I just wanted to second this - you don’t want to be eating a lot of ice cream or drinking milkshakes. Stick with Italian ices that come in the little cup. You can have popsicles if you slide them off the stick first and eat them out of a bowl.
Too much dairy produces too much phlegm and makes you have to clear your throat - not a good idea after having your wisdom teeth out.
I had mine out about 2 years ago and it wasn’t too bad after the first day or so. Just sore and achey, really. The dentist might give you a prescription for 6 or 8 Tylenols with codiene or some Percocets. Regular Tylenol or Advil should be enough if they’re not impacted.
I had all four out at once with only local anesthetic–no gas, no drugs, just Novocaine. I was apprehensive about it, especially since I knew one tooth would have to be sawed out (it was coming in sideways). However it worked out fine; whenever I felt anything going on in my mouth (I was never in pain during the surgery) I would grunt and the surgeon would pick up the needle and numb me some more. The downside of that is that every needlestick means another bruise, and more soreness, the next morning.
I was prescribed Tylenol with codeine for home use; I took one, and it made me horribly dizzy. (I’ve been told since that codeine should never be taken on an empty stomach. I wish someone told me that before the surgery.) After that I stuck to ibuprofen. Ibuprofen will be your friend.
Also your friends: instant oatmeal and canned pasta–more filling than liquids, and next to no chewing needed. And tea bags: dampened and pressed on the incision, they stop stubborn bleeding better than gauze compresses.
I’ve known people who were laid out for days after surgery, but I had surgery on Friday and was back at work on Monday. YMMV.
That really clears something up for me. I had mine out in high school and got dry socket a few days after surgery. That shit hurt brutally. I was at work at the grocery store when it got really bad and I hurt so bad I couldn’t even see or walk straight. I found this toothache remedy on the shelf with clove oil and tiny cotton balls. That worked enough so that I could drive home. I went back later and bought all that was on the shelf and used it. To this day, I would have sworn that I discovered that remedy. I didn’t know it was a standard treatment for dry socket.
Well, I can share your apprehension. I’m getting mine out next week. (I was actually surprised to see your thread, Marlitharn – I was going to start one of my own!)
I had one wisdom tooth pulled back in April 2002 because it became impacted. Unfortunately I didn’t do the other three at the same time. :smack: I had it done under local anesthesia last time. The actual procedure wasn’t terrible, but I was in pain for several days. I didn’t have solid food until four days later, and that was a small bit of mushy pasta. Once the swelling went down I felt fine.
Still, I’m nervous about the procedure next week. I’m having it done with local anesthesia again, so no dancing mice for me. But I’ve already started prepping. I bought SlimFast and applesauce over the weekend, and froze a big batch of homemade mashed potatoes (might as well get some pleasure out of this misery, right?). And, of course, I have a stack of Joss Whedon DVDs. My boss already told me to call in sick for the days after the surgery. I expect to spend next weekend camped out on my couch, drooling.
Do you know what date you’re getting yours out, Marlitharn?
I had my wisdom teeth pulled about two years ago after my dentist had been telling me for over 20 years to have it done. I did so because I had to have repair work done on a root canal/crown and as long as they were inthere might as well get it over with. Now my dentist had told me that on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the worst) mine were less than one but I really hate dental work and I am a real wuss about pain, so I kept putting it off. All of the work was done under local anesthetic as far as I can remember, I know hteir was nitrous involved and novacain but all I remember was humming to the music. The drugs they gave me impressed my friend the nurse who drove me there and back but I only took one and that only becuase they told me to. I didn’t hurt, I ate a lot of ice cream and soup the first day and the second day I think I went back to regular food. I was very careful about not drinking through a straw for the time suggested and everything went fine. The only problem I had was the the absolute horrible nasty taste in my mouth while everything healed. I had to take a toothbrush to work with me. I only had 2 wisdom teeth to begin with so I went from being a halfwit to being witless.
Mine was quite straightforward; for about two weeks I had to subsist on Campbell’s soups and mashed potatoes. Not too painful afterwards, though it was sore at first. Looks like I got lucky.
I had all four removed in 2000; two were partially impacted, two were normal. They put me under, and I remember waking up completely out of it. On the way home, my grandmother stopped at the pharmacy to pick up my pain meds. She was in there for what I deemed too long a time, so I got out of the car and walked in the store. I paced up and down the aisles until she saw me and asked what was I doing out of the car! We go outside and discover that when I’d gotten out of the car, I’d set the alarm off. :eek: I didn’t even hear it, I was that loopy.
I had very little pain, so I only ended up taking 2 of the Percocets. I was petrified of getting dry socket, though, so I hardly ate for two weeks.
My cousin had all four of hers out, but she was in a lot of pain and couldn’t return to school for a week.
I got the gas (nitrous oxide?), which made me talk and ask stupid questions (Did you find any root canals?) throughout my entire surgery. The dentist and his assistants were very amused.
Anywho, they pulled eight teeth, four of which they had to dig out from under the gums. It didn’t hurt a bit.
Until the gas wore off. Then it hurt like a mofo.
I ate through a straw for three days, and that’s when the pain began to subside. I was 15 at the time, and if I the dentist had given me painkillers, my mother failed to share them with me.
So my recommendation is to eat all the caramel candy, corn on the cob and bbq ribs you can stuff into your face before the surgery.
And get plenty of good meds. You’ll be fine.
And yeah, that’s an excellent time to quit smoking. You probably won’t want one, anyway.
I had the two on the left taken out when I was 18, one was impacted, so it required cutting the gum and bone, the other was a simple extraction just to prevent the tooth biting on nothing. I was offered the choice between a local or a nice i.v. benzo to make me dozy and amnesic. Since I’m terrified of dentists at the best of times, I took the sleepy shot.
I just took ibuprofen afterwards and it wasn’t particularly painful at all- as I’d fasted for 12 hours before the procedure, we went straight to McDonalds for chicken nuggets and a milkshake afterwards. Back to eating normal food the next day, no problem.
Everything was fine until I reacted to the antibiotics and ended up with a ulcers all over my tongue, lips, gums and throat 3 days after the prodecure. That, I wouldn’t recommend- except as a weight loss plan and easy wasy to take a vow of silence. I couldn’t speak or eat solids for 10 days. It was not pleasant, and goes down as the singularly most painful experience of my life.
So, wisdom teeth removal-walk in the park, weird drug reaction- hell on earth.
I opted to be put out for the procedure. Woke up doing sign language in a darkened room.
Lived on percocet ( sp?) for a week and my mom’s pea soup. Didn’t lose a pound at all from that diet, lemme tell you. I just slept alot and listened to some mellow music.
Over all, the worst of it you probably won’t have as mine was in November and wrapping my jaw up with a scarf to keep the empy sockets in my jaw from screaming out in pain from Michigan’s cold days. (Took a good winter for that sensation to fade.)
Good luck.
But I’ve already started prepping. I bought SlimFast and applesauce over the weekend, and froze a big batch of homemade mashed potatoes (might as well get some pleasure out of this misery, right?). And, of course, I have a stack of Joss Whedon DVDs. My boss already told me to call in sick for the days after the surgery. I expect to spend next weekend camped out on my couch, drooling.