Wisdom Teeth

catlover19

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Who here has had there wisdom teeth out? I have to get all 4 of mine out on July 18. I am kind of scared. I hope its not as bad as it seems. How long were you swollen for after? I booked off 5 days, including the day of surgery. I was told though if I need more then I can have more than that.
 

chelle

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I had mine pulled out a while back and i got a dry socket in one
of them and it hurt like crazy!! but other than that it healed
pretty quick,they also gave me Vicodin for pain
 

mbjerkness

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Had all four of mine out. no problems. A little pain, dentist advised putting icebag on my face it seemed to keep the swelling down
 

ericanicole

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Originally Posted by SwampWitch

Listen carefully to what they say on how to avoid dry socket! It's very painful, and you have to go back to the orthodontist constantly until it's healed. Good luck!
i agree...just follow directions and it wont be so bad. I had my top two out before they started to come in...and i only had one on the bottom ( the otherside never grew a tooth
) which i left in cause it lays on a nerve and i didnt wanna take the chance of losing some feeling in my face if they hit that nerve.

5 days is a good amount of time to be off...i needed about that long...i hear some people are A-Okay without any noticable swelling...maybe you'll get lucky!
 

laureen227

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actually, there's a poll on this... i know because i started it! i, personally, have no wisdom teeth - born that way. neither of my parents or my biological sister have them either!
 

dragoriana

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Originally Posted by catlover19

Who here has had there wisdom teeth out? I have to get all 4 of mine out on July 18. I am kind of scared. I hope its not as bad as it seems. How long were you swollen for after? I booked off 5 days, including the day of surgery. I was told though if I need more then I can have more than that.
I have two dormant, one that is coming through the gum and had one pulled (which was still under the gum) a couple of years ago. Id much rather get a tooth pulled than have a cavity filled, less pain!


I hope it goes well for you. I know just for one tooth the stitches came out a day later and the pain was only a day or so. Obviousely i expect a little more for 4 teeth. Ask your dentist
 

roimata

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Originally Posted by laureen227

actually, there's a poll on this... i know because i started it! i, personally, have no wisdom teeth - born that way. neither of my parents or my biological sister have them either!
LUCKY LOL. I have them, im 18 and they havent bothered me yet. Ive felt them under the skin for years.......they move up and down randomly but they dont hurt. I really hope I never have to get them removed.
 

natalie_ca

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I had my 2 top ones removed in 1998. Went one week to have one removed and the next week for the other. Both were done with just local freezing and both in the dentist's office. No stitches either. I was back to work the next day after each one.

All I remember is him freezing the area, leaving me to sit until the freezing took hold. He came back, told me to open my mouth. I was prepared for pain and tugging and all kinds of gross things. About 3 seconds later he says "bite down" because he was done. I felt absolutely nothing, not even a tugging or pressure or anything.

I kept the gauze in my mouth for hours because I was afraid to take it out and look at it because I imagined a ton of blood gushing out. Finally I got brave and took out the gauze and there was hardly any blood on it. And there was no further bleeding.

The holes left behind "pouched over" meaning they filled in on their own.

I had no swelling or bruising and very little pain. My jaw was a bit sore for a day or two but nothing that I needed pain medication for.
 

tierre0

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I had all four of mine out a number of years ago. I had two done then the and other two, about 10 days later. As I recall they were quite sore the first couple of days but healed up fairly quickly. I know I had some bruising on my face, but an ice packed helped. All in all it wasn't to bad.
 

margecat

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I've had 3 of mine out. My situation was kinda weird. When I was 19 (many years ago!!!), my dentist told me that mine were growing in straight, and posed no immediate problem (he told me I "Had a big mouth, so there was enough room back there."--he meant to say, "You have enough space there"!). Since they never bothered me (I even got a filling in 1), I kept them. However, about 2 years ago, he noticed a large hole in one. (I think he pulled the first one a couple of years before, for some reason--don't remember it ever hurting, though). It was very easy; it just took a bit longer than a regular tooth-yanking (according to him). I did have a lot of bleeding with that one, for some reason, but it really didn't hurt. I had planned to go to work that day, especially as I was part of the team that was hosting my boss's retirement party; but had to cancel due to the bleeding, and gauze-changing. I remember calling work, my mouth stuffed with a wad of gauze, "Sowry oi can come to da pardy, Bob."

The most important thing: DO WHAT THE DENTIST TELLS YOU ABOUT POST-CARE!!! The wound has to form a clot, in order to heal, and you don't want to dislodge that. Change your gauze as instructed, etc. This all is VERY important, so you don't get "dry socket". If you follow the orders he/she gives you, you should be o.k., just miserable!

I hope all goes well for you.
 

margecat

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Originally Posted by Roimata

What is "dry socket"? I must know! lol
dry socket is:
Any socket in which a patient is having pain due to the loss of the blood clot thus exposing the bone to air, food, and fluids along with an offensive odor. This often occurs two or more days after an extraction and can last about 5-6 days. It is normal to have soreness and discomfort following an extraction.

However, pain should be lessening by the second day.
This condition exist when a blood clot is dislodged from the surgery site thus exposing the bone and fine nerve endings. The blood clot helps in the stopping of bleeding and lays the foundation or framework for new tissue and bone to develop over a two-month healing process. This condition is more common in the mandibular area and in back teeth due to poorer circulation in this area, with wisdom teeth being the most common site. Dry socket delays the healing process.

It usually takes gum tissue about 3-4 weeks to heal where as the bone can take up to six months to heal.

(I copied/pasted this from a dentist's website for you.)
 

roimata

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Thank you! but OMG GROSS!!!!! Does the blood clot always become dislodged? Is it common? Thats really icky >_<
 

margecat

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Originally Posted by Roimata

Thank you! but OMG GROSS!!!!! Does the blood clot always become dislodged? Is it common? Thats really icky >_<
No, I think that's the point of having the clot, and doing exactly as the dentist instructs you on post-care. If you do as instructed, you should be ok. And do it for as long as your're told to; don't stop your post-care because you think you don't need it anymore.

Don't worry; you won't see all of that gross stuff happening! Now, I had my teeth extracted with only Novacaine, and not general anesthesia, so I had it very easy. You'll probably feel yucky after you come to, as I suppose most people do (I've never had it, so I can't vouch for it!). Like I said before, probably the worst thing that will happen to you is feeling nasty for a few days; nothing serious in the long run; but at the time, it doesn't seem that way! :-) (Kind of like having the flu.)
 

bonnie1965

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Since I have rarely had dental insurance and none in my late teens, I always had emergency dental care. By the time the cavity was giving me constant pain the extraction was a breeze to live through. I had three pulled, all at different times, still have one. I deal with pain pretty well, I guess. Never used more than one pain pill and missed one day of work due to the bloody gauze thing.

Having multiple teeth extracted will make you more sore for a short while but you will be okay
Just follow the instructions. I was so afraid of getting dry-socket I never wanted to take the gauze out


If you have someone around to baby you a bit, that would be great!
 

muttigreemom

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I only have wisdom teeth on the top for some reason. One of them grew in fine, but then turned so the bottom points were digging into my cheek. At that point I was willing to put up with whatever pain it took to pull it because it was constant pain whenever I ate.

So, like I always do when I go to a doctor, I panicked. But it was really no big deal. They froze the nerve and then pulled it. I didn't so much feel the pulling as much as I knew they were pulling... like I didn't feel it on the tooth, but since the tugging was moving my head I knew thats what they were doing.

It hurt for the first day, but they gave me vicodin. By day two I was sore, but no real pain. No dry socket... from what the doc said you mostly get dry sockets from sucking - like smoking or drinking through a straw... he said the pressure from sucking is what dislodges the clot and causes the dry socket. So no straws or anything and I was aok.

It's a really scary thing, especially when you hear the stories of things going wrong... but most of the time it's a pretty standard procedure and things go just fine.

Good luck!
 

samantha1979

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I had all four of mine pulled over spring break last year. What a great way to spend spring break!! The dentist told me that it might be harder for me because of my age (Iwas 27). I was given something in the IV that made me out of it. All I remember was them telling me it was time to go.

I went home and took pain pills for 3 days. I had enough for 4 days, but I really was getting cabin fever and wasn't in a lot of pain anymore. I just slept on those pills. I didn't have a lot of swelling, the worst part was the holes in my mouth. They didn't give me the syringe thing to clean them out until I went back because I wanted to make sure everything was going ok.

They didn't schedule me for a checkup. They said I would be fine. I never got dry socket. The first couple of days were the worst. I did eat. I wasn't sick. All in all I was expecting a LOT worse. Just think, if you get them all out at once, you will NEVER have to go through it again!

Good luck, don't smoke, don't use a straw. You should be fine. My husband had dry socket... he smoked a couple of cigarettes. I think he regretted it!
 

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I got all four of mine pulled last March, I was 23. They were growing in against my other teeth, but never bothered me. The dentist made me get them pulled, though, he said it would be hard to keep them clean and I didn't want cavities in them. They gave me an IV (that didn't even knock me out like it was supposed to) then needles in the gums for more freezing. I didn't feel a thing, but I remember the Dr pushing against my face trying to pull one of them out, lol. I didn't have much swelling or bleeding and went back to work the next day. They prescribed T3's for me, but they made me feel sick so I started taking ibuprofen which worked much better for the pain, IMO.
 
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