wisdom teeth complications

[rainman::|:|]

i just had my wisdom teeth out... two of them were impacted, one quite severely.

it's been many hours, and the anesthesia has worn off totally.

part of my face is paralyzed. Everything from the gumline to my lower lip to the bottom of my chin, about as wide as a goatee, and most of the muscles in my tongue... no feeling, any range of movement is by surrounding muscles.

i'm not finding a lot of information on the subject, and everyone thinks i'm overreacting. I know what anesthesia feels like, and this is just dead-- i can poke it with a pin, burn it with boiling water, anything and there's absolutely no sensation.

the dentist told me this was a slight possibility, but that it often goes away on it's own. That's rather vague. I'm hoping someone here has had a similar experience? i need to know how long this might last... i can't eat at all (you never realize how much you use your tongue until it's almost totally paralyzed and dead of sensation)...

basically, i'm terrified here. panic is setting in... i have to go to work tomorrow, and i can't speak!!

anyone??

pnw

[WinterMute]

Relax Paul, it sounds as though the anasthetic has got to the nerves at the base of your tounge, they tend to go deep with the numb juice on impacted wisdom teeth.

I had the same effect when I had two teeth removed from a cracked jaw, it takes longer to wear off than a filling, but does go eventually.

They use more stuff cos it hurts more to do and the trauma lasts longer, believe me, when it wears off you'll be wishing it hadn't, that sucker is going to ache.

Go get some good painkillers now.

[Billicus]

Doesn't sound very good to me...:( How long has it been since they injected you with anestisia and it's still having it's affects? :eek: Hope you make it through work tomorrow.

Btw: 500th Post - :D

[evildead]

When I had mine out, they put me under. I was only 12 when they ripped them out. When I woke up I vomited a large contrainer full of blood and was groggy and unble to leave my bedroom for untill the next morring.

When My younger brother had his out a few years ago, ... at age 17. I took him home and made him some soup after a nice 5 hour nap. He passed out and fell stait into the bowl. He started trwiching and fell to the floor. When I took him to the hospital, the Dr. said it was just sever dehydration and the twiching was a normal defence mech to get his body to the floor so blood could get to his brain faster.

Just make sure you have penty of water and if possible, have someone check on you every once in a while.. just in case

[eyelikeart]

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/neuro/archive/12260.html

http://www.laurushealth.com/Library/HealthGuide/IllnessConditions/topic.asp?hwid=tm6328

http://www.wisdomteeth.co.nz/faq.htm

On the 3rd link, scroll down a bit...I think it will give u answers best. ;)

[RugoseCone]

Did a regular dentist do the surgery or did you go to an Oral Surgeon?

One of my wife's coworkers had her regular dentist do the work and now she has permanent (most likely) nerve damage to her tongue. One half has a prickling burning sensation and the other half feels numb. No sense of taste at the tip anymore either. She had her teeth pulled about four or five weeks ago.

I would try to see a specialist if this persists into tomorrow.

[scem0]

How funny. I get my braces off today (Im 50% sure)!

Hope it works out well for you, not being able to speak must really suck :o ;).

I'm about to leave to go to the orthomodontist (yeah I know I added an extra syllable). But I think they have to check for root damage before they take them off. Hopefully that isn't the case and they are going to take them off without checking anything.

scem0

[tjwett]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
i just had my wisdom teeth out... two of them were impacted, one quite severely.

it's been many hours, and the anesthesia has worn off totally.

part of my face is paralyzed. Everything from the gumline to my lower lip to the bottom of my chin, about as wide as a goatee, and most of the muscles in my tongue... no feeling, any range of movement is by surrounding muscles.

i'm not finding a lot of information on the subject, and everyone thinks i'm overreacting. I know what anesthesia feels like, and this is just dead-- i can poke it with a pin, burn it with boiling water, anything and there's absolutely no sensation.

the dentist told me this was a slight possibility, but that it often goes away on it's own. That's rather vague. I'm hoping someone here has had a similar experience? i need to know how long this might last... i can't eat at all (you never realize how much you use your tongue until it's almost totally paralyzed and dead of sensation)...

basically, i'm terrified here. panic is setting in... i have to go to work tomorrow, and i can't speak!!

anyone??

pnw

hey don't worry. that stuff can take a while, and it does indeed feel just like you described. the chances they did extensive permanant nerve damage are very slim. just relax, eat some soup, and take some of the very excellent pain killers they prescribed you. if it's still numb tomorrow give them a call. if it makes you feel any better here's my wisdom teeth story, the short version: made a 9am appointment, first patient in the office. was told i'd be out of there in a few hours. well, six o'clock at night rolls around and i'm still in the chair and he's only halfway thru the third tooth. the novacaine is wearing off and he legally can't give me any more. worst thing is i'm awake the entire time (i was scared to get knocked out:rolleyes: ). anyway, so i have to sit there thru the whole 3rd tooth feeling everything and watching it in the reflection of his goggles, which btw are covered with my blood. after 3 weeks of recovery i have to go back to do the 4th tooth. i missed 2 months of work, got hooked on pain killers (no joke, be careful how long you take that stuff), and because of the surgery contracted a chronic diease of the tonsils, which i have to have removed now. so don't worry, it could be much worse. get well soon.

[RugoseCone]

Originally posted by tjwett
anyway, so i have to sit there thru the whole 3rd tooth feeling everything and watching it in the reflection of his goggles, which btw are covered with my blood. after 3 weeks of recovery i have to go back to do the 4th tooth. i missed 2 months of work, got hooked on pain killers (no joke, be careful how long you take that stuff), and because of the surgery contracted a chronic diease of the tonsils, which i have to have removed now. so don't worry, it could be much worse. get well soon.

WOW! That's horrible. I'm truly sorry that you had an experience like that. One of those "wouldn't wish on my worst enemies" situations.

I got extremely lucky. They put me out and pulled all four in just under twelve minutes. No pain, no tiredness, no aftereffects. EXTREMELY lucky compared to what you had to go through.

[pseudobrit]

If there is any infection, you will need antibiotics (you should already be on them before the teeth are removed) and you will need to rinse the hole with a syringe.

Your dentist should have given you a syringe with an angled tip and you'll need to use a mixture of salt water and hydrogen peroxide to spray water forcibly into the hole to clean it properly.

I was awake for all four of mine.

[jxyama]

yikes... i hope you heal properly...

numbness will probably turn into numbing pain... i assume your surgeon gave you some painkillers? if you think your numbness is wearing off, take some of those...

take care. i don't think it's anything to panic about (not yet anyway), but i completely understand your feeling. it's a pretty scary thought.

[jxyama]

Originally posted by pseudobrit
If there is any infection, you will need antibiotics (you should already be on them before the teeth are removed) and you will need to rinse the hole with a syringe.

Your dentist should have given you a syringe with an angled tip and you'll need to use a mixture of salt water and hydrogen peroxide to spray water forcibly into the hole to clean it properly.

I was awake for all four of mine.

hmm... i've had 7 teeth extracted in my life (4 wisdom, 2 molars and 1 canine) but i've never had to use a syringe to clean out the holes. i was just told to vigorously rince with salt water... (no peroxide)

so even if what you were prescribed to do is different, no need to panic...

anti-biotic, however, is a different matter as pseudobrit wrote. you MUST take them. infection would be absolutely awful.

[wdlove]

Mine was done by a oral surgeon in his office. The procedure was done under general anethesia because if had 2 impacted wisdom teeth. No side effects. Had good pain control.

From the story of tjwett, it illustrates that you can always find somone wose off than yourself. I agree with others, wait for 24 hours. If your still are having the same symptoms contact your dentist!

[pseudobrit]

Originally posted by jxyama
anti-biotic, however, is a different matter as pseudobrit wrote. you MUST take them. infection would be absolutely awful.

Worse -- deadly.

[rainman::|:|]

thank you guys for all the words of encouragement :) maybe i am just overreacting, it's just terrifying to suddenly lose major functions like this (i'm bound and determined to find a way to eat)... but i can probably live with it if it's only temporary. i'm already getting very mild false sensations in the area, a tingling and it itched a few minutes ago... so that's a good sign. I just never really realized that local anesthesia (which i'm assuming i was administered in addition to the general) could be this powerful... even for my root canal, i could *feel*, just couldn't feel pain. Anyway, they did give me a rinse to use to fight infection, so that should be taken care of, and they gave me some more vicodin (i've been on it for a few weeks pending surgery), so that's good... and yes it is indeed habit forming, i'm already showing mild withdrawl if i don't have it... but i've overcome addictions before.

thanks again, you guys helped calm me down a lot!

pnw

[scem0]

Argh I am supposed to wear my braces for 2 months more!

Hell no!

My mom is calling to bitch at them and to tell them that they HAVE to be off before school starts.

I love my mother ;).

scem0

[MacFan25]

Originally posted by scem0
Argh I am supposed to wear my braces for 2 months more!

Hell no!

My mom is calling to bitch at them and to tell them that they HAVE to be off before school starts.

I love my mother ;).

scem0
I still have a few more months left, too. Sometimes they can be annoying, but most of the time I don't really care about them.

Good luck! ;)

[tpjunkie]

Yeah, when I had my wisdom teeth out last summer, I had all four taken out at once, and elected to have it done by the oral surgeon in the hospital, under general anesthesia...(two of them were particularly tricky)...when I woke up I was extremely disoriented and dehydrated, and my mouth managed to somehow hurt, even though I couldn't actually feel it (as confusing as that sounds. also, my throat was killing me from where they had intubated during the surgery...that was icing on the cake, let me tell you).

My face puffed up to almost twice its normal size, it looked like i was puffing out my cheeks when in fact i was simply sitting there in agony. After about 3 days the swelling went down, and the pain was gone in about 6 or 7 days. Three weeks later, I discovered a bone or tooth chunk lodged in my gums that I had to have removed by the oral surgeon, this time in his office with local anesthesia...that stuff kicked in so hard that I couldn't speak, move my lips or my jaw, and spent the next couple of hours drooling on myself. As the feeling returned I felt a tingling burning sensation, so once you start to feel something, you should be in the clear.

Good Luck!

[wdlove]

Originally posted by scem0
Argh I am supposed to wear my braces for 2 months more!

Hell no!

My mom is calling to bitch at them and to tell them that they HAVE to be off before school starts.

I love my mother ;).

scem0

I know that it is tough to hear when you are young, but for your own good you should follow doctors orders. My orthodontia work, the actual braces was for 2 years. Then I wore a removable splint for 1 year. The teeth are still loose for that period, I could always demonstrate that fact. If I it out for more than an hour, it felt just like it did after a visit.

Please follow the advice of your doctor scem0. It's hard, but to your benefit in the long term!

[Ugg]

It is a scary feeling to have no feeling at all. I had all four out at the same time. It took him literally only 2 minutes. I was in and out of the doc's office in under 30 minutes. I just had novocaine (I hate all drugs) but I didn't have any real feeling in my mouth for about 6 hours. The pain afterwards was in a way, very reassuring. I flushed my mouth religiously and had no problems with the healing process. Lots of rest, fluids and someone to pat you on the head and say it'll be better soon makes all the difference!

[eyelikeart]

my wisdom teeth never showed any signs of coming...my sister had hers removed when she was 18...

I'm 25 & still no signs...maybe I take after my mother who never got hers either...

so paul...how's the mouth doing? ;)

[rainman::|:|]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
my wisdom teeth never showed any signs of coming...my sister had hers removed when she was 18...

I'm 25 & still no signs...maybe I take after my mother who never got hers either...

so paul...how's the mouth doing? ;)

Was doing great, last night the steroids wore off and the swelling began. Half of my face looks like i'm wearing a fat suit... But they say it will go away, probably before work Monday... i hope to god... not that my co-workers would have a field day with me looking like this :)

all in all, this being my first surgery of any kind, i don't think i'll ever have it again :D

btw, if you never get wisdom teeth, it means that someone up there really likes you ;)

pnw

[eyelikeart]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
btw, if you never get wisdom teeth, it means that someone up there really likes you ;)

hehe...then I feel fortunate... ;)

seriously...I've been so damned glad about it...I have a huge fear about having surgery on/in my mouth... :(

[wdlove]

I also hope that you never have to have any oral surgery either eyelikeart! ;)

I'm glad to hear that your are improving paulwhannel, for you it probably seems slow but sure. Be good to yourself this weekend. Be sure to follow the advice of your dentist!

[pseudobrit]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
hehe...then I feel fortunate... ;)

seriously...I've been so damned glad about it...I have a huge fear about having surgery on/in my mouth... :(

Get them out before you need surgery. That's what I did -- I had two out, waited a month and had the other two out before they became a problem. All in a regualr dentist's office and all while I was awake.

I don't know how human beings survived past 25 before anitbiotics and dentists came about.

[eyelikeart]

Originally posted by pseudobrit
Get them out before you need surgery.

Well, that's the thing...there's nothing to take out. I've asked my dentist, and he's told me there's no sign of anything. Again, my mother didn't get hers either...so I'm banking on that good fortune. ;)

[wdlove]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
Well, that's the thing...there's nothing to take out. I've asked my dentist, and he's told me there's no sign of anything. Again, my mother didn't get hers either...so I'm banking on that good fortune. ;)

I'm curious eyelikeart, have you had a oral X-Ray done. It would be interesting to have confirmation of the non existence of your Wisdom teeth!

[dreamlance]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
Well, that's the thing...there's nothing to take out. I've asked my dentist, and he's told me there's no sign of anything. Again, my mother didn't get hers either...so I'm banking on that good fortune. ;)

Lucky dog. I got mine taken out last summer but it wasn't nearly as bad as when they pulled four teeth so I now have no qualms about oral surgery.

A mutual friend of Eye and mine's had a problem with hers in that her nerves had wrapped around all her teeth in a way that if the doctor made one slip, she wouldn't be able to smile and would have trouble speaking. So they had to call in all these specialists on hers. It was something that only struck one in every 40,000 people. But she turned out alright. At least in that way ;)

[eyelikeart]

Originally posted by dreamlance
A mutual friend of Eye and mine's had a problem with hers in that her nerves had wrapped around all her teeth in a way that if the doctor made one slip, she wouldn't be able to smile and would have trouble speaking. So they had to call in all these specialists on hers. It was something that only struck one in every 40,000 people. But she turned out alright. At least in that way ;)

ouch...now that's freaky stuff... :eek:

only strengthens my fear of oral surgery...

[zarathustra]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
btw, if you never get wisdom teeth, it means that someone up there really likes you ;)

pnw

Oh, thanks. I was born without wisdom teeth (have had many xrays due to orthodontia, and it showed no wisdom teeth). As a matter of fact, my family's trademark is that we only develop 28 teeth. Anyway.

Hope you heal well. :)