I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled today...

Isan

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Aug 13, 2008
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I had 4 teeth out some years ago. Didn't knock me out, just local anaesthetic, and it was fine. Hurt a little when they injected the anaesthetic, but the actual pulling was virtually* painless.

*I say virtually cos one of them was very well wedged in and my neck started to ache because of how long he had to pull on it.


Pro-tip, if they do give you local, DO NOT DRINK ANYTHING immediately afterwards: your lips are numb so you can't keep the liquid in your mouth and you end up pouring it all down yourself... ye I did that :(
 

Regiment

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Nov 9, 2009
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I only had one wisdom tooth, which needed to be removed. I'm terrified of needles, but the Novocain barely hurt, and the whole procedure went fine. I was eating cheese by the time I got home and I was able to eat a huge hamburger within a week. If you're getting lots of teeth pulled, you'll probably get knocked out, and I can't speak for you then.

Just a heads-up: Make sure to ask for dissolving stitches. Getting the stitches out hurt more than getting the tooth pulled (that is to say, it hurt at all).

Don't worry. It really isn't that bad. Just have some interesting Jell-O waiting for when you get home.
 

Impluse_101

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Jun 25, 2009
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Z of the Na said:
Casual Shinji said:
I don't know how much it's gonna hurt, but you should probably expect your jaws to swell up like a ***** when it's over.
Aw crap...

Avaholic03 said:
They get much less awesome when that's all you eat for a few days. Especially when you feel slightly sick from the blood constantly dripping down the back of your throat combined with the Vicodin. I didn't have a frosty for probably 6 months after that.
Aw crap.

Well, I knew it was going to suck from the beginning. I guess I'm going to have to get through this like any other illness I've had. Only with more searing pain and swelled up jaws.

I mean, how fucked up does your day have to be when ice cream won't fix it?!?
 

Z of the Na'vi

Born with one kidney.
Apr 27, 2009
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aegix drakan said:
Take my advice (I've been there)...Have LOTS AND LOTS OF CHICKEN SOUP.

For two or three days liquids are all you can eat anyway, and it's one of the earth's natural restoratives (and it just tastes and makes you feel good).

It's gonna be a massive annoyance to deal with afterwards for a few days, but it'll get better. Just make sure to take your painkillers.
MapTa said:
Buy lots of applesauce. That helped me through my surgery, as it was the only thing I could eat. Also, I suggest that you buy a new game right before the surgery, so that when you finally come to you'll have something to take your mind off of your mouth. That's what I did, worked like a charm.
That actually sounds delicious, and I could deal with that for days or weeks on end if I need to, much more so than ice cream. Probably cheaper too. As for new games, I bought Dragon Age: Origins almost a month ago and haven't touched it at all.

I bet that'll keep me busy, or so I have read.

Tensacloud said:
From what I hear, Root Canals are much worse.
Actually and ironically, I also have the first cavity filling of my life next month as well.

However, that is probably a whole different issue and a story for another day.

Madara XIII said:
On a side note. That General Grievous Avatar is badass.
"Army or not, you must realize...you are doomed..."

[small]Thanks man.[/small]
 

Stoic raptor

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Jul 19, 2009
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Oh god, I really had a bad experience with my wisdom teeth removal. I removed them about 3 weeks ago. Removing them was actually pretty easy, you get knocked out. They also have amnesia drugs in it so if you happen to wake up, you will not remember it. I was in the operating room, then I woke up in my dads car driving home. I was up earlier, but the amnesia wore off in the car. The most painful thing about the procedure was putting in the iv to knock me out.

So far everything was ok, until 3 days later. I started to bleed. It is normal to bleed occasionally, but it should really stop after 3 days. Not only that, but I was bleeding heavily. It was so bad that I had to go and have my gums stitched up again. Then it stopped bleeding. Until 2 days later. The same problem happened. And we had to go get stitches again.

This kept on going for 2 weeks before I had to go to the emergency room from all the blood I lost. They did a blood test and found out that I have hemophilia. I am 16 years old now(I was 15 in the emergency room) and I never knew that I had hemophilia. The hospital fixed me up though and now it has been almost 2 weeks since I have been bleeding. Luckily I have mild hemophilia so there is only a problem if I have to go into surgery or I have a major injury. The hospital told me later that I had lost a third of my blood. I almost needed a transfusion.

This would explain my major nosebleeds. I get nose bleeds often, but 3 years ago in Toledo, I was bleeding so bad that I had to go the emergency room again. The only way to stop the bleeding was to cauterize my nose. Without any numbing medication. If you don't know what that is, it is when they burn the wound close. It was like shoving a red hot needle in your nose that is coated with acid. Very painful indeed. In hindsight now, they should have tested me back then.

Long story short: Unless you have an unknown bleeding disorder, I am sure you will be ok. Certainly you won't have as bad of an experience as I had.

Tip: If they ask you for iv or gas to knock you out, please pick iv. Even if you are afraid of needles. iv may hurt, especially with dentists, but gas is just horrible. It feels like your choking and it smells horrible. They knocked me out every time I got new stitches, so I got to try both.
 

Asti

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Jun 23, 2011
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8bitmaster said:
after reading all of this, i'm glad I don't need to get my wisdom teeth pulled. I was told my my dentist I actually don't have any. Man am I happy about that! But ya, just good luck to ya good sir as I have no advice to give.
Ha, then you're really lucky. I have exactly three wisdom teeth. Yes, three. But then again, I'm missing two other teeth as well. They just never showed up after I lost my milk teeth. ;_;
 

fulano

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Oct 14, 2007
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Get them motherfuckers pulled. But prepare to be in pain and hate the world for as long as it lasts.

Trust me, later on you'll be glad you did it.
 

DaJoW

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Aug 17, 2010
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I've only had one pulled, but that was fine at least. My gums had kinda got cut up and were constantly either being ground between two teeth (which hurts like nothing I've ever felt before) or being pulled across the surface of one tooth (not very nice). Getting the upper tooth pulled was scary, what with a man leaning in on a chisel inside my mouth and all, but almost painless. I say almost because he decided to move my now shredded gums off my lower tooth without any sedation. First time I've cried with pain in public in many years.
 

rwege

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Nov 12, 2009
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From my dentist experience, and what I've discussed, your going to want a good anesthesiologist, as the stuff is expensive and offices typically do their best to use as little as possible. For example my dentist, I can feel everything. There is pain. My co-workers say how "they feel nothing". It was explained to me, just ***** about the pain and be firm. Insist that they make sure you feel nothing.

Also headphones cranking some bumping tunes will drown out the cutting and drilling sounds (since they reverberate down your jaw right into your ear)

good luck.
 

Araksardet

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Jun 5, 2011
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I've had lots of teeth yanked in four sittings (2 teeth, 2 teeth, one emerging wisdom tooth, then finally the other 3, buried wisdom teeth), and the wisdom teeth were the easiest of the lot, though maybe that's because the 4 non-wisdoms came first (I apparently had an unusually small jaw).

They knock you out for the wisdom teeth if they aren't showing, and give you way better painkillers. With regular teeth, I think they kind of assume you can deal with it, and they're pulled out while you're awake, if numbed, so you get all the delicious (not) crunchy sounds.

Prepare for lots of ice cream, mashed potatoes and apple sauce, and don't be surprised if you start bleeding at night and cough up half-coagulated blood. That happened to me when I got some non-wisdom teeth taken out; the wisdom teeth were much tamer, though it was longer before I could effectively eat.

And watch crumby food - you DO NOT want an abscess. My uncle had one of those - ouch.
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

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May 15, 2010
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Relatively speaking, quality of dentist will effect the pain and traumatic outcome. I had an Army dentist do my wisdom teeth and it was one of the most horrible experiences of my life. Mind you this was also during boot camp and I was already sore, beaten and mentally broken down, and having a tooth ripped out and then being unable to do PT or most other forms of training for a few days added to being unable to eat solid foods for about 5 days or even open my mouth enough to drink water was no fun at all. That being said, Army medical procedures in my experience are worse than civilian in terms of experience so, it won't be so bad in the end I think.
Hopefully they give you better painkillers than I got (motrin is not suitable for tooth extraction).
Also take whatever antibiotics they give you unless you want some horrible halitosis to deal with (and possible gum rot).
Enjoy!
 

captaincabbage

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Apr 8, 2010
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Don't worry, it's not really as barbaric as it was in the old days. My brother got them done a few years back, apparently all they do it drill and partially hollow out your tooth, then smash it into little pieces and tear the pieces out from the mouth.

See! Nothing barbaric at all! No need to fear.
 

Brutal Peanut

This is so freakin aweso-BLARGH!
Oct 15, 2010
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I'm going for my first check up since I was nine years old, TODAY at 10:00 a.m. *sigh* But I've never had any holes in my teeth,any pains, and I have smooth blank spaces were my wisdom teeth are supposed to be, so I'm pretty optimistic about it. I don't really have any advice...besides not punching the dentist in the face when he pokes around with the metal hook asking if anything hurts.
 

antidonkey

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Dec 10, 2009
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Just enjoy the drugs.

I had mine out when I was 18. Took a little over an hour. No muss no fuss. I did sleep off the 10 pound lip issue though. After that, Just popped painkillers whenever I felt the pain start to rise. No complications or dry socket or anything. Everything went smoothly. Don't sweat it, I'm sure you'll be fine.
 

DigitalSushi

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Dec 24, 2008
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Z of the Na said:
...and I am absolutely terrified. I'm 20 years old and this is the first time I have been legitimately afraid of the dentist. These wisdom teeth coming in are really messing up all of the work three years of braces accomplished. I suppose the pain will be alleviated to a great deal once this is all over, as I am in a fair amount of pain, but I am no less worried.

Would there be any advice my fellow Escapists could provide to ease a troubled mind? I've never had to go through anesthesia or surgery like this yet in my rational life. I'm scared, is all.
I've had 3 wisdom teeth pulled out in one sitting, it doesn't hurt at all, my dentist used lidocaine injections which completely numbed my mouth I then walked home because I'm hardcore. Firstly ask your Dentist plenty of questions, he/she will give you a little leaflet to read through after the removal which is like your bible for the next week.

I don't recommend walking home though, it makes you dizzy.

Think of something nice during the procedure *checks Z's Navi's avatar*, LIKE GENERAL GREVIOUS! HE'S NICE!

edit: oh and remember, once done, swallow don't spit... just remember that "swallow don't spit", spitting agitates your gums
 

rmb1983

I am the storm.
Mar 29, 2011
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Z of the Na said:
...and I am absolutely terrified. I'm 20 years old and this is the first time I have been legitimately afraid of the dentist. These wisdom teeth coming in are really messing up all of the work three years of braces accomplished. I suppose the pain will be alleviated to a great deal once this is all over, as I am in a fair amount of pain, but I am no less worried.

Would there be any advice my fellow Escapists could provide to ease a troubled mind? I've never had to go through anesthesia or surgery like this yet in my rational life. I'm scared, is all.
Having your Wisdoms pulled actually is a lot more horrific-sounding than it actually is.

Your dentist may prescribe a different painkiller, but the most common is Tylenol 3 (codine tends to knock a lot of people right out, once it kicks in; this is true of me). Your routine will likely end up along the lines of:
1) Wake up.
2) Put on ice pack sling (or whatever is used now, it's been 10 years since I got mine out).
3) Pop pills.
4) Eat something soft and smooth (this is one of the few times in your life you can get away with eating pudding at all hours of the day, milk it!).
5) <insert low-impact activity here> until the T3s get you back to sleep.
6) Repeat 1-5. Late evening and early morning, throw in a gargle with a salt-water slurry.

Honestly, complications are pretty few and far between. The whole experience is more of a pain in the ass than a pain in your mouth, unless you're one of the small few who get compacted Wisdom Teeth. Just keep up on the painkillers they gave you, derive sustenance through a pudding/soup (or something similar in texture and consistency) medium, and make sure to follow directions for keeping your mouth properly cleaned to a T. The reason getting Wisdoms pulled is so frightening is because of people not following their oral surgeon's advice on properly cleaning the area, and infections are horrifying.

Good luck.

P.S.: My oral surgeon also happened to be my physics professor's brother, so I also enjoyed the benefit of being chided for sleeping an hour and a half in the chair after the anesthesia wore off, drooling the entire time.
What can I say? I love naps.
 

syndicated44

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Apr 25, 2009
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It really is not that bad, the most painful part of it was getting a injection in my gums. After that I didnt feel anything during the procedure. Hell he pretty much took a pliers and pulled me so hard someone had to hold me down. Didnt feel a thing. It was quick easy and honestly did not feel a thing. So dont worry its easy peasy and you get delicious drugs afterwards!
 

Lunar Shadow

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Dec 9, 2008
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All 4 cut out of my head. I as on some pretty good shit though, liquid Vicodin drip was the anesthesia. I still have patches of no memory of the day before I got them pulled, the day of, and the day after. That plus the pain med, I was high as a kite for a couple days. That said, it still hurt like a royal bastard, I just ceased caring due to the meds. I mean straight up didn't give a fuck about anything, to the point I was slapping myself in the face because I was still numb. And apparently I groped a nurse >>, Don't remember this, as this was as I was coming out of the surgery, but according to my dad I reached up and grasped her breasts and started saying "Titties!" over and over. I don't remember any of this, it was all told to me later and I am not sure if he is just messing with me or not. (14 at the time and was the first time I was under anasthesia)
 

EvilRoy

The face I make when I see unguarded pie.
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Jan 9, 2011
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I would suggest egg soup once you get tired of frosties. Also: hygiene is really important, make sure you follow all the directions they give you for rinsing with the thingy they give you.

And don't expect to go anywhere or do anything for about 3 days. You'll be useless the first, the second you'll still have an edge of amnesia-hangover, but if you try to do anything on the second or third day you'll find you tire out way faster than normal making the trip home very hard.