Getting my Wisdom Teeth out on Friday...

[Anorak]

Just got home from surgery. Not in any pain at the moment, but the novocain hasn't worn off yet. I had some ice cream (Coldstone<3) and am going to lie down a bit with some ice to help the swelling (none atm). It went really smoothly from what I hear. The worst part was right before you go out and they're hooking up all that **** to you, then you're just sitting there as you feel the medicine go through your veins.

Anyway, thanks for all the support, I'll try to keep you guys up to date. FrontRow ftw.

Glad to hear it went well.

I got mine out during the summer of '04 (I was 18 at the time), and had all 4 removed as well - the surgeon had to cut both my bottom wisdom teeth in half, probably similar to what you had done.

From what I remember, the worst part for me was waking up and having lots of blood-soaked gauze in my mouth, and not knowing exactly what was going on (I was put under).

Healing took about 3-5 days. They gave me Tylonel 3s, which pretty much knocked me out for the first couple of days. I think I started eating solids at about day 2 of recovery, kind of forced myself to eat a sandwich (I never knew it could take an hour...).

Anyway, good luck with your recovery!

 

[Taylor C]

My friend just got back with my medication. I just took the anti-inflamatory and will be taking the hydrocodine or w/e in about an hour. So far the pain hasn't been bad, and I only taste blood when I change my bandages. I'm pretty happy that I feel normal except for the slight discomfort in my mouth. I can definitely feel the numbness starting to wear off, though. I just hope I can stay ahead of the pain.

I'm a bit concerned about sleeping w/o gauze in my mouth, it's kind of comforting to be able to bite down on it--it takes my mind off having semi-open wounds in my mouth. What's everyone's experience with this? I was told I shouldn't sleep with the gauze.

God ice cream is good.

 

[d_and_n5000]

My friend just got back with my medication. I just took the anti-inflamatory and will be taking the hydrocodine or w/e in about an hour. So far the pain hasn't been bad, and I only taste blood when I change my bandages. I'm pretty happy that I feel normal except for the slight discomfort in my mouth. I can definitely feel the numbness starting to wear off, though. I just hope I can stay ahead of the pain.

I'm a bit concerned about sleeping w/o gauze in my mouth, it's kind of comforting to be able to bite down on it--it takes my mind off having semi-open wounds in my mouth. What's everyone's experience with this? I was told I shouldn't sleep with the gauze.

God ice cream is good.

I don't think that I had any problems not sleeping in the gauze when I had three teeth yanked out—I couldn't stand having the gauze in, actually. It'll be a little disconcerting at first, but you'll get used to it soon enough. Just be warned that having gaping holes in your mouth isn't conducive to eating anything more solid than mashed potatoes for the first couple of days. The day after I got mine taken out, I tried eating chicken noodle soup(no, not the Campbell's condensed kind, thank you very much) and it wasn't exactly comfortable to eat the chicken. Just be forewarned.

And yes, ice cream is the best substance in the world right now.

 

[Taylor C]

I'm listening to podcasts as I do some logo/branding design for a client at my desk, and lying down and using my iMac's apple remote to control front row while I ice my cheeks. So far I've had no negative side effects to the pain killers, and I feel fine. I'm still bleeding lightly, but am in no pain whatsoever. I don't seem to be swelling at all (have been doing 30min with ice, 30 w/o), but I'm sure that will change.

I was planning to have either pudding or mashed potatoes (which sound ungodly good at the moment) for dinner. Is that okay? My room mate got a bunch of fresh fruit today, and I really wish I could eat it, but it's not a big deal. I'm still kinda numb, but I hear its best to start the pain medication before the numbness wears off.

Finally, it feels more comfortable for me to have the gauze in my mouth (except when I'm eating/taking pills, etc.) I'm changing it every 30-45min, but it definitely feels better to have it in. I'm still bleeding so I'm going to try the teabag thing.

Any other suggestions? I'm not feeling too keen on removing the gauze permanently.

 

[BamaDan]

So what did the doc prescribe for the pain? Did he ask you what you wanted or just write something. I've heard everything from Tylenol 3 with codein to Vicodin for the pain. I've took T3 with Codein. They don't do anything. The doc gave me Lortab 7.5 when I was having other problems last year. Male problems. Those worked OK, but I'm hoping for Vicodin since they are cutting me open. Someone told me today that they probably won't do both sides at the same time. I want to get it all over with in one visit. I'm a baby when it comes to pain. I'm a bigger baby when it comes to going to the dentist. I guess I'll find out Monday.

 

[Cromulent]

You had a general anaesthetic for having your wisdom teeth out? That's pretty harsh.

Luckily I just had a local when I had mine out. Feels a bit weird having them pull and pry the teeth out .

 

[Taylor C]

As I said, I've never had surgery of any kind before, at least while I was old enough to remember it. I asked if I could have all 4 out without general anesthesia, but they wouldn't let me. All in all I'm really glad I was just put out. I woke up and it was all over, much quicker than it would've been if I had been awake and just sedated.

I'm on 1-2 Hydrocodone (generic vicodin) every 4-6 hours for the pain. So far it hasn't caused any side effects, I feel perfectly normal *knock on wood*. I've got the gauze out of my mouth and I had some mashed potatoes for dinner just taking small bites and swallowing them whole. My jaw isn't as bad as I thought it would be--I can open my mouth pretty normally, the only limiting factor seems to be that most of my face is still partially numb.

 

[notjustjay]

Your experience sounds like it went typically well, which is good! Yeah, the first little while you just feel... strange. Not necessarily in pain, just very tired and odd.

I think I got through the first days with a diet of Ramen noodles (overcooked to make the noodles nice and soggy) and Chinese rice congee.

The weirdest sensation for me was feeling the stitches work themselves loose as the thread dissolves. And they gave me this little plastic syringe, I had to hose out the holes with warm water after every meal.

I don't recall what kind of painkillers I was given but I tried not to use them as much as possible. After the first day it was pretty much fine anyway. I'm not a fan of painkillers in general, I think that if your body is trying to tell you something by sending pain signals, then you'd best not mask them.

 

[neonblue2]

Lucky sod. I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed plus a canine last year. They had to put me under for an extra hour to complete the whole procedure and when I woke up I felt like utter crap. Still half asleep I couldn't feel my mouth, I knew I was gonna vomit soon and I really needed a drink.

For the next hour I think I was just sitting there. They tried to get me up and dressed to go but I collapsed in a chair in the bathroom and let my stomach out into the toilet. Yes there was a button to call for a nurse but it was out of my reach on the other side of the toilet. My dad came in to see how I was and he took me out and I sat there until I was ready.

When I got home I slept for a while and had some drinks. It wasn't until the next day I could actually feel my lips, though I still couldn't control them. Eventually I got better and now I've had braces for about 9-10 months. Since then I've had quite a few shocks. My first came in the form of my top palette. To remove my canine they had to cut into my palette then suture it back together. Those sutures were really annoying in the weeks after and just thinking about the fact they were attached to the top of my mouth made me shudder.

The other two shocks were my hair and eyelashes. I was born with hair so light it was white, but like most with fair hair as children my hair has gone brown. After the operation my hair began to go blonde until I eventually had a very blonde tuft of hair. My eyelashes had also begun to fall out which then lead to my eyes getting irritated and my theory is that when I rubbed them I wasn't really helping. This only happened because I was under for longer than expected.

This wasn't my first time in hospital. I've also had appendicitis (2000) and for years before I had my appendix removed, whenever I threw up, I'd need to go in for dehydration because I couldn't stop. I've also had pneumonia (2002) caused by a school air conditioner left on all night at some crazy temperature in the middle of summer (it was 35ºC that day).

 

[Taylor C]

I actually felt completely normal after surgery. I got home, sat at my desk and just took it easy listening to podcasts and surfing the net. I went to sleep at around 11:30 last night, slept for a good 8 hours, and feel fine today. No pain or swelling at all yet.

Having some pudding and applesauce for breakfast right now.