Actually, only two of them. None of the teeth had grown in yet, but the oral surgeon decided that the upper teeth were too far up to attempt removal. The lower right tooth came out in one piece; the lower left tooth split in two as it was being removed. They sealed them in a little plastic bag and let me keep them. I was sedated for the entire procedure, so I was horribly shakey when I finally came out of it. I was able to walk out of the office to my dad’s truck though. Both of my parents, along with my dog, Snoopy, were here in Raleigh with me. Dad went back home at about 9:30 tonight (he has to go back to work in the morning); Mom and Snoopy are going to stay with me for the rest of the week.
I have a little bit of swelling, mostly on the left side, but no bruising yet (thanks to the icepacks). I’m on three medications right now–an antibiotic, some kind of steroid (for the swelling), and Vicodin (for the pain). The only time I’ve been in any pain today was around 5:30; at the suggestion of the oral surgeon (who had called to make sure I was doing OK), I took two Vicodin instead of one when it was time for my next dose.
Otherwise, I’m doing great so far. I had a snack of mashed potatoes and applesauce this afternoon; for dinner I had spaghetti-o’s without meatballs, mashed potatoes, and banana cream pudding.
I go back to have the stitches removed July 16. It may be as long as two or three years before the upper teeth can be removed though.
I had all four of my wisdom teeth out right after my freshman year of college, along with two other molars they had damaged as they tried to come in. If I remember correctly, there are four ways a wisdom tooth can be impacted…and I had all four.
I had them removed by a dental intern my dad knew who needed practice hours. It was either that or pay to have it done and not get to go back to school the next semester.
I couldn’t even it a Twinkie. But vanilla milkshakes and pudding for two weeks was nice…and so were the painkillers. Never had such funky dreams before or since.
I had to have surgery to get the lower two out when I was about 13, which was pretty unpleasant. The upper two grew in quite late (like, when I was 20 or so), and I decided to have them removed (on dentist’s advice) before I moved to England.
So I’m sitting in the chair and the dentist is explaining how it will probably take about an hour to remove both teeth, and he just wants to have a quick look at how they’re situated and <wiggle><wiggle><wiggle><pop> oh. Well, that was lucky, but the other one will take a bit more work and <wiggle><wiggle><wiggle><pop> oh. Never mind.
Two minutes to remove two teeth, neither of which had previously shown any sign of being loose. Just one of those things, I guess.
Oh, the memories - I had all four taken out my freshman year in college - had it done in the local hospital.
Uphill.
In the snow.
Barefoot.
(Okay, kidding about those last 3 lines.)
We decided to have it done in the local hospital because the teeth were impacted and sitting right on the main nerve; the oral surgeon did not feel comfortable doing the procedure in his office. (And insurance paid for the hospital stay, thank goodness).
So here I am, 21 years old, lying in the pediatric ward - there were no other hospital beds available in the regular ward, and the only other beds were in geriatrics. Um, no.
Long story short - one of the teeth broke inside my jaw - it worked its way to the top about a week later: kind of felt like a piece of popcorn stuck in there. When it finally popped out, it was so cute! It had broken in the shape of an animal’s jawbone, including little ridges for the teeth; this was a really big tooth, by the way - damned glad I didn’t have to keep it in my mouth! My sister (the clever one) dresses one of her Ken dolls in a loincloth tapes the tooth to the hand, and rechristens him “Sampson”. Laughed so hard I was sick for an hour.
I was born with only 1 wisdom tooth in my lower left jaw. So far, it is just sitting there, not doing anything. So my dentist wants to just leave it alone.
I was also born missing 4 permenant teeth on my lower arch and 2 on the top. I had to have some orthodontic work after they pulled out the 4 baby teeth out, and now I have a bridge. I still have the 2 baby teeth in my upper arch and they are still going strong.
I had my wisdom teeth cut out my senior year in high school. It was the best week of my life that I do not remember.
I was given Tylenol 3 with Codeine for the pain. I could take them every 4 hours. I would take a dose and promptly fall asleep for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Wake up, tolerate 15 minutes of pain, get another dose and out went the lights for the next 3 hours and 45 minutes…
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Spent the better part of a week doing that.
Pretty much lived on a diet of applesauce and cottage cheese. They were my favorite foods at the time so no real burden there.
I had the surgery on Monday. Went back to school on Friday. Still had enough swelling that my friends called me “Chipmonk cheeks”. They tried to cheer me up until they realized that laughing for me was INCREDIBLY painful.
By the end of the second week I was pretty much back to normal, though.
Of course, everyone is different. I have had friends who were eating solid food (steak, fried chicken, etc) the same night they got theirs taken out, and other friends who were sick for weeks. Therefore do not worry about what might happen. Tell yourself you are going to be fine and you probably will be.
I had my three wisdoms (yes, I only had three) taken out just over two years ago. I had them out on a Friday. I had the oral surgeon put me under for it, which was one of the trippiest experiences ever. (“Hey, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you pulling my teeth?” “We did. You’re waking up now” “Huh???”)
All day Friday I slept a lot and ate a little applesauce. Saturday, I went out to a movie, went to dinner, etc. Sunday morning I woke up and couldn’t open my mouth at all. It was horrible. My husband (fiance at the time) went and bought a baby spoon so he could feed me since I couldn’t open wide enough to fit a regular spoon in my mouth.
Lesson I learned: Even if you feel like a million bucks, take it easy. Over-doing stuff too soon can cause you to get sicker.
The dentist recommended I get mine removed but I was too afraid to have it done. Once they started coming in it was painful for about 2.5 months but after that the pain went away.
Yes, getting wisdom teeth removed is no fun. Just something that must be done. To provent dry sockets, try not to smoke or drink through a straw for a day or so after the extraction. The sucking in action can cause the clot that is forming to dislog, thus causing a dry socket. Also rinsing too so or too vigorously will cause this to happen.
Try to get off the strong pain killers within a couple of days if you can. It’s better for your system. Other wise time heals all wounds. Don’t forget to go back to get those stiches removed. This was the CDA in me speaking.
I feel a lot better today–almost no pain. I’m still eating soft foods, but it’s not too bad. My cheeks are still swollen though.
So far, it hasn’t really been as bad as I thought it would be. I was actually pretty scared, since I had heard so many horror stories about wisdom teeth from other people.