, 2008

Extremely eHealthy

you arent suposed to brush for awhile. i used tons of mouthwash

Duchessljb

replied on January 22nd, 2008

Experienced User

Thanks for the posts so far!

Tmddyan, I'm usually pretty good about taking meds as soon as humanly possible if I need them. I also know that I can take ibuprofen with either vicodin or percocet, so I'll probably stagger them so that I'm constantly full of something!

I've actually been told that I can't use mouthwash afterwards; I can brush the forward teeth and rinse with saltwater, but no mouthwash and no brushing the back teeth area at all. I remember reading about the no straws and no hot liquids for awhile. I'll probaby exist on jello, pudding and lukewarm soup for awhile.

Thanks, dental_floss, good luck with yours, too!

Biani, I'm asking to either be knocked out (IV meds) or gassed until I'm asleep. I don't think I'll do very well if I'm awake and aware enough to hear cracking or see blood. I haven't had the consultation, yet (it's the 5th) but I'm going to make that very clear at the appointment; I do NOT want to be aware. If that's more expensive, then, fine. I'll pay.

I'm sure I'll be a little bruised (I bruise very easily) and I'm sure I'll swell some, but I have plenty of ice packs ready and waiting, and the ibuprofen will help with that, too, so I'm hoping to be able to keep it to a minimum.

I also plan to get the perscriptions ahead of time so I can have them filled the day before and waiting when I get home (to avoid my caretaker having to go get them for me).

I've been reading up and I've read in many, many places that the only time you should experience a bad smell is if you end up with dry socket, which might explain why you had to wait 3 months for them to heal properly. But I will keep your suggestions in mind.

The food thing probably won't bother me that much; I had some TMD issues (that turned out NOT to be TMD, afterall) where I lived on soft foods for almost 5 months, so this'll be nothing. Wink

Biani

replied on January 22nd, 2008

Experienced User

lol, i don't know how you can do it. I hated the soft diet... i craved solids, salts and fatty foods like never before. Anyways, i was told too to not brush for the first two days or so, and the mouthwash was a special one given to me by the doctor, it wasn't listerine or anything like that.
And here i thought i didn't get dry socket! I've read about it but i didn't recognize any of the symptoms as mine. After my gums stopped bleeding I thought they were healed already, but there was still a hole in them. I thought the holes were normal for everybody. But i was very worried they would remain like that forever, good thing they evened out! Smile

Good luck with the whole thing Duchess!

Duchessljb

replied on January 22nd, 2008

Experienced User

Oh, don't get me wrong, I hated it, too... unfortunately, withthe amount of pain I had in my jaw/mouth, it was all I could eat! I lost almost 15 pounds in those 4 months, mostly from not eating because none of the soft food I could eat was appetizing at all.

I'm no dentist, so you might NOT have had dry socket; I'm just saying that everything I've read has stated that a bad smell combined with slow healing time is associated with dry socket. I could be totally wrong... Having read what I have, though, if I notice a bad smell and find that I'm taking longer than a week or two to heal, I'm gonna head back to the surgeon and have them check it out.

TMJWorld

replied on January 23rd, 2008

Extremely eHealthy

beleive me there are people that would kill to have a nice solid meal(me) and cant have it. not now probably not in this life time. ALl i want is a hamburger.

Biani

replied on January 23rd, 2008

Experienced User

I don't really know what that was... maybe an infection or something. Anyway, it went away with just rinsing with salty water and/or oxigenated water.

Tmddyan, why can't you eat solid food?

TMJWorld

replied on January 24th, 2008

Extremely eHealthy

i have sever tmd

greatsmile

replied on February 4th, 2008

New User

Re: Alright, I need to hear some of the stories... Wisdom Teeth

Hi, I had my 3 non-impacted, non-erupted wisdom teeth out 17 yrs ago. I was under IV Diazepam (Valium), went peacefully to sleep and awoke in a recovery room an unknown amount of time later happy as a clam. My mouth was filled with bloody gauze but to me it was the happiest bloody gauze I'd ever felt!

I experienced no pain from this procedure whatsoever. About a week later I did develop an infection, and a tiny slit opened in my mouth between the bottom of my gum and cheek and I could taste the infectious pus coming out. It was disgusting to taste that, but I took the antibiotics they gave me and all was well. I even smoked and drank from straws right after it and never got dry socket.

Compared to what I face now, I would love to have my wisdom teeth out again and again!

Duchessljb wrote:

I would like some first hand stories (especially anyone who doesn't have pain/infection issues with their wisdom teeth, like me) and would love to hear what the rest of you dealt with so I can be better prepared.

Users who thank greatsmile for this post: Duchessljb

Duchessljb

replied on February 4th, 2008

Experienced User

Thanks, greatsmile! I guess I should keep an eye out for infection, huh? My surgery is Thursday, and I have to admit that I'm getting a little nervous. I have my consultation tomorrow afternoon and I'm anxious to hear what they have to say.

Hazelnutt

replied on February 7th, 2008

New User

To Duchess:

Hi, I know you must be nervous. I am a dental assistant, and have assisted many extractions of wisdom teeth. Youre gonna do great, it's a piece of cake, especially if they are fully erupted, no impaction. You may have some jaw and ear pain afterwards. Especially if you have ever experienced any TMD issues in the past. When we take out wisdom teeth, we instruct our patients to brush your teeth regularly, avoiding the extraction site. Then rinse with warm salt water as much as possible. This speeds up the healing process. You want to avoid any carbonated beverages, drinking through a straw, smoking, or sticking any foreign objects back there. This could cause a dry socket. A dry socket is when the blood clot that forms over the bone is dislodged, actually causing the bone to be exposed. The main symptom of a dry socket is a pounding headache that will not go away. If this happens, you can call the surgeon, and they can pack the socket with a paste. The headache will immediately subside. As far as any bad tastes or odors, this is quite normal because you will get food packed in the socket. You can ask your surgeon to give you an irrigating syringe to keep the sites clean, although you cannot use them for at least a week after the surgery. If you use the irrigating syringe too soon, you can cause a dry socket. I would recommend taking some pain meds before the numbness wears off because it is easier to control the pain if you already have your meds on board. Good luck, and message me if you have any questions or complications!

Users who thank Hazelnutt for this post: Duchessljb

Duchessljb

replied on February 7th, 2008

Experienced User

Thanks, Hazelnutt, that all sounds like great advice (and very similar to what my surgeon has told me). I have hydrogen peroxide and salt (at the suggestion of the oral surgeon) to use for rinsing 24 hours after the surgery (I'm not supposed to rinse for the first 24 hours). Luckily, as you said, my teeth are NOT impacted and fully erupted (my surgeon actually asked me why we were taking them out; when I told him it was because there was no way to clean behind them and I was getting cavities in them, he nodded, knowingly).

The roots of my teeth are very long, which means there's a small chance that, while they're being removed, they could bump the nerve in my jaw, causing numbness, tingling or complete loss of feeling. He said this happens in about 5% of people and, of that 5%, about 1% of the time it's a permanent condition. However, this means just a lack of feeling, not paralysis, so the area will work as normal; I just wouldn't feel it if it happens. I can live with that as a worst case scenario. He didn't say anything about the jawbone being an issue, so I guess it isn't. That's what I was more worried about.

I've been told that I can take a vicoprofen (the pain med I was given) as soon as I can get something in my stomach, so I have Carnation Instant Breakfast on hand to slurp down as soon as I get home (no straw!) so I can pop a pill.

In about 5 miutes, here, I have to call the office to make sure they're on schedule. If they are, then my friend will be here to pick me up in about 20 minutes and my appointment is at 9:30 AM. The oral surgeon told me that he could have me in and out of the office in 1 hour (including the IV sedation that the office is a big prononent of, which is just fine with me!).

Duchessljb

replied on February 7th, 2008

Experienced User

Hey guys!

Just thought I'd stop by to let you know that everything went perfectly.

They got started at about 10:15. They took me back to the room, sat me down, inserted the IV (which took about 3 seconds), put something over my nose and then next thing I knew, I was waking up. They said it took about 45 minutes start to finish and all the teeth came out in single pieces (which is really good; less trauma to the mouth, less pain and recovery time).

I woke up out of it as if out of a normal nap and felt fine. I had (and have had) very minimal bleeding, took a pain pill at 11:30 when we got home and aside from some very VERY slight soreness on the right side (which is more jaw pain, I think, from holding my mouth open for so long), I feel fine.

Of course, I'm not passing any judgement until I know, for sure, all the anesthetic and novacain have worn off, but things are pretty good, for the moment.

Biani

replied on February 7th, 2008

Experienced User

Glad to read it, duchess!
Yours doesn't seem like a traumatic experience at all. I know what you mean about it being better if the teeth come out whole. When my doctor took out mine, she was supposedly finished, she was showing me the parts that she took out, then she noticed one was missing a root. She cut me open again to take the missing part out. She had done the stitches and all that.

Hazelnutt

replied on February 7th, 2008

New User

Im really glad everything went well for you! Sounds like your surgeon did a good job. Keep us posted on your post op!

Duchessljb

replied on February 8th, 2008

Experienced User

Day 2 of Post Op Recovery:

I woke up with no pain at all, having slept completely through the night on both sides of my face, alternately. I rinsed with hydrogen peroxide like I was instructed and then with salt water. That made me a little sore and the HP made me a little sick to my stomach. I decided to try it one more time around noon to see if it got any better.

I decided to go to work, today, because I was actually feeling pretty good. It was good, because I wasn't bored to death (like I was yesterday, because I felt really good but had nothing to do), but I ended up getting SUPER tired by about 2:30 and nearly fell asleep at my desk. I did rinse once more with the HP and salt water and got sick to my stomach, again, from the HP, so I'm giving up on it. The salt water will just have to be enough.

I got home, today, after running a couple of errands, and just relaxed because I was still feeling pretty tired. I took anothing vicoprofen about 5 PM (I'm supposed to be taking them every 4 hours, but I was off by about an hour so I could drive home from work) and ended up falling asleep on the couch for about 3 hours. It seems that sometimes I don't get tired taking them and other times they knock me out.

Feeling pretty good, still, though. Some slight soreness, but nothing to write home about (I was supposed to take another pill around 9, but decided to wait until 10, which is when I normally go to bed).

So, all is well, thus far! Smile

I did want to praise Red Robin (the restaurant) for their understanding and helpfulness in the situation. Today, my team went there to celebrate finishing a very large project. Unfortunately, there was nothing there I could eat (I checked their menu online), so I called them up and asked, if I brought my soup in a microwaveable container, would they heat it up for me? They were super nice about it and said absolutely they would; it was nice of them, I think, when they could have said no for legal/personal reasons if they wanted to.

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