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Getting my wisdom teeth removed on Wednesday... (SCARED & AFRAID)

diehldun said:
does anyone know when the threat of a "dry socket" takes place... like 2-3 days after the operation, or for the entire recovery period?

Because the pain is pretty much gone from my jaw now except for the bottom left area. I still need motrin for it (not excruciating, but I can feel pressure), and my mom says I have bad breath (a symptom??) :confused:

I'm leaving for Alaska in a week, so I'm trying to minimize any complications or infections before going!
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i think you only run the risk in the initial 3-5 days after the operation, but if your that worried about it, why not phone the dentist and ask?
 
I had mine out in high school. The doc knocked me out and I woke up very disoriented in the recovery room. I don't remember getting home but I do VIVIDLY remember the dreams I had that firts night. I dreamed that I was eating a very juicy steak. When I woke up, it turns out I had been chewing the gauze all night long. There was blood all over my sheets, pillows, face, shest.etc. There was no pain but the amount of blood all over the place freaked me out. Looked like a horror movie scene. I have had surgeries on my ankle and knee since and neither one of those surgeries made me as quesy as the wisdom teeth removal.
 
Im rather nervous about a dry socket as well, and it's funny you should mention that because i still have pain on the bottom left side as well.


PS.--What do you guys do about brushing your teeth? I only brush the front teeth cause Im too scared to brush the molars.

P.S.S----Can you get dry sockets even after the stiches are out?
 
Well, its been a few days since mine were out. It was a busy weekend. My dental experience overall has been very good. They started out with nitrous to numb me up. It really didn't seem to affect me all that much, although I didn't even feel the IV needle going in. I remember the extractions, although barely, and there was NO pain. The hour flew by and I was completely aware when I left the surgeons. There was a good deal of bleeding, and I changed the gauze multiple times. I rotated two ice packs for about 6 hours. I eventually pulled the gauze out after 4-5 hours and let the bleeding stop on its own. Doctors orders. It stopped sometime during the night, although it would have been wiser if I had an old pillow and pillowcase.

I used the pain medication religiously for the first 2 days, and experienced no pain whatsoever. I have stayed with soft foods - jello, pudding, eggs, finely diced pasta. I had cake style donuts on Saturday. I had coffee on Sunday morning.

Keep up with the salt rinses!!!

I brushed my teeth Saturday night for the first time since my surgery. I was careful, but it felt soooo good.

My only complaint overall has been my back. The stress and abundance of sleep caused it to spasm, so I've been taking Advil and herbal muscle relaxants. Today, it finally feels better.

I believe, as someone earlier said, your experience/recovery all depends on the skill of the surgeon. Mine even called me at the end of the day (Friday) to see if I was experiencing any problems after the extractions or if I had any questions!
 
I had the 2 furthest back on my left side removed about 3 years ago. The top one came out quite easily, but for the bottom I remember the dentist getting a leg up on the chair, bracing my lower jaw somehow, and going to town with a wrench for god knows how long trying to rip that sucker out. I remember him saying that he was going to go at it for one more minute and if he couldn't wrench it out, he was going to cut it out.

As I sit here now, my lower-right furthest back molar is painful as all heck. Rotted and cracked, but thankfully I just got Dental insurance again, so I'm making an appointment first thing tomorrow morning to get it pulled.
 
How do you remember that? Aren't you usually knocked out during the procedure?

I have a consultation in a week and then my surgery is in 3. I'm pretty nervous but this thread is helping a bit (except for that last post :p).

I've been following this thread from the start and just want to thank the OP for making it. I never would have thought of making a thread about it.
 
killuminati said:
How do you remember that? Aren't you usually knocked out during the procedure?

I have a consultation in a week and then my surgery is in 3. I'm pretty nervous but this thread is helping a bit (except for that last post :p).

I've been following this thread from the start and just want to thank the OP for making it. I never would have thought of making a thread about it.
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as I said earily never watch them work on another person. It kind of scary when you releize how much force they are using to ripe out the tooth. And yes they basicly ripe a good part of it out. They cut down to it and proceed to rip it out.
 
Heh. I was in the same boat as you. I got my wisdom teeth out before college too. I wasn't as nervous as you are, but then again it was early in the morning so I wasn't quite awake. I remember going in, signing papers (I was 18 at the time), and sitting in the chair. They put an IV in my arm, I asked them was it was, and it was the pain killer along with some saline solution. Before they put the mask on, I told the doctor, the nurses, and my mom that I was going to count backwards from 100 and see how far I can get. So the mask came on and I started to count. 100... 99... 98... I got all they way down to like 90 then I barely remember starting to say like "78." It seems to be that things wear off over time, and I started to come out of my slumber, the doctor freaked out and put like a 10x bigger dose in to make my sleep.

After the surgery, they helped me to a resting room where I tried to sleep, but I couldn't really, my cheeks were HUGE! So they helped me to my car. Of course my mom, being as nice as she is, decide that we should go get some bagels for everyone. Me on the other hand was upset and tired and I really wanted to go to bed and sleep. Once we got home, my brother helped me out of the car, and had to practically carry me upstairs. Before I passed out on the bed, I mumbled, "I got to 78..." He laughed.

Anyways, it isn't all that bad. Just make sure to eat REALLY REALLY REALLY soft foods afterwards. I ate mostly apple sauce, mashed potatos (sp), and Jello.

Steve

FYI: Whey you sleep, keep your head up, or you're going to be choking on your own blood!
 
i had my wisdom teeth out monday 6/26....the worrying before hand is by far the worst part. second to worst would be the iv insertion, but only because i HATE needles...and even it wasnt that bad. i had all four out monday morning, and was back at work wednesday afternoon. the main thing is to not use a straw, i still havent and am not planning on it for awhile. as far as painkillers, i had some combumax, which is a mixture of codine and ibuprofin, but i think i only took one or two of them; motrin or tylenol will work just fine after the first day, if you need any pain killer at all. im still a little sore, but the only thing i havent tried to eat is a sandwich (or anything with a lot of bread).

by the way...some easy foods to eat the first day or so are lima beans, cut up hot dogs, snack pack pudding cups (dont bother refrigerating them), and french fries....but just remember to nibble...
 
Mine are coming out in 3 hours, even after how well it went for the OP I'm still nervous.

They only told me I couldn't eat 5 hours before surgery. Does that mean i'm not getting the IV thing? I wanna fall asleep like the OP got to, it sounds so easy.
 
killuminati said:
Mine are coming out in 3 hours, even after how well it went for the OP I'm still nervous.

They only told me I couldn't eat 5 hours before surgery. Does that mean i'm not getting the IV thing? I wanna fall asleep like the OP got to, it sounds so easy.
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They told me 8 hours...they want you to have an empty stomach. I suppose it's so you don't have any bladder malfunctions or vomiting issues.

Do you know how quickly a dentist can move away from a patient when he start to gag.....
 
They tell you to have an empty stomach so if by chance you are allergic to the anesthesia there wont be any clean up.
 
MacNut said:
They tell you to have an empty stomach so if by chance you are allergic to the anesthesia there wont be any clean up.
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I think it's more so you don't throw up and choke, but obviously the clean up isn't very nice either. ;)
 
its interesting that this post is still going. lol
anyways, i got mine out about a month ago. they put me to sleep, so i dont really remember anything, but everyone tells me that i started acting silly as hell and saying the stupidist things. i do remember one thing just barey, though: i jumped out from behind a door to scare my grandmother! But its fo funny bc i was half awake, couldnt feel my mouth (therefore could barely say "booh!") , and could barely stand up.
anyways, i hated not being able to eat "real" food. i was dying for a steak, but all i could have was soup :(
 
Well, as a follow up to mine...
Since it got pulled, I've had a piece of bone sticking out right next to the socket just a smidgen. Then this past Friday, I noticed something that felt a bit like the coating of a popcorn kernel in the socket, which I thought was odd as I hadn't eaten popcorn in a while... Well Saturday night comes around, and I'm getting quite annoyed with this thing, so I wiggle it out with my tongue and spit it into my hand.

It's another small piece of bone, that didn't quite make it out when the tooth got pulled. I could tell it got messed up by the tooth getting ripped out because it was quite twisted (since it was also very thin, as I don't think the bone in that area does much after childhood). Anyways, I think I should still call my dentist about this other piece still sticking out...
 
Counterfit said:
Well, as a follow up to mine...
Since it got pulled, I've had a piece of bone sticking out right next to the socket just a smidgen. Then this past Friday, I noticed something that felt a bit like the coating of a popcorn kernel in the socket, which I thought was odd as I hadn't eaten popcorn in a while... Well Saturday night comes around, and I'm getting quite annoyed with this thing, so I wiggle it out with my tongue and spit it into my hand.

It's another small piece of bone, that didn't quite make it out when the tooth got pulled. I could tell it got messed up by the tooth getting ripped out because it was quite twisted (since it was also very thin, as I don't think the bone in that area does much after childhood). Anyways, I think I should still call my dentist about this other piece still sticking out...
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Did they pull or chip the teeth out. I don't get how pieces could be left if they were pulled straight out.
 
sometimes the teeth brake on the way out. my cousin's tooth split in half as it came out. amybe the dentist just didnt notice it. :rolleyes:
 
i am not gonna get too detailed...

but getting my wisdom teeth removed was the worst experience of my life. i wasnt put 'under.' just given novacaine, so i was awake during it.

i bled for days afterward, face was puffy for about a week, and the percocets they gave me were not strong enough, so i was in excruciating pain for the following 4-5 days.

hope all goes well for you :D
 
Wow!

That was nothing! About 3 seconds after he put the IV in I was out, and then I woke up 30 seconds (aka an hour) later and it felt like I was really crunk. Apparantly I said the most ridiculous things to the nurse, and I played music for her on my cellphone :eek:

And the recovery isn't nearly as bad as I thought. I haven't even taken any T3 yet and barely any pain. Barely any swelling. When I woke up this morning I had forgotten about it, until I moved my tongue to the back of my mouth and felt these mamoth craters.

Anyone else having it done soon, you should be excited. When we wake up it's such an awesome feeling, even better than being drunk or high.
 
They're called "bone-splinters"

Counterfit said:
Well, as a follow up to mine...
Since it got pulled, I've had a piece of bone sticking out right next to the socket just a smidgen. Then this past Friday, I noticed something that felt a bit like the coating of a popcorn kernel in the socket, which I thought was odd as I hadn't eaten popcorn in a while... Well Saturday night comes around, and I'm getting quite annoyed with this thing, so I wiggle it out with my tongue and spit it into my hand.

It's another small piece of bone, that didn't quite make it out when the tooth got pulled. I could tell it got messed up by the tooth getting ripped out because it was quite twisted (since it was also very thin, as I don't think the bone in that area does much after childhood). Anyways, I think I should still call my dentist about this other piece still sticking out...
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OH MY GOSH! That happened to me too! Since I removed mine last month, three "bone-splinters" (as they're called by the doctors) came out.

Apparently, if not enough blood is circulated to the areas where they cut/operate on, then the bone becomes "decayed" and basically the body rejects the "dead bone matter" after the operation. Hence, they began to seep through the inside-bottom area of my jaw about 1-2 weeks after the removal.

Anyways, I too am amused that this thread is still chugging along! :D A month since, I feel perfectly fine. I went to a 1-month check-up and everything is going along perfect; the wounds have healed fine and no infection. Now for the rest of my life I don't have to worry about it!

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA to those who have to get them removed! Just kidding. :)
 
diehldun said:
OH MY GOSH! That happened to me too! Since I removed mine last month, three "bone-splinters" (as they're called by the doctors) came out.

Apparently, if not enough blood is circulated to the areas where they cut/operate on, then the bone becomes "decayed" and basically the body rejects the "dead bone matter" after the operation. Hence, they began to seep through the inside-bottom area of my jaw about 1-2 weeks after the removal.

Anyways, I too am amused that this thread is still chugging along! :D A month since, I feel perfectly fine. I went to a 1-month check-up and everything is going along perfect; the wounds have healed fine and no infection. Now for the rest of my life I don't have to worry about it!

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA to those who have to get them removed! Just kidding. :)
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A month since your wisdoms came out, mine have been out since Jan. 2nd. I actually had a nice time with my wisdoms, I only had one dry socket, and no infections, despite the fact that since I had to travel, the thing they stuck in my socket for dry socket didn't come out until February. My stitches did bother me though, they felt like stuff stuck. :S

Anyways, I fell asleep like, one minute into surgery. I was given versed and some other sedative, and fell asleep. When I got out of the car, I gagged on blood that I was seeping. Needless to say, I had to go through all my gauze to stop bleeding. Finally, after four hours, I had stopped bleeding. I didn't bleed anytime after that, though two days later I was able to eat solid foods and drink coke! :D

Actually, in all honesty, I ate solid foods immediately a day later. I had too.
 
MacNut said:
Did they pull or chip the teeth out. I don't get how pieces could be left if they were pulled straight out.
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Both were removed by (relatively) normal extraction. The first one also took some bone with it, due to the roots on one side being crossed over each other, rather than nested together (which made it take about 15-20 minutes extra).

And as for the bleeding, it took a few hours for each to stop. The first was because I kept putting the new gauze in between my back molars (actually, the lower one is a wisdom tooth), rather than over the socket. I think that's what I did with the second one too. And of course, I asked for hot and sour soup after each one. It wasn't all that hot when I finally ate it. :rolleyes:
 
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