Wisdom Teeth Removal

E

ErikCLDR

macrumors 68000
Hi Everyone,

I went to the Dentist and they told me I need my wisdom teeth removed. Luckily I was born with only 3. What are your experiences with this?

I have the choice of Nitrous Oxide and Novocain or they'll put me out. The hygienist said I should just get put out because its easier for the doctor, but I would assume there would be a major cost difference with that and safety risk (not that I don't trust the anesthesiologist but I would think they would rather not put you to sleep). My regular doctor said that with the Nitrous Oxide you're so out of it you wouldn't care if it was raining liquid lead.

Any thoughts?

BTW this will be my first surgery.
 
I had mine taken out a few years ago. I was knocked out. I'm such a wuss, though, that I wouldn't be able to do it any other way. The actual surgery was the least uncomfortable part. Spitting up blood and the pain afterwards was much worse.

They are right, though, about not caring what is going on around you when you're out. I didn't feel or notice anything, and after they woke me up, all I wanted to do was sleep in their lobby. My mom had to practically drag me to the car...where I fell back asleep on the 2 minute ride home.
 
milkshakes for a fortnight, how nice.

hard choice to make, glad it is not mine.

i recently had surgery for a groin hernia and did not 'go under', believe me you will be so whacked that when the large nurse shaves your meat and two vege you wont give a damm :D
 
You don't need to be put out. I had mine taken out when I was 17 without being put to sleep. Your doctor's right. You will be so drugged up you won't care what he's doing, and most likely won't remember anything about when it's finished.
 
I had mine out a few years ago, and I wasn't put out. I actually look upon that day fondly, whatever they gave me felt really good, and I didn't have to go to the scary Jamaican in the alley in downtown Hartford :eek:.

It effects different people differently. I know some people who say it was the worst time of their life. I know other people who felt fine the whole time. Personally, I was somewhere in the midde.
 
How old are you?

If you're in you're late teens, early 20's you can go ahead with the conscious/Nitrous oxide route without too much difficulty. I had mine done at 18 in this manner and I didn't have too many issues. I'm not quite sure if the Nitrous mix was right, I never felt that out of it, but thanks to the Novocain I didn't feel anything, just heard some of the crunching and felt some pushing as they got the teeth out (did all 4 at once).

Now if you're older the teeth are going to be rooted/burried deeper in the jaw so you'll probably want to be out completely like my wife was.
 
I had mine taken out when i was about 16 or 17 and had Nitrous Oxide. It was great stuff :) I remember the doctor telling jokes while he worked on me and me laughing, not even caring that he was cutting teeth out of my jaw.

It sucks when it wears off though...
 
I was 15 when I took mine out, lucky me. They hadnt even formed roots yet so it was more like enamel and dentin floating in my gums.

I was knocked out by IV drugs for the 45 min procedure.

He stuck in the needle, let the stop go, and I said "How long until I'm knocked out" he replies "About te............" I dont remember anything for the next 4 hours, which included leaving, going to McDs for a shake, going home, upstairs, changing clothes and getting into bed.

That was some good sh**.

Make sure you ask the Doc what pain meds he will prescribe after. if you know yer drugs, ask for something stronger claiming youve had what he wants to give you and it didnt work. cuz typically they prescribe stuff thats kind of weak, ask for nothing less than Percocet or Tylenol 3.

Very few chances will you get to have legal narcotics handed to you!
 
They put me out when I had all 4 of my mine removed. I don't remember even getting a choice though. That just may be how he did it for everyone.
 
i got knocked out for getting all 4 of mine out. nitrous is kinda fun though, i got that for another dental procedure once.

both options are 100% safe. the general anesthesia is considerably more expensive, IIRC, so if cost is an issue, i'd just do nitrous.

and also if i remeber right they give you novocaine even if you get knocked out.
 
I am 16, 17 in September.

The two on the bottom you can see. The one on the top is not yet visible.


My sister went to the same doctor and got Vicodin for after the surgery. I assume I would get the same. What ever I don't use I can sell to my friends hahahahahha kidding.

I think I'll probably stick with the nitrous oxide. I'll see what the doctor has to say about it when I have my consultation in a couple weeks.
 
Had all 4 taken out at once, knocked out cold for a few hours. Got a good sleep out of the deal.
 
I hope you don't mind me asking, but why are they being removed?

I've heard of people having their wisdom teeth out. I've still got all of mine.
 
The main reason for having them removed is over crowding of the teeth. Mine were impacted and pushing on the other teeth. Over time the pain will get worse if you don't get them removed.
 
MacNut said:
The main reason for having them removed is over crowding of the teeth. Mine were impacted and pushing on the other teeth. Over time the pain will get worse if you don't get them removed.
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Yup. My jaw isn't big enough to accommodate more teeth. The wisdom teeth them grow in at an angle and push the other teeth. That can make the front teeth get pushed together and change there position.
 
I only have 3 as well, but as a result of going through years of orthodontics as a teenager, I get to keep at least 2. The odd one (on the right side where there is not a lower tooth to connect with) apparently has a cavity and will need to be pulled. I'm 31 and that is my first cavity, which doesn't hurt and since I hate going to the dentist, it's been a year and I still have the tooth. My wife and mom keep telling me to 'cowboy up' and go get it pulled, but I've never had any kind of surgery, never broken a bone, nothing other than the occasional scrape and bruise **knocks on wood** so it's easier said than done.

I don't envy you, I would make them knock me out. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to come to and realize that something was stuck somewhere that it should have been, if you know what I mean. :eek:
 
:D I only had 1 wisdom tooth. Had it taken out last year. I'd say go for the gas. I wouldn't want to be awake when the whole operation is going on, it's stressful. But if you think you can take it go ahead. And plus you would have to go through needling stuff, they put you to sleep you won't even know, well until after that its. Good Luck to you.
 
I wouldn't have ever considered anything but getting knocked out for mine, but like tobefirst, I'm a wuss. Of course, I was a little worried about the needle too, but that wasn't bad (it's pretty small and painless). I had all four taken at once, and I didn't even know anything had happened when I woke up. Of course, I was sore for a couple days, but not too bad, even when I didn't take the pain pills they gave me. Mine went really well, but I think I would've hated not being knocked out (drugs like novacain don't always work on me, I had to get about 3 times the original amount when I just had a wart removed, because it apparently didn't affect me like they expected).

jW
 
Never had the surgery myself, luckily. I did, however, have a chalazeon (spelling?) removed- very similar to a stai (spelling?)- basically a small little bumb on the inside of the eyelid.

Didn't get knocked out fo rthat one, just super numbed up- a numbing cream followed by a needle to the eyelid. That was fun. Then I couldn't feel a thing, which was good. I could feel "movement" around my eyes, but couldn't actually feel anything. Very fun, especially with the amount of blood that was all over my shirt and apron thingy when they were done. Score!
 
applehero said:
I only have 3 as well, but as a result of going through years of orthodontics as a teenager, I get to keep at least 2. The odd one (on the right side where there is not a lower tooth to connect with) apparently has a cavity and will need to be pulled. I'm 31 and that is my first cavity, which doesn't hurt and since I hate going to the dentist, it's been a year and I still have the tooth. My wife and mom keep telling me to 'cowboy up' and go get it pulled, but I've never had any kind of surgery, never broken a bone, nothing other than the occasional scrape and bruise **knocks on wood** so it's easier said than done.

I don't envy you, I would make them knock me out. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to come to and realize that something was stuck somewhere that it should have been, if you know what I mean. :eek:
Click to expand...

You have to get your wisdom tooth pulled because it has a cavity or is there another problem ith it? I still have all four of my wisdom teeth and two of them have had cavities (now they have fillings) but I can't imagine that you would need to have it pulled just for a cavity.
 
imac/cheese said:
You have to get your wisdom tooth pulled because it has a cavity or is there another problem ith it? I still have all four of my wisdom teeth and two of them have had cavities (now they have fillings) but I can't imagine that you would need to have it pulled just for a cavity.
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I would tend to agree, but the dentist I went to said it needed pulled. I'm eventually going to get a 2nd opinion.
 
I've had two wisdom teeth removed on separate occasions. I didn't have gas for either, just a lot of local anesthetic. This worked out fine, pain-wise, but one of them was a difficult extraction and it's kind of an anxious feeling to be lying there while the surgeon yanks your jaw around. After multiple sets of braces, retainers, and pulled teeth, I'm definitely not afraid of dentists, but this one she had to actually smash the tooth into pieces and yank out each part separately, which took a while and felt uncomfortable, even though it didn't hurt. No way to really anticipate that, so if you don't like dentists already, do the gas and you won't have to worry about it.

As someone else said, it actually is the aftermath that has more pain. Pain relievers are a must, and I needed a syringe to flush out the hole in my jaw where a tooth used to be, or food would collect in it.
 
i was completely out when i had all 4 of my wisdom teeth cut out. they were all impacted, and they were all upside down and sideways...i am not kidding. it was nasty. :(

i did wake up near the end, and i was conscious for maybe the last 5 minutes. then i proceeded to stagger to the "recovery" room and talk to the fishies in the fish tank. i nearly duked on the sidewalk on the way to the car...*that* was my most painful part, what with those freshly butchered gums. ;)

seriously, i'm not trying to scare you. :) i'm sure you'll do just fine...it sounds like you'll have a much easier time of it than i did!!! enjoy the smoothies!
 
I was wide awake the entire time with mine. I have a heart murmur so no nighty-nite medicine. Worst hour of my life. But the percocet was awesome.
 
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