Wisdom tooth removal - how bad is it?

[pianojazzgirl]

Tomorrow I'm going to go in to have one wisdom tooth removed. It is totally rotten (root dead). Yuck. I'm wondering for those who have BTDT how bad is the procedure and recovery going to be? FWIW it's fully erupted.

I'm a nervous dental patient and (after having gotten the ok from someone at the dental surgeon's office) am going to take 2mg of Ativan to help me relax (same as what I took for an MRI last month). Then they will freeze my mouth.

A friend of mine mentioned remembering the dentist with his knee on her chest trying to wrestle the tooth out of her mouth! I have to say this image is not helping me stay relaxed!!!

So what can I expect the procedure to be like? And what kind of recovery time am I likely to be looking at?

(I know these are questions to ask the dental surgeon, but because it is straight-forward I managed to avoid having to have a consult appointment before the tooth-removal appointment, so I haven't actually met the dentist yet).

[lyterae]

I was hunting through looking for information on wisdom tooth removal, I have an appointment in two months to get one of mine removed and I'm already a nervous wreck about it. How did yours go?

[34me]

My dh's were all erupted and he had no issues. It all went quick and little pain.

[pianojazzgirl]

Originally Posted by lyterae

I was hunting through looking for information on wisdom tooth removal, I have an appointment in two months to get one of mine removed and I'm already a nervous wreck about it. How did yours go?

You'll be happy to hear that it was a breeze! The Ativan really did the trick to soothe my nerves, and the procedure itself was quick and (relatively) painless. FWIW the tooth was already erupted so it was an uncomplicated procedure. Afterwards the recovery was not too bad either. I never needed to take any of the codeine that the dental surgeon prescribed. At worst it meant that for a few days I ate quite soft food (soup, yogourt, smoothies, scrambled eggs, etc) and for 4-5 days I didn't sleep on that side of my face, and for about a week I only chewed on the other side of my mouth.

[maeby]

i was knocked out for the procedure for about 20min - it was nothing. i felt much better later that afternoon and the next day. but on the third day i developed dry socket and i wont lie, it was the most painful thing i have ever experienced. i regularly thought about shooting myself in the head. it was terrible. and i did everything right and still got dry socket (there is some research about where you are in your moon cycle and the likely hood of developing dry socket, i was on my period when i had surgery and i think that is why i got dry socket). the worst part was the surgeon wouldn't admit i had dry socket until a week later i called him bawling my eyes out saying i couldn't live like this any more. i had called him right away and had just taken 3 vicodin and he said "pain is a part of the process" and prescribed me stronger meds. i was taking percacet and 4 advil every 2 hours and it was barely taking the edge off. finally he had me come in and he insterted clove packs into the socket and it was like turning off a switch, 3 min i was fine. so bizare! so we change those out every other day for 2 1/2 weeks and then i was finally fine with out them.

so 1. don't get dry socket (google it and read about when the best time in your cycle to schedule the surgery is)
2. have someone to take care of your kids for the first 2 days
3. dont get dry socket!
4. get the syringe to clean out the socket right away, he didnt give it to me until 1 week in and getting food stuck in there hurts
5. even if you feel better, dont chew at all until the 3rd day, this is my personal opinion but i think the drugs worked to good at first and i over did it.


to be fair i had all 4 taken at once so my experience was intense. also, i am 23 and they say the younger the better! good luck!

[pianojazzgirl]

Oh Kristine, your experience sounds awful.

FWIW I do think (and thought often while I was healing) that it is MUCH easier to only have 1 out as opposed to all 4 at once. Having one side of my mouth that I could chew on, and one side of my face that I could sleep on made a huge difference. Not to mention that the pain level must be much lower when you only have 1 pulled (as I mentioned before I was fine without the codeine - I actually didn't even take Advil all the time after the first day).

[lyterae]

Thank you so much for sharing, I'm only getting the one out (it came in crooked and is causing me a lot of discomfort). I've already scheduled that day off of work, and my DH will be home with me as well.

It's still too early for me to tell where I will be at in my cycle, it looks like it's recommended to be in the end of your cycle when getting them removed.

[babywearer_anon]

I had all four taken out at once when I was about 19. I wasn't under anesthetic for the experience and it went fine. But I can totally understand the need for Ativan or the like to create calm. Glad it worked for you, pianojazzgirl
The only problem for me was when I took the recommended pain killer (was it Naproxin? I don't think that was it but can't quite remember right now.) Anyways, I threw up after taking the pain killer and that was the worst part of the whole experience.
After that I just took a very low dose of Tylenol 3 and iced my jaw.
The ice really helped. I would totally recommend the ice!

[4evermom]

I had all four out at about age 35 and it was fine. I just had novocaine or whatever as a locale anaesthetic. I don't think I even used the prescribed pain killer, just tylenol. It was uncomfortable afterward but nothing major.