… and surprisingly, it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. The oral surgeon was amazing. I didn’t feel a thing – not even the needle for the local anesthetic. I’m actually glad that I didn’t get the IV sedation, because I was able to talk with the doctor and the nurses the entire time. Plus, the chair faced a huge window, so I got to look out on a pretty, tree-lined area during the procedure instead of staring at blank walls.
The anesthetic is just starting to wear off, which means that I’ll be in a world of hurt about an hour from now. Fortunately the doctor gave me a prescription for Percocet. (The nurse actually asked me which one I preferred: Vicodin or Percocet. I think I confused her when I laughed. It’s not like I’m a connoiseur of prescription painkillers. ) It kicked in about 15 minutes ago. I know this because I got the sudden urge to fall on my kitchen floor (I didn’t, but I wanted to). I think I’ll limit my posting until the drugs wear off.
Oh, and no swelling … yet. But I’m expecting to wake up looking like a chipmunk.
Make sure you use a pillow case you don’t care about for the next week or so. You’ll bleed in your sleep and it’s quite messy, and your mouth is going to taste terrible and have caked blood in it when you wake up, so you might also want a rag or something to gently wipe it out with when you wake up.
I got mine taken out last Friday. Having an IV was a huge relief, since I didn’t remember anything, and I came out all vital organs intact (not that my oral surgeon would sell body parts on the black market, but I’d had suspicions.)
You want to apply a lot of ice to your cheeks, because there will be swelling. They’re supposed to give you a little sheet that tells you what your symptoms will be and what to do. You might want to invest in milkshakes, slim fast (I heard it’s delicious, but I didn’t), and chicken soup, because opening your mouth too wide will hurt, as will chewing (of course). Yesterday was my first day of solid food, but YMMV. It’s such a relief to be able to chew! I definitely recommend scrambled eggs for breakfast though; delicious and easy to swallow.
Unlike Spudo, I didn’t have any excessive bleeding in my sleep, except the day of the surgery, so you might not either.
Percacet made me really tired and it was hard to see straight, but I wasn’t nauseated at all. The only “drugged” effect I really had was inserting my foot in my mouth.
I hope you feel better soon and everything heals well!
Did you get all 4 out at once? I did it 2 at a time, and it was much easier.
Each person differs, but I didn’t have too much pain; just used one dose once.
But yes, sleep with paper towels on your pillows.
When I had my wisdom teeth out, I had them do all four at once.
No IV, no sedation. Just a bunch of whatevercaine. My dentist was a wizard at sawing the teeth into bits so he could pull each segment straight out and cleanly, rather than yanking an intact tooth, but ripping out a lot of gum as the roots were all twisty.
I went home with something called Ultram as I’m allergic to codeine and its cousins like vicodin and percocet. Took one on the way out of his office “just to be safe” and woke up the next day feeling like I didn’t need to take the time off of work.
Thanks to everyone for the advice and good wishes.
This is actually my second experience with wisdom tooth extraction. I had the lower right tooth removed four years ago when it got impacted, and it hurt like hell. I had severe pain and horrible swelling, and wasn’t able to eat solid food for about four days.
Fortunately this time was much, much better. The bottom left tooth had become impacted – the doctor told me right before the surgery yesterday that it was infected. And the roots of two teeth were curved near the nerve. That made the procedure run a little long. The doctor took an x-ray to make sure he’d gotten everything and discovered that he’d missed part of the root on the infected tooth. So he had to open up the stitches and go back in to find it. But it was still much better than the first surgery.
This is the part I can’t believe: I have absolutely no swelling. None. Nada. Zip. The left side of my mouth is a little sore, but otherwise I feel pretty good. Especially since I stopped the Percocet, which made me extremely nauseous. I think I’ll be able to work tomorrow.
Rysdad: You got Hepatitis B from the procedure? :eek: That’s terrible! I just looked it up on the NiH Web site. I hope you only had it short term.
Spudo and the only bunny (love the name, BTW): I made sure to keep paper towels on my pillow. There were some pink blotches on the towels this morning, but nothing bad.
AThingWithFeathers: Your experience last week sounds like my first extraction. What a horrible way to spend a weekend. I hope you’re feeling much better now.
gotpasswords: It sounds like we both lucked out with oral surgeons.
I guess I got lucky with mine. The bottom ones were removed surgically when I was about 12 because they were in the way of my last molars (besides them) coming in. They also yanked four of my other teeth in there in preparation for my getting braces. That wasn’t fun, but at least I don’t really remember the gory details well, thankfully.
The other two came out when I was about eighteen. A chunk broke off of one and while the tooth didn’t hurt, the edge was trying to carve a hole in my cheek. So I went to the dentist for an emergency appointment, and when I asked him what he was going to do and he said “Pull it,” I was in enough pain I didn’t really mind too much. The tooth must have been in pretty bad shape, it came out in about ten seconds.
The other one came out about a week later and it only took a couple of minutes. That was scarier because it wasn’t bothering me. I know waiting to go to the dentist until you’re in pain is generally a bad idea, but it is a great motivator.
No drugs, just local. That was actually the scariest part. I’m terrified of numbed up for dental work. Once that’s done I’m still a mess but the needles are by far the worst. But considering the horror stories I’ve heard, my wisdom tooth removals were pretty much trouble-free.
Actually, the way it worked was that there were 12 guys scheduled for wisdom teeth extraction at the VA hospital that day. All 12 of us “got 'er done.” A short time later I start showing the symptoms of hepatitis. Back into the hospital. While in there, I meet two other guys with hep that also had their teeth pulled the same day. A rather odd coincidence. We mention it to the nurses, and they talk to the docs. The entire staff of the dental clinic that was working on the day the extractions were done was tested–all negative for Hep B.
Makes me wonder if tooth extraction patient guy number 1 was a carrier and they re-used some instruments, but that’s extremely unlikely.
) It kicked in about 15 minutes ago. I know this because I got the sudden urge to fall on my kitchen floor (I didn’t, but I wanted to). I think I’ll limit my posting until the drugs wear off.
