Wisdom Teeth removed - My experience

[BamaDan]

I had to wait 2 weeks until my appointment. I was worried to death the whole time. I had the 2 on the bottom cut out. He said he wouldn't give me anything to knock me out. He's seems worried because of my size. He said he would give me laughing gas and a mild sedative.

He also told me that one person in a 1000 can have nerve damage after surgery. That means your jaw, lips, and/or face will be numb. That can last for a few hours, weeks, or it could be permanent. He said everything will look normal, you just won't have any feeling. I'm glad I didn't have that problem.

It's all over with. I'm alive, but I'm not sure thats a good thing at the moment. Got in and they hooked me up to the gas and the IV sedative. I was awake the whole time. It took about 30 minutes. Didn't think the sedative was helping me much until I got up. I barely could walk. They took me to the recovery room where I stayed about 30 minutes. Then I left and went home.

Gets BADDDDDDDD here. I had to wait in the recovery room for about 30 minutes before I left. Everything was fine, but the longer I waited meant the shot and the sedative was wearing off. I wasn't feeling any pain until about 10 minutes into the drive. I noticed my throat was VERY sore. The left side especially. It was actually just the area where he cut was sore. It's a long drive home from the oral surgeon and the pain was coming back. I had a 40 minute drive to get to our pharmacy, and another 10 minutes from there to get home. 25 minutes into the ride home, I was in tears. Yep, crying in intense pain and I'm a grown man. One friend of mine had this done but he wasn't hurting enough to cry. But, they put him completely under and he didn't remember anything until he had been home for a while. He just gave me a mild sedative and novacaine to numb me up. We finally got to the Pharmacy to get my precriptions filled. I was about to die by then. I took a pill before we left the parking lot. He wrote me a precription for Hydrocodone 10.

I got home and had to change out the gauze. The pain got even worse ny doing that. It was all I could do to open my mouth and get the old gauze out. Putting in new gauze about killed me. I went to bed in bad pain, started crying again, and shaking. I think I was going in shock. I had to take another pill about an hour after I took the first one.I finally eased up enough to stop crying and shaking and actually relax a little. Really, 2 Hydrocodone 10s is too much. But, I was still hurting. I was just so medicated by then I couldn't do anything but lay there.

The pain did ease up enough to rest but I couldn't sleep. The pain was still there, plus I had to sit uip and keep my head elevated. My face on both sides was hurting and sore. My throat is the same way. I couldn't cough, spit, sneeze, or sniff or blow my nose. Just a few sips of water and about a half a bottle of Gatorade was all I had until about 9pm last night. I finally ate a half a bowl of ice cream.

I got up this morning and feeling a little better. Still having to take my pills. The bleeding finally stopped so I don't have to deal with the gauze. My face is swollen and I can hardly talk. My throat is messed up for some reason. I ate 2 bowls of Ice Cream this morning.

For anyone that is planning on having this done and they have to cut them out, I would suggest not having it done. I might change my mind later when I stop hurting. Get in shape so the doc isn't afraid to put you to sleep. If you have a long drive home, ask for a shot or something. You do not want the pain to come back before you have anything for pain. I'm just glad it's all over.

 

[iBlue]

Your experience is uncommonly bad. (I'm sorry you had to go through all that.) However more often than not it's a better idea to get them removed if recommended. They're way in the back and can decay easier for their awkward position as well as cause crowding and thus crocked teeth. Recoveries may suck but sometimes it's the big picture that matters most.

I had 4 full bone impactions. I had large incisions in my gums AND jaw bone removed to get those things out. One was so high in that it was almost in a sinus cavity. (apparently they just had to be cautious not to perforate that cavity) It was crap recovering but not nearly as awful as yours sounded. I found it more gross than anything else. I was given a general anesthetic for the procedure and demerol for post-op pain though. It was a posh oral surgeon; I'll never know if that made the difference or if I just got lucky.

Either way, it's a lousy experience but worthwhile in the end.
Feel better!

 

[Ish]

I had one wisdom tooth out last week - a very uncomfortable experience but nowhere near as bad as yours. I didn't need mine cut out, thank goodness, but it didn't want to come out either. I had three injections, two to start off and another when things got bad. It took about forty minutes to get it out after the pain killer had kicked in, then I had to wait in the waiting room for twenty minutes before going back in to be checked up. It was a bit embarassing in that it took about twice as long as expected and there were loads of people queueing up. The jabs started to wear off after a couple of hours and I took Ibuprofen for a couple of days. I lived on tomato soup and soft bread roll for a while. It's still a bit sore and I can't eat on that side yet but that's it.

 

[jng]

If you have a long drive home, ask for a shot or something.

I had mine removed at Tufts Dental School and they don't allow you to drive home. You actually have to be picked up by someone.

 

[adrianblaine]

I had mine removed at Tufts Dental School and they don't allow you to drive home. You actually have to be picked up by someone.

I thought this was standard procedure. I remember being told that I was not allowed to drive afterwards and that somebody else had to take me home.

That does sounds like an uncommonly bad experience. I remember being in a lot of pain, but I didn't experience face swelling and throat issues. It sounds like everyone reacts to having their wisdom teeth out very differently.

Hope you feel better very soon.

 

[BamaDan]

What I meant to say was a long RIDE home. I wasn't allowed to drive. I barely could walk after the surgery. My mother drove me there and back. I couldn't have concentrated on anything especially driving. I'm feeling a lot better today. Nowhere near the pain I had yesterday. I'm gonna try to lay off the pain pills and actually have a clear head today. I still can't eat solid foods but I'm goona try to have something. I'm surprised I'm not sick with all the pain pills I've taken without any food in me.

 

[Sdashiki]

Hydrocodone? Friggen Vicodin?

What a crock.

You feeling any pain is proof they are NOT a true painkiller but a sedative.


Anything less than Percocet for oral surgery is a crime!


Call the doc, get a Rx for something stronger. its probably the ONLY time you can do this in your whole life, ask for an "upgrade".

Do it now.


for swelling, take 2 bags of frozen veggies that are small (like peas or corn) and tie them together at the ends with a string or small towel. hang it over your head so the cold rests on your cheeks. Instant hands-free compress.

 

[gadgetgirl85]

I had my wisdom teeth taken out under a general. I wasn't right for a month Worst experience ever

 

[ErikCLDR]

I just got mine out last wednesday. I'm sorry to hear your experience hasn't been good. My mouth still hurts a lot though, but a couple Tylenol is enough to help it now.

They gave me laughing gas to stick in a needle of anesthesia (I'm not afraid of needles, so it wasn't really necessary IMO). Then when I was out, and before I woke up they gave me Novocain so I didn't feel any pain at all for a couple hours after the surgery. By that time I had the opportunity to take some Percocet. They also gave me meds to keep down the swelling, which never occurred- no chipmunk face for me. My surgery wasn't that intense though because 2 of them were already showing quite a bit and the third (I only have 3) wasn't deep at all.

Anyways, definitely contact your doctor. If you are crying you are in so much pain while on medication thats probably not a good sign. I didn't really like the Percocet. Basically it didn't take away the pain, it just made me not really care as much.

I would suggest no suggesting people to not take them out. There are some reasons why they are removed
1) constant discomfort because teeth are pushing against each other because there is not enough room
2) if you don't have 4 that causes a lack of a biting partner unless there are one on the top and one on the bottom on the same side
3) Bacteria can get in-between the gum and the tooth in a place that you can't clean, which is the biggest reason they are removed
4) They push on other teeth and make them crooked

 

[Vuzie]

Yikes!

Sounds like the experience a Marine I know recently had. His mom told me he looked like he had the S*** kicked out of him. And this kid is no wimp.

Myself, I had mine done under total sedation at my college's dental school by one of the profs. I had a few impacted ones and actually woke up during the surgery the were hammering away so fiercely. Also... getting your wisdom teeth pulled is also an excellent time to find out you have an inner ear infection concurrently.

To the OP: are you up to 3 bowls of ice cream yet? =o)

 

[iSee]

What I learned from my experience is:

Get someone to fill your prescription for painkillers DURING the surgery, if possible, and take a does before the Novocain wears off.

The pain after the surgery was truly excruciating.

It was amazing, though, how quickly I went from that to needing no pain killers. About 24 hrs after the surgery I took my last pain killer (percocet, I think). I kept expecting the pain to come back, but I it never did--it was just kind of raw and sore, but not in a really uncomfortable way.

Bottom line for those who get this done in the future: get and take your pain killers, right away. Get off the pain killers as soon as you can (you really don't want to deal with an addiction to pain killers), but take them for the intense pain immediately afterward.

 

[Mxsix]

This is very strange because I literally had this procedure done 3 weeks ago and it went completely smooth.

I was put to sleep and the next thing I knew, I was awake. The anesthesia made me feel really good when I woke up, and I mean really good. Went home and the bleeding stopped after 2 hours. I was prescribed 2 antibiotics and vicodin. The Vicodin worked wonders. I didn't even swell up. After a few days of ramen noodles and pasta, I only had one "pocket" on the bottom left. Food got in there but was easy to get out. Not really sore or anything.

All in all, it was pretty painless and not a hassle. I guess I just got lucky. Good luck though with your recovery

I suggest staying away from hard foods and things that don't really break up easily like sesame seeds, nuts, carrots etc.

 

[NEENAHBOY]

For all of you who've had excruciating pain, I'm curious: did you go to a dentist or an oral surgeon?

I did the oral surgeon route, and I couldn't have been happier. I was completely knocked out, and there was absolutely no pain afterwards, so I didn't have to use the prescribed hydrocodone. The bleeding fully stopped after the first gauze changeout an hour after I got home, and it was really like nothing had ever happened. I was eating normal food for dinner that night with no problems.

The stitches fully dissolved within a few days, and all was well.

And it's JMHO, but anyone who doesn't fully knock you out for this procedure is a quack, and you should find a more competent doctor immediately.

 

[BamaDan]

I went to an oral surgeon to ahve this done. He told me when I went for the orientation that he wouldn't put me completely under because of my size. I'm 200 pounds overweight. I'm 5'10 and weigh 377 pounds. He said it would be too dangerous to do that. He said that any other oral surgeon would tell me the same thing. I didn't go for a 2.nd opinion. I just wanted to have them cut out and be over with.

It was so bad because he didn't put me to sleep and the pain came back quicker. The 1.st day I was taking Hydrocodone 10s every 3 and a half hours. I ate a half of bowl of ice cream and drank some the 1.st day. Day 2 I ate a little more, but not much. I had to take more pain pills after I ate. Day 3 was the best. I had to take a pain pill early in the day after I had breakfast. I decided to try some soup with real chunks of meat in it for lunch. I actually ate most of the bowl and chewed on both sides. But, I was hurting bad again and took a pain pill and went to sleep. But, it finally happened. This afternoon, I ate 2 pieces of leftover Pizza and a Cheese Sandwich and wasn't in intense pain. I even stopped taking my pain pills today. I took some Ibuprofen and was OK. I can finally eat again.

It's hard to believe how things have changed since Monday. Going from the worst pain I've ever been in and eating hydrcodone like candy and still in pain and not being able to sleep. Then I get to the 3.rd day and I'm able to eat and not take the pain pills. I'm still swollen though, and still pretty sore on my left side. But, It feels great to be back to normal for the most part. I think I'll even get to sleep all night tonight.

 

[iBlue]

Success!

Be careful though, it's still tender in there. You really don't want dry socket.

Took me over a week to be able to eat anything solid. Then when I did, I got rice stuck in there and had to get the oral surgeron to get it out. In hindsight I know that was a dumb choice of food.
I can still feel the indentations from where jaw bone was removed. It's brutal but worth it in the finish.