I had all four of mine done in two visits…the left two first and the right two 3 weeks later.
The doctor gave me a couple of shots of novocaine and then ploink he pulled them out. A few stitches to close up the holes and I was good to go. I think I was in the chair for less than fifteen minutes each time.
I had heard so many horror stories and I’d scheduled days off afterwards to recover, but it wasn’t even necessary.
Hopefully, you’ll have no problems either. 
Both times I had mine out, I ran short on the Rx medications. Don’t know why the DDSes are so stingy with them: if I want to become a junkie there have got to be better drugs than that, right? So I had to go through fairly intense pain for a few hours every day so i wouldn’t use them all up too fast, which I did anyway, and I had to beg over the phone for a refill. My advice is to get more medication than he wants at first to give, if you can.
“You’ll probably experience some mild discomfort for a day or two…”
BULLLLLLLLLLSHIT!!! Gimme drugs! Lots! More’n that!!! A week’s worth at least!!
I had mine removed under just novacaine, no problem. I was on Tylenol 3 (with codeine!) for, um, 3 days? —including the day of surgery. I was then on horse-pill sized ibuprofin for seven more days (or was it four more? I don’t recall). The only problem I had was that I thought ibuprofin wasn’t doing anything because I could pinch my arm and still feel it. I WAS DEAD WRONG. Do not avoid pain meds. They are there for a reason.
Mmmmm . . . magic Motrin bullets . . . When I got my wisdom teeth pulled (two fully impacted, two semi-impacted) I got a dry socket. I was poppin’ those babies like candy.
After a week of taking 6 a day (instead of the prescribed 4) I started getting an acidy tummy, but there doesn’t seem to be any long-term damage.
I still had a lot of Motrin left over after the pain finally abated. Them things were the bomb when I got bad menstrual cramps. Sadly, they are now gone, so I just take four Advil instead.
ATTENTION: Podkayne reminds everyone to take all medicines according to the directions on the label. Do as I say, not as I do. Thank you.
I just had four out this morning. Just novocaine as I wanted to drive and not have to bother someone to go with me.
Things went pretty well. I stopped bleeding within an hour and a half. No swelling, just some basic soreness. For pain, I am taking Vicadin (Hydrocordone or basically synthetic codeine and acetimenophen.) and some Penicillin too.
If you do opt for anesthesia - consider the “twilight” anesthesia (conscious sedation) over general (unconscious). At my initial visit to the oral surgeon (consultation) a girl came out who had to lay down on a couch in the waiting room, somewhat miserable. Obviously she went with general anesthesia. Today, another girl came out just before I went in, if her mother wasn’t holding onto her she might have floated away, rather giddily high and giggling. The twilight anesthesia features ‘fun’ drugs like Ketamine and Versed and there’s no (or not much) of a hangover.
As for post-op - I’ve had bowls of ice cream cut with milk. Rinse your mouth with salt water after meals and keep the blood clots intact and you want to keep the blood clots intact, so no drinking through straws as the suction might break them up.
It wasn’t that big of an ordeal, after all.
I got all four of mine taken out in the morning, and I was no more good for the rest of the day. (I got knocked out, by the way; I highly recommend it.) I had quite a bit of swelling, but mainly because I didn’t let anyone put any ice on my cheeks after the surgery (any pressure was painful). I think I got Percoset or something, which helped.
By the second day after surgery I was feeling more or less normal. Kind of weak, though, because I still couldn’t eat too much.
I got them taken out on a Thursday. By that Sunday I was able to move fully into my dorm room. My cheeks were swollen for a while, but they didn’t hurt.
My word of warning: everything hurts twice as much when it happens in your mouth. Just be prepared for that.
“Twilight anesthesia” - that must be what they gave me when they pulled all four of mine out. I was never unconscious, but I never felt any pain or anxiety. I don’t remember being giddy or euphoric, but then again, I don’t remember much of anything from the procedure or the time immediately following it. I think those drugs interfere with the formation of long term memory, perhaps intentionally.
My roommate drove me home and I took a pain pill in anticipation of the local anesthetic wearing off, but I didn’t really need it. This was an Air Force dental clinic, so my pain pills were probably just Motrin.
I asked him about using teabags. He said it fell under the “Don’t ask - Don’t tell” policy.
I didn’t have any problems afterwards. I could have worked a half day in the afternoon if I needed to.
Super Gnat’s and heresiarch and my posts pretty much, at least anecdotally, cover the anesthesia options. I too could have worked a half-day.
Ah yes Motorgirl, Percoset. I’ll throw in another vote for Percoset. For the surgery itself I chose general anesthesia because I didn’t want to have any memory of the operation and because I wanted to try nitrous oxide.
It’d be a good idea to have a friend along to escort you home after surgery…it’s hard to predict what state your mind will be in. I barely made it out the door. Good luck, have fun with it
-wm
I highly recommend a support person as well.
I, personally, had almost no problems when I had my wisdom teeth pulled. I didn’t even need stitches, according to my dentist. Since then, I’ve had my teeth worked on any number of times, including root canals and extractions. I find that Instant Breakfast/Slimfast/Ensure can be very helpful. And I urge you to take the followup care very seriously, it can make the difference between having a boring experience, or an interesting painfilled experience.
I had all four removed about 10 years ago. As they were impacted, I was given general anesthetic via IV. They could not be pulled but had to be crushed and then the pieces removed. No pain at all that day and minimal swelling through out.
My recuperation food: Mashed potatoes with bacon gravy. Mmmmm….gravy.
Oh, if they have to crush your teeth, they may miss a piece or two. If you feel a rice sized piece of something in the back of your mouth don’t be alarmed it will work it’s way out in a week or so. If you’re an impatient 23 year old male, you may attempt to pull the piece of molar out with oh …… say a handy set of linemen’s pliers. :eek: Such a procedure is definitely contra-indicated! (Though in my case was executed without complication) You should consult a surgical professional should you require removal of dental debris.
This is killer. Take about a cup of champagne and maybe half a cup of Gran Marnier and pour them into a shallow pan. Freeze it and scrape it with a fork several times as it does. It stays sorta slushy, but man, a teaspoon of that in your mouth slushin’ around? That’s nice.
That weren’t no piece of tooth, son, it were a piece of your jaw that the “surgeon” chipped off. It took about a month for one of these suckers to work it’s way out of my wife’s gums, when I used her longnose jewelry pliers to grab it out.
Oh, you might also get dry socket. My wife’s pain tolerance is such that when she broke her kneecap she limped to find help. Dry socket left her a sobbing wreck for days, if not weeks. The only decent treatment is clove oil-- administered through a honking syringe.
Me, I’ve got one wisdom tooth. It’s staying put.
[happy dance for superior genes]
Today is the lovely day I get my wisdom teeth yanked out. Real life friends said I should wish for Percodan or Percoset. I would settle for anything that makes the pain go away after they are yanked.
Hrrm nobody seemed to mention one important thing:
This will hurt like a BITCH. I hope that you have a SHORT car ride to your oral surgeon. Mine was an hour long. 1 hr sitting upright as the meds wore off with blood soaked cotton balls getting dislodged is not fun.
I spent the last 15 min of the car ride with my head out the window drooling blood down the car door and on the road.
I had 2 impacted and 2 that were just pulled. I vaguely remember irish cream/creame de menthe milkshakes being mixed with pain pills. Mmm good stuff.
Wow, I had almost no pain what so ever. I had all four wisdom teeth removed. I got knocked out, they stuck a needle in my arm, and a couple hours later I awoke to find my mouth a bit swollen and sore. They gave me Tylenol 3’s for the pain, but I only took one that evening and that was it. I was on soft food the next day, and solid food two days after that. I was fully healed in two weeks. I was also given one of those plastic syringes to clean the debris from the wounds.
They are now officially out. 3 wisdom teeth down and out. It took 12 shots of whatever the shot things were to numb it. He kept scraping along it and it kept hurting and then I kept getting more shots and finally it was numb. He said I should only need Advil 
but if i gets painful to call him at one of the several numbers he gave me to get a prescription.
I am feeling kinda out of it though. Glad I had a friend to take me home.
Bah. I had seven (really), for some strange reason. Went in for surgery. Woke up at home. Painkillers of some sort prescribed. I couldn’t tell you what exactly they were because my loving mother decided that a painkiller addiction was a bad thing to risk so I made do with Advil instead. And you know, it wasn’t too bad after the first couple of days. So don’t worry, personwiththelongname, I’m sure Advil will be okay…