This is the second of two I’ve had out in my life. The first one, about ten years ago, was done by freezing the area with a local, then the dentist–saying, “I’ll just check that”–popped it out with a tool he had palmed. It was over before I knew it.
This last one was done differently. The dentist (a different dentist) froze the area. Then he applied a tool of some kind–like pliers, I imagine, but not quite the same. Talking to me the whole while, he told me that there would be some pressure, and if I heard a crack, not to panic. And sure enough, after some pressure feeling, and one or two crack sounds, out it came.
I’m wondering why the first did not follow the second’s technique. Or, alternately, why the second didn’t follow the first’s. Of the two, I’d prefer the second’s–but maybe that’s just me.
Have any other Dopers had wisdom teeth out by either technique? Or perhaps by a different one? How did you like it (or not)?
I shouldn’t complain really about either–in each case, my wisdom tooth had rotted to the point where it was in constant pain, and I was on painkillers, so any kind of removal was welcome. But I’m just wondering about other Dopers’ experiences.
I was put under for mine. One of the evil teeth had wrapped around a nerve, and needed some TLC to come out. I have a sharply curved jaw (oh frabjous day) which also complicated things. My sockets took forever to heal, and one kept getting infected. The less you know about that, the better. My advice: keep the sockets clean. Really really really. Really.
I had mine removed about ten years ago. All four at once,local anesthetic,lots of cracking noises. I’d say the noise was worst part. I was a little bothered by the fact I was not stitched up like I was expecting to be. I was given a syringe with no needle to squirt bits of food out of the holes though. I was eating pretty much normally after four days but had to keep squirting out the gunk for about two weeks. I’ve heard lots of horror stories about infected and dry sockets so take The Bad Astronomer’s advice and keep 'em clean.
Well, your experience was better than mine. The doc didn’t freeze mine and I was stupid enough to have it done under a local. The bottom two had partially erupted and were constantly getting infected around the gums and one of the top ones had become exposed when I had a tooth pulled and had a cavity. I figured I’d save the $40 that putting me under would have cost and just get a local. Big mistake. Even with the anesthetic it was still painful and the pressure felt like my brains were being pulled out through the socket. The only work other than pulling the teeth the doc did was to break fome of them apart with the drill. Sounds like yours was pretty pleasant by comparison. I’ve still got one in there and if it has to come out, I’m going to have them knock me out for it.
My very first new thread was about my experience getting my wisdom teeth out. I had all 4 pulled at once, and it really wasn’t that bad in my opinion. I wasn’t knocked out or anything, the dentist just stuck my mouth with a needle a few times, and went at it. He only had to break the bottom 2 to get them out. The top two came out great. Down near the end of the thread, I posted a link to a picture of them. Check it out if you want, the thread is Here
I had all four out, two of which were still buried under the gum. I wasn’t out, but I was so doped up on several different kinds of happy pills (in addition to the local anaesthetic) that it was actually kinda fun. I highly recommend this method. If you do it this way, ask your dentist if he minds you wearing a walkman, it helps distract you - pick out something upbeat (Moxy Fruvous worked quite well for me).
Of course, the aftermath - where the happy pills are wearing off and you’re starting to realize that your mouth is sore, your face is entirely numb, and you’re drooling blood on yourself - is much less enjoyable no matter how you do it.
I was out for the count both times. Only way to do it. I just went under, and woke up later - voila! No wisdom teeth!
I had to take a few days off work both times. I was kind of wiped out and oogy for at least the next day. The happy pills were wonderful, but the ones I was given were so weird, I felt otherworldly. Like I have enough of a problem as it is with reality, I didn’t need the help. So I stopped taking the happy, otherworldly pills as soon as I could.
I echo the cautions about keeping the area clean, to avoid dry socket. I have never had dry sockets, but I hear terrible things about them. Terrible terrible.
I had mine out two weeks ago. They totally put me out. I woke up, groggy and they were gone. Took some Roxicet because I heard it was going to hurt, but didn’t really need it. A dull soft pain for a few days, which I needed ibuprofen for, but I could have lived without it. They had to cut one tooth up or something to get it out. They weren’t impacted. No swelling. I took off 3 days but I could have gone back on the 3rd day. A lot of drooling and blood though.
It feels weird not having them there. That is 12.5% of my chewing area (maybe more because they were so big) that is gone now. It feels weird when I swish my tongue around back there.
What is this dry socket thing? I’ve heard about it, I asked the dentist and he just said ‘don’t worry’. I asked if I need a syringe, he said no. All I’m doing now is swishing water around in my mouth to dislodge any food ‘stuck’ there, and brushing gingerly. I have flossed back there and found food really gets stuck to the back of the last tooth now.
I do have bad sensitivity on one side, but I think that’s because of the gums wearing away, gum disease. It wasn’t this bad before the extraction though, which makes me curious(and worried). I never flossed infrequently when I was younger and I’m paying the price now. FLOSS! FLOSS! FLOSS!
I got mine out with a general anesthetic. All four at once. I must say, it was great (comparatively). I just fell asleep, and when I woke up, no more wisdom teeth!
I had very little pain, but did get sick after eating a lot of cookies and cream ice cream. That was not a pretty sight.
Narrad:From what I understand, and I’m no expert, as long as you can keep them clean you can keep them forever. My problem was I didn’t floss and brush properly back there. I got a cavity and the dentist said it was nearly impossible to fix. He had been asking me for about the last 5 years if I wanted to have them out, you can imagine what I said. This time it looked like I had no choice. Also my bottom and top jaw were off by a little bit, insted of tooth against tooth, it was tooth against gap, gap against tooth, etc. So everytime I chew, my teeth wouldn’t overlap so food had a greater tendency to get caught between the teeth, the small gaps between them.
You have to keep them clean. It takes effort to floss between and behind them. Do that, brush well back there and you won’t have the problems I had. I can’t guarantee you won’t have other ones though.
I had three pulled at the same time. My dentist said my recovery time would be shorter if I was not awake to hear all of the crunching and feel all the pulling, so I had a general.
I was in a chair with an IV and lots o’ EKG patches and whatnot. The oral surgeon asks if I’m ok, and I repsond that I’d like some more of the stuff in the IV, cause it made me feel reeeeeeeeealy goooooooooood, and the next thing I know, I’m in another room, sitting up with gauze sticking out of my mouth.
A coworker had his Wisdom Teeth pulled a few months before I did, and he had a hard time eating for about a month after. I guess he did not eat much solid food, so his mouth stayed closed for about a week. When he did try to eat again, he had trouble opening his mouth as wide as he could before. I decided that that would not happen to me, so I took the pain pills and ate everything I normally would have. My recovery took about a week, but it was more like 2 weeks before I felt normal again.
I haven’t had mine out (one is already in and is a functional tooth, the others are thinking about it), but we are keeping a close eye on one that is coming in sideways. I was horrified that this one would be impossible to extract–really some kind of nightmare oral surgeon visit, including screaming on my part and cursing on the part of the surgeon, possibly with him standing on my chair for leverage–but my dentist said that ones like that often just “Roll right out.”
Is it possible that the one you first had extracted was coming in differently and was easier to yank?
Two words.
General anesthetic.
Only humane way to do it. I followed mine up with nice prescription painkillers and just slept through the healing period afterwards.
I wound up getting all four wisdom teeth and four molars (the ones in the back) removed at once. They put me under, I woke up, got put in the car, and was in bed for a couple of days while my girlfriend fed me painkillers. Didn’t feel a thing, and I wouldn’t mind doing it all over again just for a relaxing vacation.
I had two bottom ones out at one time, then the two top ones later. The bottom ones were miserable. I actually went into shock after having them out, and lost the clot in one of the sockets (the infamous dry socket) - DO NOT LOSE YOUR CLOTS! It hurts like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Imagine the bone of your jaw being exposed, and that’s exactly what it was like. Be very careful with eating and rinsing the area; be very gentle for the first week even, I would say. And take it easy for about a week, too. I went to a family wedding the day after having my bottom ones out, and that’s when I went into shock. Just stay home. Be good to yourself. This is a big deal for your body, even if you still feel pretty good.
Getting my wisdom teeth out was by far the worst medical experience of my life–granted, I haven’t had too many terrible things happen to me, but still, it was awful.
I was put under with general, and woke up 3/4 of the way through the procedure. I couldn’t feel any pain, but I knew what the doctor and the nurse were doing. I was so messed up and woozy that I started talking to them, and contributing to their conversation about homeless people. When the dentist heard me, he kind of jumped back and said “Oh, you’re awake.” Yup.
So then I get home and end up vomiting blood all afternoon because my stupid painkillers made me sick. I was warned against dry sockets, because if you’re on the pill, you’re more likely to get them, so I was completely neurotic and did everything I could to prevent against them (not drinking through straws, the whole deal.) Well, I got them anyway, and it was truly the worst pain I’ve experienced in my life. It was indescribable, and all I could do was roll around in my bed whimpering for a day. I couldn’t sleep. I could barely do anything. The pain just completely knocked me on my butt.
The only good thing about dry sockets, though (just so you aren’t petrified now) is that they are super easy to fix. You go back to the oral surgeon (dentist, whatever) that did your teeth and he puts these clove sachets in the dry sockets. The pain goes away in about two minutes. Seriously. I was kicking myself for not going before. As soon as you think you have dry sockets, get thee to your dentist dude. You will feel so much better.
I honestly don’t know. My dentist at the time (he has since retired) didn’t really explain in detail why it had to come out and at that time. He mentioned that it was coming in strangely, but I’m unsure at what angle–perhaps you’re right though; it might have been easier to pop out by levering.
Mine were absolutely horrible. To begin with I had them all out at once. “All four?” you ask, oh no, I had all FIVE out at once. I don’t know if the extra one was technically a “wisdom tooth”, but I had 5 teeth removed. The first two days were OK, I was wacked out of my head on percodan. once those ran out I tryed to just go with Ibuprofen. It might have worked, if not for the dreaded dry sockets. I suffered in agony for a day and a half(the orthodontist had choosen, in his infinite wisdom, not to warn me about the possibility) before I called his office. he called in a script for vicodin and that took the edge off, but I still wasn’t even close to “comfortable”. The pain was still bad for another 5 days or so. I missed a little over a week of work. It was one of the worst experiences of my life.
So I stopped taking the happy, otherworldly pills as soon as I could.