I had all four removed last January, after being told by the dentist to do so for a couple of years (was never home long enough to have enough time afterwards in case of side effects). They used general anesthetic, which was a new experience for me (I was amazed at how quickly it worked–I remember him putting the needle in my hand, and I asked him some question while he was doing it, and I don’t remember the answer. Of course, maybe I was awake for a few more seconds, and it just didn’t get written to memory, but still).
I had no side or post-operative effects whatsoever. OTOH, when my brother had his out a few years ago, he had a dry socket pop up a few days later, but still not too big of a deal.
I had mine out in April. They kept causing me pain. They gave me a shot of something in the arm and told me to breathe deeply. Within only a few breaths, I was completely out. Then I woke up, and the only way I new anything had happened was the fact that my entire mouth was completely numb. (I couldn’t really talk clearly the rest of the day). Also the fact that I was drooling blood. I only bled for a little while after the surgery. I took a couple of pain killers through the next couple of days, but didn’t really need them. Withing 4-5 days I was playing bass trombone again, and on the sixth day I recall being able to play loud and low again.
I had three of mine out, and I took the dentist’s word for it that they needed out (and the guy who said I needed it wasn’t the guy profiting from it). I went under general, felt essentially no pain, and ate a hamburger for dinner that evening. There’s actually a lower fatality rate for general than local anaesthetic, although this is due primarily to the fact that they don’t use general in high-risk cases. In any event, the numbers were something like 1 death in 40,000, and I’m in pretty good health to begin with, so I didn’t consider the risk significant.
The anaesthetic was weird… They stuck something in my arm, and talked to me for a few moments. The next thing I know, I’m in the recovery room, with a definite sense that time had passed, but that I wasn’t there for it. I’m told that I got to the recovery room by walking, on my own two feet. Perhaps it was something like the memory-suppressing stuff Nightingale got?
I am 30… My bottom wisdom teeth have both been removed because they were very weak and rotten. The top two came in with no problems, and actually SOLVED one problem. I had a cuspid that never cam ein in the top that allowed a gap between my teeth. When the wisdom teeth came in, it pushed them all together and no more gap. See… →
I think we’re all describing roughly the same thing, except for the few people who were given a general. The effects are somewhat different for different people. “twilight anesthesia” seems to be a general term for zonking you out with intravenous sedatives without making you lose conciousness. Valium like I got is one drug used for this purpose, demerol and fentanyl being others.
I DO remember hearing about people who were into recreational use/abuse of downers going to an oral surgeon for this procedure and eventually getting told to leave because the anesthetic didn’t do anything to them. Presumably, they would go find a surgeon who would do it under a general. Somebody who went to the same guy I did a few weeks later reported that it was horrible - she didn’t wind up feeling “detached” at all, and was aware of the whole operation.
to answer Lola - I still have 3 of 4 of 'em. I’m 46 (or soon will be). One gave me problems years ago (when I was in my 20’s). Had an aching jaw, that escalated very quickly to “I can’t even eat”, so from first symptom of problem to removal was about 2 or 3 days. “surgery” is the term they use for any type of incision, including removal of skin tags (where there’s a topical anesthetic only and no residual pain/discomfort). So, depending on how yours are, they may or may not be a big deal in removal. In my case it was “surgery” 'cause they had to cut into the gum over top in order to get at the thing. Laughing gas during (swell time, I recommend) and a script for Tylenol 3’s afterward that I barely used.
Bottom line to me, get a pro’s opinion of your case, if you have any reservations, get a second…
Get your jaw x-rayed. My jaw is slightly short, resulting in problems if I let my wisdom teeth protrude. I am having them removed sometime in the next 5 months. It is especially important to know if they’re impacted. If so, that could be a problem. Mine aren’t, so I don’t have to really worry about a painful removal.
I had my lower two removed last June because they were undoing the work of my braces. They were coming out in a funky angle, too… ick. They also hurt like hell.
I still have my upper wisdoms. They’re emerging slowly, but more importantly, they’re coming out straight, so I don’t think they’ll need to be extracted.
Gas AND novocaine is the way to go. The little plastic syringe they gave me to “flush out the area periodically” was cool, too.
I never had mine removed. Three of them came in straight, more or less, and I haven’t had any problem with them since then. The fourth one never came in, but when I was about 21, some small pieces of what looked like bone or tooth erupted from the gum in that area and came out. Either the fourth one was so deformed it just broke apart, or some pieces of my jawbone were shed. Didn’t really hurt.
Still have mine…they all came in straight and proper. Except I only have three, one never formed. The dentist said he’s seeing more and more cases of missing wisdom teeth in his patients…evolution, I guess.
I had all four of mine pulled in January at age 27. Only one of them had erupted, but the recomendation was that since I was having one come out, I might as well get them all done. Why go through the “risk” of the surgury more than once.
It was done in the oral surgeons office. I was given a combination of Nitrous Oxide gas and valium IV. The doctor suggested that I bring a portable CD player with headphones if I didn’t want to hear the drilling. It was kind of weird. After the drugs set in, I remember listening to the whole CD, but it seemed like the whole procedure took only five minutes.
And, like mentionned in a previous post, the dentist could have taken out all of my teeth for all I cared at the time. Quite relaxing.
The “recovery” for me took about 3 days. I was given perscriptions for penecillin and Tylenol 3. I used up all the penecillin, but only took the Tylenol 3 for a day and a half before they weren’t really needed anymore. The doctor used disolving stitches, so it healed on its own. The only thing you had to be careful of was to make sure you didn’t get any food caught in it. I was given a little spray tube which I filled with warm salt water and squirted out my four new “holes” after every meal. No problems since then.
I was pretty nervous having them out after hearing horror stories from friends and family. Maybe I was lucky, but I never did see what the big deal was…
To answer Lola, I’m 29 and still have all four. My dentist told me as long as I took care of them (brushing and flossing) I would never have any problems. That’s probably due to my big ol’ Cro-Magnon style jaw (complete with large canines)
I had them all out last year when I was 27. They all came in straight and I never had any problems with them. My dentist recommended I have them taken out because they were hard to clean because of their position in my mouth, they had alot of cavities and the teeth next to them had more cavities too. The botoom ones were a crowding my other teeth a little but I never felt any discomfort. I was hesitant to have them taken out because I was afraid of being put under, but I did it anyway and it was no problem. A prick in the arm, a floating feeling and then waking up with four less teeth.
My remaining teeth feel better and I feel like I have a cleaner mouth as a result.
I had a tooth pulled a couple of years earlier with just Novocaine and that was horrible. I would definetly recommend the general anaesthetic.
If your dentist has said the time has come to remove them do so. He knows best. I allowed mine to “come in” for a couple of years. I was miserable. Eventually they had broken the surface but were severely impacted. Just made things harder for my recovery once they were removed. It also caused my teeth to shift just enough that they are a tiny bit crooked. Not that most people notice but my teeth were pretty much perfect before I allowed the wisdom teeth to beging crowding them out. And now many years later I have a minor, but often painful and annoying, problem called “cracked tooth syndrome”. The pressure from allowing my wisdom teeth to come in so far created many hairline cracks in my exsisting teeth. Most of them you can’t even see well with regular light and the naked eye. But one or more of these cracks can begin to cause you pain and sensitivity, often after other dental work, sometimes for no real reason at all. They can also fracture much more easily even after a minor blow.
If you need your wisdom teeth removed I advise you go ahead and get it over with. There are always risks but the benefits usually outweight them.
