Wisdom Teeth

Soul Daddy · #1 03-28-2005, 03:35 PM

I am having 3 of my wisdom teeth cut out tomorrow. Anyone had this done? How long were you out of commission afterwards? I'm looking forward to taking a couple of days off of work, basking in the glow of painkillers.

offTopic · #2 03-28-2005, 03:41 PM

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I am having 3 of my wisdom teeth cut out tomorrow. Anyone had this done? How long were you out of commission afterwards? I'm looking forward to taking a couple of days off of work, basking in the glow of painkillers.

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I had all four out in 1998, under general anesthesia, so I have no recollection of the procedure itself. The two lowers were impacted, and the surgeon had to make incisions in my gums to extract them.

After getting home, I realized I have no future as a pill-popping druggie, because the 0.5 Vicodin I took made me nauseous, so I spent the rest of the recuperation time taking simple Advil. Because of this, repacking the gauze is the most excruciating pain I've felt to date (I realize I have been lucky in this respect).

They're going to tell you to rinse with warm saltwater. It hurts a little, but do it - you don't want to get an infection. The pain should subside in a couple of days, and the "holes" in you jaw should completely fill in in a few months. I had mine done on a Thursday and was back at work on Monday.

JGalt · #3 03-28-2005, 03:41 PM

I had all four taken out. Was out of commission for three days, although I did go to a friends cottage on the 2nd day and had a very hard time staying awake on percadan(sp?) on the ride up. I suggest you dont drive. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

jakethebake · #4 03-28-2005, 03:42 PM

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I am having 3 of my wisdom teeth cut out tomorrow. Anyone had this done? How long were you out of commission afterwards? I'm looking forward to taking a couple of days off of work, basking in the glow of painkillers.

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I think this is something where different people tend to have very different experiences. I was lucky. I had all of mine done at once. I was in the Marine Corps and just about to get out, and figured I might as well have it done for free. No problem. I was on solid food a day later. But I've known quite a few people that developed problems (something to do with air pockets in the wound?) that were in pain and on soft food for a couple of weeks.

edit: The fun thing about have the Marine Corps do it was that it was done with a local rather than putting me under so I had the wonderful experience of getting to hear the saw, feel the hammer hit the chisel when they cracked the teeth, etc. At one point the dentist had his knee on my chest yanking with pliers.

TimM · #5 03-28-2005, 03:44 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I am having 3 of my wisdom teeth cut out tomorrow. Anyone had this done? How long were you out of commission afterwards? I'm looking forward to taking a couple of days off of work, basking in the glow of painkillers.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why not all 4? I had all 4 removed on a Saturday. I took Monday off and was back to work on Tuesday. Get someone to drive you home after, of course. You will be in pretty bad shape the first day. They gave me some Vicodin ES.

dr_venkman · #6 03-28-2005, 03:46 PM

I had all four out on the same day, under heavy anesthesia. Aside from the strange paranoia that the nurses were joking about me when I was asleep the procedure itself was unremarkable.

And then the anesthesia wears off. You should begin taking your pain killers before this happens. I imagine they'll tell you this too.

The hardest part was the 10 days afterwards keeping a wadded up ball of gauze in the back of my mouth. The sockets bled for 7 days straight. This was more than a year ago, and whenever the weather gets cold the scar tissue in my jaw aches.

Fun huh? You should get a second opinion. They make it out like this is a necessary procedure -- you know, to save you the trouble that "you will have" later on. I kind of have my doubts now. I think I'd be just as well off with my teeth, thank you.

If nothing else I can say this with conviction; "never again".

PS:
Darvocet is nice, but it gives me strange dreams.

PhatTBoll · #7 03-28-2005, 03:51 PM

I had all four out at once about 3 years ago, and went under general anesthetic. I woke up right when the surgeon was in the middle of cracking one of them apart. He was saying, "I'm having some trouble getting this, it won't come out," as I was hearing and feeling this gross cracking sensation coming from deep in my mouth. I didn't feel any pain, but I wanted to let them know I was awake, so I opened my eyes and made some kind of noise. Then I heard him say, "go to sleep! go to sleep!", then the pssssh sound of more drugs. Then I woke up and it was over.

Make sure you rinse out those holes regularly. Not only can they get infected, but when you get a piece of food stuck in there, it can rot and stink for days before you finally figure out what the problem is.

The Yugoslavian · #8 03-28-2005, 03:53 PM

Just make sure the assistant's name is Velvet and is smokin' hot.

Everyone I've talked to has reacted in different ways to having wisdom teeth pulled. My body didn't like the intrusion and it took me a few days before I was able to go into work. I know other people who have been able to go into work the next day.

Yugoslav

Soul Daddy · #9 03-28-2005, 03:53 PM

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Why not all 4?

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I had one pulled a couple of years ago.

Soul Daddy · #10 03-28-2005, 03:56 PM

God, this is going to suck. What can I do for nicotine? I'm guessing that popping in a dip is going to be a bad idea.

Also, will I be able to play poker? If not, I need to get to work on my Party bonus tonight.

Thanks to all for the advice. I'll let you know about the assistant. If her name isn't Velvet, it will be tomorrow.