Wisdom Teeth

No horror stories here. I was told I'd be in severe pain, but my surgery went smooth and I healed really quick. That didn't stop me from asking for pain killers though. Your face might puff up a bit, but it goes away quickly.

My brother wasn't able to eat anything, including soup, for like four days afterwards.

I was eating solid food the next morning. Everyone is different, but I do know that if they're impacted (mine weren't) it's going to be worse.

On the bright side, since the teeth are all impacted they'll surely give you a general anesthetic (sp?). That's a lot of fun.

I had all four out, but only two were impacted. I didn't think it was too bad, just don't plan on any major activity for a couple of days afterwards. Overall, the recovery is unpleasant, but not that big a deal. Just hope you avoid dry sockets; I've heard that's a bitch. Good luck!

I had all four out and it was hell. I was in a shitload of pain for days and could barely eat. When I tried to eat a burger about five days afterwards because I was starving, I couldn't chew it and it sat in my stomach like a lead weight.

You're doing it the right way, though. Get all four done at once and get it over with. you don't wanna go through that twice. And for an interesting side note, my insurance agreed to pay for three of the teeth, but not the fourth.

i had on that was impacted and hurt so i had it taken out with a local anesthetic. i watched the doctor go and enter into my mouth and cut out the tooth like he was cutting a piece of steak. i was told at the time my other wisdom teeth (all 5 that were left: i was lucky enough to have 2 extra) were impacted and they'd have to be removed as well some point in the future. i just had the rest taken out this last year and was only hurting for the next day. my wife was laid out for a few days when her's were removed. different strokes for different folks i guess.

I didn't feel a thing and I was out cold the whole time. I have no memory of the procedure at all. When I came to the only odd thing was that my ass was bleeding but my dentist Lance said that happens in some cases. Sounded legit to me, he's the one with the diplomas.

Impacted = bad news for your facial muscles. IIRC it means the tooth is still somewhat attached to the jawbone.

Do you remember that Reach Toothbrush commercial where the cartoon guy's head opened all the way like there was a hinge at the back of his jaw? After they put you out you have no idea just how wide they can open your mouth, hence the brusing.

I had all four out in the chair at once, as opposed to under a general anesthesia in the hospital which is how they did it in my neck of the woods. The only problem I had was something called 'dried sockets', which the Tylenol with codine handled well if I recall correctly.

I'm sure dentistry has advanced significantly in the 18 years since I had my wisdom teeth removed.

Oddly enough, I don't have any wisdom teeth. Always felt I wasn't part of the club.

And it really detracts from my tooth fetish.

I have a friend who was born missing like 8 teeth, so when her wisdom teeth started to come in, they just let them fill in the gaps.

All four out on 3 seperate occasions. Tops not so bad. Bottoms, trouble. Had to have the dentist bust them in the jaw and dig the frags out with a monsterous looking tool. At some point I could hear/feel the tool scraping jaw socket ala the way you can hear/feel really bad breaks. The dentist even slipped and socked me in the face. I think he secretly liked that. Most times my dentist is a great guy, but that day he gave Larry Olivier an run for the old money.

I almost forgot to mention, I woke up near the end of the procedure. I vaguely remember but I think the dentist had to strap me down so I wouldn't interfere in my delusional state. OR he just strapped me down for some other reason...

I had one come through rotten with an abscess under it. I’ve had a few knocks and bangs over the years but the pain from this was beyond anything I’ve experienced. It’s not difficult to understand I suppose. When you hit your arm the swelling can escape to the surface in the shape of a lump. Inside your tooth there’s nowhere for that pressure to go so it just builds up around the nerve. By the time I got to the emergency dentist I was on the verge of pulling the thing out with pliers and no anaesthetic. The pain couldn’t be any worse.

Oh, and a dry socket after extraction is fun too.

I had all four of mine taken out a few years ago. I wasn't too worried about the procedure itself, just the needle that was going into my arm before anything happened (I have a BIG phobia). I don't have any bad memories. Pretty much passed out within a minute or two. Woke up sometime later and was walked out to the car. Went home, had milkshakes for the rest of the weekend. The only bad side effects were the chipmunk cheeks I was left with for weeks.

Impacted generally means the teeth lay horizontal and mostly below the surface of the gumline. Which meant for me they had to cut them in half, remove the top half and use the gap to lever out the bottom half. Awful, awful procedure.

Glad the surgery went well, g-dude.

You should be up and chewing on taffy in no time. When I had mine out the only weird thing is that the anaesthesia wore off about half way in and as I was waking up I saw the dentist with his foot up on the chair for leverage. Then I went back out and woke up feeling like the whole thing took 5 minutes.

You should also be jealous of Suttytx and me, seeing as how neither of us were burdened with extra teeth in the first place.

You're jealous of the guy without the painkillers? When I had my wisdom teeth removed, it hurt for two weeks after. The dentist said I had some mutant teeth, with extra crowns. If I didn't have those painkillers, it would've been total hell. And oh yeah, they get you high.

I'm getting all four of mine taken out at once on the 19th. Huzzah! I have the whole series of Due South lined up for my recovery. I've also booked some time off of work. Good times in a few days!

I guess experiences here in CHUD have been mixed. Mine were a nightmare.

I knew they had to come out about two and a half years before I actually took them out. The dentists thought I was an idiot. I was. When they started hurting I had all four taken out at once.

Because they were impacted and had grown into the bone, I had enormous pits in the back parts of my mouth. As I feel around now, five years later, the pits for the bottom half are still there. I have to rinse them out at night.

I went under general, but I was later told that they had such a tough time getting the teeth out, that they kept me under far longer than was normal. They had to use a hammer and pliers. I asked for the teeth, and I still have them here at home. One of them is broke in three places from the hammering.

When I woke up, I was incredibly disoriented and upset. I have gone under general once more, and I had a similar experience, but I was able to warn the doctor the second time. I ripped the tubes out of my arm, and actually pushed the nurse away from me. I thought I was in a dream. When I came to, my jaw hurt something fierce. I took four or five vicodin a day for the next week, and enjoyed the hell out of daytime t.v.

The moral of the story: get your wisdom teeth taken out early, don't wait until they hurt.

My experience wasn't as bad as Overlord's(or some others), but I've had 3 out on seperate occasions(pulled, no surgery), and it sucked.

-The first time I just bled and bled for days(maybe this is what that Static-X song is about). Went out fishing that day actually, and my blood spitting became a chum trail for sharks, no shit. About 2 hours after we dropped anchor, all we caught were small sharks, not to mention I almost fell off of the boat a few times because I lost more blood than I should have, and was dizzy.
-The second one I learned my lesson(or so I thought), and had no problems.
-Lucky number three bit me in the ass though and I ended up getting a dry socket. Painful, painful stuff. For around two weeks I was in utter misery. No matter what I ate, it went right into my socket. Had to spray salty water in it constantly, and it never seemed to heal(and my job at the time didn't seem to believe me either... yay). Then I got better pain killers, so it was two more weeks of either being really doped up, or still being in misery. Then one day it just felt better, go figure.

I've got another one, and I'm not exactly looking forward to having it out, to say the least. Things are much trickier if you're a smoker, as well. That's what screwed me the third time, I'm pretty sure.

When I came out of anesthesia, I was singing Beatles songs to the nurses. My dad wrangled me into the car and we made it about halfway home when I made him pull over, leaned out the door, and puked all over the side of the road. Good times.

Anyway, glad to hear you made it through ok, dude.

I had all four pulled as well as surgery to remove an extra tooth that was growing inside of my gums, and I had a similar experience. I woke up, immediately told them I was alright. When I left the office, I walked into the wall and then threw up in a bag. Ironically, this bit of wisdom came AFTER I lost the teeth. *canned laughter* I was eating food about 12 hours after the procedure, and the bleeding was more or less over at that point, but I realize that's not really the norm for such procedures.