I’m getting my mouth mauled on friday… Seriously, I’m having my wisdom teeth removed.
Anyone have any suggestions on keeping needless pain and suffering to a minimum?
My brother and cousin both had the same dental surgeon remove theirs, and had no problems, and only minimal pain, thanks to Percoset.
Short of hardcore pain killers I don’t really know anything that can help. Luckily I haven’t had mine removed so it’s all good, for me at least.
I suspect that if you’re having it done ‘in the chair’ that painkillers will be enough - friends report experiences similar to your brother and cousin. I had mine removed under a general in hospital (all four were below the gumline, and two were badly impacted). The orthodontist had (apparently) to crack my jaw to get one of them out. Sheee-it. One thing which did help during the next week was a hot-water bottle (don’t know if you have them in the US, or what they’re called - flattish thick-rubber thingy for warming your feet in bed). At the right temperature - hotter than you’d think - this felt great against my somewhat swollen face.
Good luck …
The only advice I have is do not mix Percocet and alcohol. Very Bad JuJu.
I think it all depends on how the wisdom teeth are sitting in your mouth. I had all four of mine pulled at once and they decided to put me under for it. Two were still below the gumline and the other two had just decided to start peaking out and causing havac. But, apparently, they had an easy time getting them out. I had virtually no swelling and hardly any pain but they gave me some cool drugs anyway.
I was either very lucky, or had a gentle oral surgeon. I hope you have it as easy as I did.
I guess I got lucky. My lower ones were removed when I was twelve, along with four other teeth, prior to my getting braces. (They were blocking my next set of molars.) They put me under for that. It hurt afterwards, sure, but I had an annoyingly high pain tolerance level as a kid. Mostly I remember vomiting a bunch of blood. Ewwwwwwwwww…
The other two came out when I was eighteen. The first one was an emergency visit since a big chunk of it broke off one day. It didn’t hurt, but there was a sharp edge that was doing major damage to the inside of my mouth. cringes I was in enough pain that I actually didn’t start screaming when I asked what he was going to do and the dentist said, “Pull it.” (I am terrified of dentists, even nice ones.) It came out in about ten seconds and I think it hurt a bit for a couple of days and that was it. The other one came out about like that the next week, it took a bit more work but neither of them was exactly deep in my jaw.
Now, I just hope that this second pair I have lurking in my upper jaw never erupt…
Follow the post procedure instructions exactly. Especially if you’re somewhat stoned from the pain killers.
Don’t drink alcohol. It makes you more prone to bleeding.
Don’t apply heat or cold without checking with the Dr. first.
Rinse your mouth with warm salt water. It will help with the healing.
If you are taking a strong narcotic pain pill like percocet, vicodin, lortab, tylenol with codiene, etc., make sure to drink extra water and pay attention to your bowels cause narcotics are very constipating --I mean it will turn you stool to hard rocks–and you don’t want to add another problem. More fiber in your diet like oatmeal or chunky applesauce or fiber type laxatives like senokot or fiber con are very good for this. Compare to the brand name and buy the generic though. The brand name laxatives can be very expensive.
Disclaimer: I am not a Dr. I am an RN, so follow your Dr’s advice above all. Any recommendations I make are as a general reference and not to be taken as medical advice.
I had two of mine out when I was in 11th grade, about, well . . . doesn’t matter how many years ago. I was lucky - I went to sleep, woke up, and had virtually no pain at all afterwards. I did get excused for 1 week of gym, and that was pretty cool.
What made it really worthwhile was getting the stitches removed. One of the assistants did it, and she was a drop-dead gorgeous redhead. Plus, from the angle she was working on my mouth, the top of my head was right up against her breasts.
Remember, I did say I was in 11th grade.
I had all 4 of mine done early one morning just after I got off my fifth straight night shift. I was exhausted, and they put me under for it (one was growing into the bone). It took me quite awhile to come out of the anesthetic, and even then all I wanted to do was sleep for the next two days. I don’t remember much pain at all – maybe being unconscious is the way to go.
From a guy who had all 4 of his cut out and then got put on muscle relaxors and had about 4 hunks of guase shoved up in the empty sockets on each one, the only recomindation I have besides heavy prescription medication is DON’T EAT ANYTHING! The only think I could keep down for a few days was those little frozen pops (icy pops, or something like that).
The best part was the next day the orthodonist called and (dirrect quote here)… “Those were the biggest f**king wisdom teath I have ever seen on a human”.
That was the first and hopefully last time I will ever have to be unconsious for surgery.
Well, each individual case is different, but if it’s feasable, you should eat. If you’re losing blood, you need protein, and Mermaid is right about fiber. What I did was take the gauze out, scarf two boiled hot dogs on wheat buns, swish with salt water (you don’t want food particles trapped in the excavations!) and jam the gauze back in. Not fun, but neither is hypoglycemia.