I had mine out when I was 18. They hadn’t come out yet, but my dentist said they could screw up all the orthodontics work I had had done. I was put under, and woke up afterwards. My dad drove me home and picked up my pain pills. I don’t remember much pain, or the pills doing anything to me. I bled quite a bit, almost until the next morning when it stopped. I kept an icepack on and off the first day, so I had next to no swelling, which disappointed my friends tremendously. I had a cheeseburger and fries the next day. The cheesburger was Ok, the fries were probably not the best thing to eat.
Another uncomplicated tale here:
I had all four taken out on the same day. All four had erupted, so no gum cutting was needed. The dentist took a couple xrays and studied them to determine which way the roots were twisted. He used a rotary saw and sliced a couple of the teeth here and there and deftly unscrewed the pieces from my jaws rather than just yanking and having two or three opposing corkscrews ripping out flesh.
I had minimal bleeding, very little discomfort and no actual pain. I could have easily gone back to work the next day, but like so many others, had the work done on Thursday afternoon with plans of taking a three-day weekend. Also, no stitches or dry sockets.
About a week later, I was feeling some pain of a small sharp nature (as opposed to the typical deep, huge dental variety) and went back to the dentist who spotted a fragment of tooth and merely plucked it out with forceps. I probably could have scraped it off with a fingernail, or just let it work its way out, but it was annoying.
I had my bottom two taken out when I was 18. They were impacted, so I went to an oral surgeon. The procedure itself was no biggie at all. I think they gave me nitrous, numbed me up real good, and did their thing. Mom said I was spitting in the parking lot, but other than that I was fine.
My jaw swelled up a bit, I think I needed minimal pain meds.
BUT, and this is a huge BUT. Do everything they tell you, and do it right. Do not smoke, do not do anything to cause yourself to acquire a DRY SOCKET. It is one of the worst things that can happen, but if you are careful and keep the gauze in your mouth, don’t smoke, and don’t do anything with a sucking motion, you should be ok. I’m told that this most likely happens on the bottom teeth. Just do not get a dry socket. I can’t stress this enough.
I just had the second two (unremarkable) taken out last summer. It was easy as pie. I came home after the procedure, and I had to hurry because my sis was coming over so I could do her hair for the prom. I did her hair and makeup, etc. And that night, I went out with my fiance. No problems, very little pain.
Uh, and for all the people on here who don’t like painkillers there are a million who do. If you happen to be one of those million, remember that they will always give refills after these types of procedures.
Just sayin’. 
I had two removed (upper left, lower right) removed a little over a year ago when I was 36. I was a bit nervous as any surgery I’ve had was done to this point was on an outpatient, no anesthetic basis. I went for a consult with an oral surgeon and I could’ve either been awake with novocaine/numbing drugs, or be sedated. I talked to others who’ve had any wisdom teeth out, and they said go for the sedation option. The sedation was “twilight sedation.”
I arrived with my mom (naturally someone will have to come with you if you get sedated). I signed the waiver saying that there were risks to the surgery (even death), and was whisked in the back and put in the chair. Really, once you get there, they rush you back so fast, usually there’s no time to get nervous or scared. My chest was covered with a heavy cloth and I breathed in oxygen thru a mask. Then the surgeon came in. An IV was hooked up in my right arm. Then, he put something in it and said, “Now I’m going to give you something that will really help you get through this.” So, there was no counting backwards, and there was no “boom, you’re out” experience for me. In fact, nothing happened initally. I waited for it to kick in. And when I was gonna say something, I don’t remember what happened. (Obviously, it was very gradual.) I do remember bits and pieces of the surgery. It seems if I moaned, I went back out. Next thing I was aware of, there was guaze in my mouth that I don’t remember being put in, and it was over. It felt like 15 minutes in the chair, but it was 50 minutes in reality.
The recovery wasn’t that bad. I had them out on a Thursday and was back to work on a Monday. Do make sure you get a plastic syringe from them to clean your sockets from food afterward. You’ll be surprised what gets in there. Just take it slow. Good luck and keep us posted.
I never grew top ones, but my bottom ones were growing sideways instead of up and out, so I had to have them taken out 3 days before my 14th birthday. On Friday the 13th.
They had to do it as out-patient surgery, put me out, etc., but mostly I remember being more afraid of the IV needle than anything. I was out of the hospital and tucked in my own bed by 1PM that same day.
I probably shouldn’t have, but did eat pizza on my birthday 3 days alter, and just had some swelling - surprisingly, no bruising (I come in contact with a bit of dust and I bruise), so it wasn’t too terrible.
had mine out about 3 years ago. I hate pain so they totally knocked me out.
When I came too, i said, is it over?? She said yes. I drooled a lot, filled the prescription for whatever it was they suggested for pain. I didn’t need them, had what felt like a dull toothache for about 2 hours and that was that.
I stayed home for 3 days only because I was allowed to, enjoyed my time off actually. Lost a lot of weight because I just ate soup or ramen or something for the required days.
I had them out when I was about 20. Two partially impacted, two fully impacted. They knocked me out, so I don’t remember the removal itself, just waking up very groggily with gauze packed in where the teeth used to be. My father took me home, where I proceded to keep ice on both cheeks for at least 45 minutes out of every hour for the next six hours. I took Advil, but never bothered with the vicodin they gave me. I was eating solid food for dinner that evening, and had no visible swelling. The worst of it was the antibiotics they gave me prophylactically, which made me seriously nauseous for days.
The moral of the story: Ice Is Your Friend.
I had mine out the summer I turned 18. They were developed enough to be removed, but they had not yet grown roots. If they had been allowed to grow more, two would have grown into the other molars, one would have grown towards my cheek, and the last would have grown into my sinus cavity. Yeah, those suckers needed to come out ASAP.
They knocked me out for the surgery. I was very groggy for a while, when it was over–and I was crying when I woke up. I went home, and felt on top of the world for the rest of the day. I called all my friends to tell them about it. The next day, my jaw was sore from being propped open. The sore jaw was the worst part. The stitches and scabs came out when I was rinsing my mouth, about a week later. That’s all there was to it.
I was 19 and my mom took me in. They weighed me and put a blood pressure cuff on my arm. The nurse gave me an injection and I was out before the needle was. I woke up crying with chipmunk cheeks full of gauze. No pain. I went home and mom put me to bed. I changed my gauze and took a pill and slept until morning. No pain. In the AM I drank juice and took another pill and still no pain. The bleeding had stopped and I haven’t given my wisdom teeth a thought in 43 years.
Until now.
I’m afraid of doctors. I’m afraid of needles. I’m afraid of medical procedures and tests. And, I’m afraid of having my teeth pushed on, tugged on, or messed with in any way.
And, like so many hypochondriacs, I have been blessed with some pretty darn good health. No hospitalizations, no stitches, no IVs.
At 19, when my dentist told me I’d have to have my wisdom teeth out, I burst out into tears from sheer terror.
Plus, my SO at the time had been one of the “worst day of my life” wisdom teeth stories. He regained consciousness during the anesthesia and was aware but unable to move. Ever since, he has been incredibly afraid of the dentist.
I asked my very nice dentist to recommend the very best, nicest dental surgeon for the procedure. When my dad asked “are you sure you want general anaesthesia?” the answer was a resounding “YES!” accompanied by the foot-stomping of the little princess I can be on occasion. :o
I panicked for three days straight. I told the nurse and the surgeon my SO’s story, trying to make sure they didn’t underdose me. I had to have numbing stuff on my arm plus nitrious just so they could get the IV in. I still panicked, sucking down nitrious, to the point that my heart rate jumped to 180 when they stuck me with the IV and started pumping in the drugs.
Tingly feeling in arms and legs… open eyes on a padded examination table thingie with cotton in my mouth. That’s it. The pain afterwards wasn’t bad at all. My dad’s a doctor, so he helped me manage my pain with a minimum amount of drugs. I didn’t get side effects and I wasn’t miserable. I recommend you figure out some nice bullion and tea you like, and have those on hand for the first day.
What I hated was that the dissolving stitches didn’t dissolve fast enough, and my gums got inflamed. I had to work them out and clip them a little myself to help them along. But that’s really no big deal. If you’re the kind who isn’t overly concerned with discomfort or yucky things, but are just scared about the procedure, then it won’t bother you.
Relax. You’ll be fine, really.
Some people get an extra dose of wisdom. I had the misfortune of having two full sets of wisdom teeth. Had 'em out when I was 24, and by the time I was 26, a new set had grown in, and I had to have those out, too.
I had all my wisdom teeth removed in August/September 1977 by my dentist, Mr Patel, who had just finished a three-year sentence in Wormwood Scrubs prison in west London.
He had been convicted of fraud. Under the regulations in the UK, he was paid per tooth filled and/or per tooth extracted. The annual audit in 1973 found that he had apparently pulled 57 teeth from each registered patient and filled 61 of their teeth, which was clearly impossible. Having been convicted of fraud and served his time, Mr Patel returned to his surgery and about 3 weeks later diagnosed my wisdom teeth as impacted.
After the lower left and upper right had been extracted (which involved the drilling of my jaw) on the same day, I spent about 12 hours spitting out blood. A week later, the lower left and upper right were extracted, which thankfully involved a bit less blood.
As a result of the pain and suffering of having my wisdom teeth out, I have not visitied the dentist since. That’s since September 1977 - twenty-seven and a half years. Gawd know how shite my choppers are these days.
I was told when I was in college that all four of my wisdom teeth would be impacted. Not having dental insurance after college, I didn’t have them out. Two of them have come in fine so far and a third is erupting at the moment with minimal pain… apparently things can shift. I’m not going to say they’ll never need to come out, but so far so good.
To echo RancidYakButterTeaParty (great haha name btw),
I had the evil metal orthidonture as ateen, and was told that the Xrays showed my wisdom teeth would come in all hideously crooked, so should have em yanked. Due to parent’s professor salaries, got passed over for other five kid’s orthidonture excursions.
My twenties, they all came in upright, fine. The most recent dental overhaul, I asked my dentist if that was the right decision. “Well, they look fine now.”
Not to detract from important work to be done now for the OP, but another perspective on the “Yank 'em Young” mode.
I was nervous, too, and I had only recently had my gall bladder removed with no problems. Angst is normal. 
I had all four of mine removed at the same time. I only threw up once (just barely, more of a gag really, and that was in the parking lot of the surgeon’s office, and I really think it only happened because my designated driver was changing my gauze becase I was drinking blood, which was totally gross), and I was done bleeding by the end of the day. A lot of people told me about protecting my pillow, and waking up with dried blood all on my face and whatever, but it didn’t happen. A lot of the really horrible things people tell you probably won’t happen. :crosses fingers:
Anyway, it was a breeze. Yeah, it sucked, yeah, it hurt for a few days and I got really sick of fake potatoes and packaged gravy, but I got over it. They used “twilight sedation” so I was totally out of it but still kind of conscious, which was weird. I don’t remember much more than having a lot of fingers in my mouth; no cracking teeth, no talking, etc. When I came out of it, I started crying to my friend all, “I wanna go home! 
” I was a mess, but that’s me. They gave me a prescription for vicodin, ibuprofen 800, and an antibiotic.
Relax, get a driver and someone to hang out with you for the day (to run to the pharmacy for you and stuff), rent some movies or something (I hung out here), listen to everything your surgeon tells you, and enjoy the ride. It’s not bad, I promise.
I posted this* the day after.
Here’s* a thread started by The Great Zamboni, asking for tips on how to keep himself occupied and entertained after the surgery. A bunch of people chimed in to tell about their own experiences, too, so it’s a good read.
Good luck!
*Read only. Both of those threads are pretty old.
I barely even remember it, it was such a l nonevent. I had a shot for numbness, was awake through the whole thing, hated the noise of teeth coming out. I was happier when my eyes were closed and I could not see the instruments. My oral surgeon hated the noises I made, but they were involuntary. I took 1 pain pill. It made me feel perfectly happy to watch “Earth Girls are Easy” about four times back to back. I did not remember doing this, my mother told me I did this. I did not need more pain pills after that. I followed my other aftercare instructions. I went mental craving crunchy nachos. To this day I feel strangely peaceful when “Earth Girls” appears on cable.
My brother and I both had our wisdom teeth out on the same day. I went first, got nitrous and lots and lots of local. My bottom wisdom teeth were coming in at a 45 degree angle, half under my back molars, so they really did need to come out. I can’t remember what the deal with my upper wisdom teeth were. It might have been a “as long as we’re in here” thing.
The surgery did not hurt. It did feel odd when the dentist had his hands in my mouth up to his elbows and was sawing my bottom wisdoms teeth into four parts each, but I was too loopy to get upset. My mom, an RN, took me home afterwards, set me up in my parents’ bedroom, went back to get my brother, and put him in there as well. She fed us pain pills, antibiotics, and applesauce on a regular basis and had us do the salt water gargle as well. (She tells the story that she knew we would make it to adulthood without killing each other when, each time she woke one of us up to give us meds, whichever one of us it was would ask how the other was doing. This was when we were 14 and 16, so it was pretty heartwarming for her.)
I was up to eating a tunafish sandwich within 48 hours and fully recovered within a week. The stitches came out on their own. My brother and I compared ours at the dinner table, completely grossing out our older brother. All went well.
I only had to have 1 out, back in 1999 or so. It was already in, about halfway, but I can’t remember why exactly it had to come out. I remember it hurting, though. Fifteen years ago I was told I would eventually “have trouble” with the other ones … which never bothered to come in.
Anyhow, they didn’t knock me out, just gave me those oh-so-fun shots in my mouth. Once I was good and numb the dentist took this awl-looking thing and stuck it in my tooth and pressed it really hard to the side a few times and out it came. Some packing, a Darvocet prescription and I went home.
The Darvocets just knocked me out, so I slept the rest of the day. The next day I was fine.
Is your dentist absolutely SURE they’ve all gotta come out? Some dentists are real bad to insist they need pulled/cut out because, let’s face it, baby needs a new Lexus. (Not that I’m suggesting your dentist drives a Lexus, he or she might be the Cadillac type.) All I’m saying is that sometimes dentists want to pull 'em all when only one or two need to be taken care of. They’re kinda like mechanics that way.
I spent about a month with tooth pain - I normally do have some amount of jaw pain, and that’s where it started, so I didn’t get as much warning as some might. Thought it was some growing pains for the teeth as well, when it got worse - they had been a bit sore off and on for years, when the wisdom teeth started to poke through more. My prior dentist had told me that it looked like there was enough room for them in my jaw, so I didn’t think I’d have a problem with them. When it got to the point where I could not work (in a call center) without the maximum recommended dose of OTC painkillers, I visited the dentist - he referred me to an oral surgeon immediately and gave me a scrip for Darvocets. They helped a wee bit and were no fun at all, but hey, I could work 4 out of 5 days.
The picture after the scan was done was not pretty - the lower 2 were impacted enough that they had shifted all of the teeth in my lower jaw at an angle - which is why they were all hurting. The upper 2 had not yet grown in all the way, but were also not going to be any fun. Scheduled the surgery as soon as possible.
Day of the surgery, woke at an insanely early hour for me, but I figured I was about to go right back to sleep so I should be able to deal. Warned the doc about my needle loathing - I still jerked when he put the IV in the back of my hand - he felt back, but it wasn’t his fault. Bad bruise though. Stupid brain. Doc and I were talking while the drip started - no count back, I think I just passed out midsentence. Time stopped. All of the sudden I was… seeing, kinda, but couldn’t speak. Felt a little bit of a scrapy pull pull in my mouth (I think they were stitching me up). That’s right, I woke up from the anesthetic! It was actually kinda cool, I was feeling no pain at all. Made a few unintelligible noises “aurr! aurr!” and it was lights out again temporarily. After I woke up for good, mother-in-law was there, trying to get me in the wheelchair - I was attempting to boogie across the room. No pain! woo! and I think she was tempted to smack me. We left with a scrip for Mepergan (chemically similar to Demerol) and an ice pack. Instructions as well, of course. That Mepergan was NICE. (Be warned - if you use the opiates, you may be BADLY constipated. As much as you might want to stay doped to the gills, you will pay for it later. I ended up with a hemerrhoid that stuck around for 3 months. It finally healed about a month ago and I had this surgery in November.)
About a week later I did develop a dry socket, though I was as careful as I could be. After a day or so of shooting pain when I breathed through my nose (but not through my mouth, go figure) I went to see the surgeon again - he stuck a little piece of cotton inside the socket with some tooth stuff on it (smelled like clove oil and everything tasted of cloves for the rest of the day, apparantly that’s the active ingredient) which hurt like Hades for a minute - then the pain stopped. BAM! Coulda kissed him.
After about 2 weeks my mouth was mostly sealed up, if not completely healed - needed to be careful about what I ate, really hard stuff like sausage bits HURT, but nothing bled unless I was really stupid.
Keep updating and I’m sure those with experience will be happy to offer advice.