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So far I’ve not wanted to know gory details and still don’t.
The tooth is still in the jaw and dead so it’s got to come out.
They are doing it in the dentists with just the normal dentist injections, nothing fancy.
Should I dose myself up the night before? What’s the best stuff to take?
How long before I’ll be able to eat something solid ?
I only want to hear nice stuff please!
One. ONE!!!!?
Four here, two compacted (the operation required having my jaw dislocated, general anesthetic and a two-night stay). I couldn't eat the hospital food as I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to get the food in. When I got home, I lived on baked beans and mashed potato pushed through the small gap I could manage for about a week. Fortunately I could fit the co-codamol tablets I needed through the gap. I remember one quite trippy experience, just after I got back from the hospital and still coming off the drugs, when I watched Jacob's Ladder – a trippy-enough film at the best of times!
Ohh, and on the night before, the bunch of us that were all in hospital for the same operation just ordered a load of pizza and ate it in the day room – we knew it would be a while before we'd be able to eat pizza again 🙂
Anyway, with one (depending on what they need to do to take it out – I won't go into those gory details), I think you'll recover sufficiently within 24-48 hours max. Have fun. 🙂
So i had this not so long ago.
The dentist stopped the thing, and said to me "you have a tiny mouth and its a pain in the arse to work in". At the end of the op i asked if he could write it on headed paper as generally people tell me the opposite so id find it useful, he declined.
I mentioned this to my mum who dropped a BOMBSHELL revelation - "ah yep, thats the aul O'Neill tiny mouth, we're the scourge of all the dentists in Ireland". What a gip, could have got a nice big strong saxon mouth from my dad, but instead i've inherited Irelands tiniest mouth. Brilliant.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
It's really not that bad. You certainly don't need to dose yourself up beforehand. I didn't even need any painkillers once the anaesthetic had worn off - it was just a mildish ache. Was eating solid food that evening (just avoiding that side).
One. ONE!!!!?
Four here, two compacted
I'll see your two and raise you all four. Had been having headaches, my own dentist referred me to the hospital who looked and scheduled me for an afternoon appointment. I turned up and went in and woke several hour later not feeling great shall we say.
Once I'd recovered enoug to take in what I was being told, the senior surgeon said he'd be talking to the junior who'd seen me as, like you, I should have been in for several days given the state of my mouth. My face looked like (and was the size of) a football, and the my sternum was heavily bruised from where they'd been leaning on it to apply enough pressure to get things out.
I was off work for two weeks
I had one done a couple of years ago.
It was no real drama, the needle with the novacaine was the worst bit, then lots of pulling and wiggling which wasn't pleasant but didn't hurt. As the drugs wore off it ached a bit but a couple of paracetamol every 4 hours for the rest of the day and then I think another couple the following morning and it was fine.
Eating was awkward, just to avoid the area for a week and you don't want to get your toothbrush too close to the socket.
I wouldn't look forward to having it done again, but it's a long way from the worst thing ever.
My tip is to put a towel on your pillow in case you wake up looking like an extra in slasher movie.
I was off work for two weeks
Yeah, my boss at the time wasn't happy with me having about four days off (IIRC) – they just assumed it was like have a tooth pulled and that I'd be back in the next day. But wow – all four compacted. Nasty. I do remember that, when mine first flared up, I was actually punching walls to make me have pain elsewhere to take my mind off the pain in my mouth.
Had one out 2 weeks ago, and I was absolutely cacking myself for a few days before hand. Should have had it taken out years ago, but after having a VERY traumatic experience having 2 removed in my teens, I learned to live with "a bit of discomfort" (2 day raging tooth/headaches)
I let the dentist know I was incredibly nervous, and he was brilliant. Gave me a wipe of something numbing even before the first injection. The actual extraction was more of a wobble from side to side rather than a straight pull - I don't know if that's a new thing? Saves the tooth from breaking off I guess - like my previous extractions??
Back to work in the afternoon feeling a bit worse for wear, but dosed up on Ibuprofen and Paracetamol it wasn't too bad. I didn't have a great nights sleep that night either, but kept dosing up and taking the antibiotics and I was pretty much back to normal in a couple of days. I ate lots of porridge, rice pudding, soups for a couple of days, but as long as you eat on the other side of your mouth you should be fine.
Good luck, and try not to stress!
All four out in one go here. Had it been one I would have suffered local anaesthetic but as it was the four I paid the extra to be knocked out. I’ll second the cover your pillow in a towel/ don’t use the best bed linen. A wee bent spout syringe to help get food rubbish out of the resulting holes is worth getting till the gum closes over. Worst bit was the infection afterwards which burst through the inside of my cheek then I had to have the whole thing cleaned out. 🤮
Two compacted here, back in the day you got gas for anything remotely heavy duty, gums had to be cut open. I woke up a few hours later in a bit of discomfort but fine, back to work the next day. Now try having your mouth wired shut for two months and then having the wire removed from between each and every tooth and the gums which had grown around the metal work, with no painkillers at all because 'most other people manage'. I laugh in the face of your one wisdom being removed!
Only one but was a bit of a palaver.
Numbing went in OK, not pleasant but soon worked and the dentist set to. I too have a small mouth - in can just about get 2 fingers in, bit of a pain when trying to eat whole burgers. And being the person I am I had googled beforehand and they don't really 'pull' teeth out, they do a load of loosening by twisting, rocking, with elevators (little spades down between bone and tooth to loosen the tooth so the pulling is really lifting out)
Anyway - not enough rocking, etc., means when the 'lifting out' bit started, with a sharp crack he delivered the top half leaving the roots. And then the fun started. I was seriously considering telling him not to bother, I'd had enough but of course, you're all-in at this point.
After much effort, he'd produced a few fragments and my neck felt like I'd done 65 mins as prop against the Saffers, when he asked if I'd mind him getting a colleague to have a look, as she also works at the surgical centre at the hospital and might have an idea. Like i said, I'm all in here so agree, so she's summoned, has a look, declares it simple and then explains in technical terms what to do. My dentist, paractise owner as he is says he's never used that technique before, would she mind showing him.... I'm definitely supporting now! But she also has a patient in the chair, so she says she needs 10 mins more there and then she'd come back.
Small talk with your mouth full of instruments was 'strained', so I took myself away to a meditative bit of singletrack somewhere awaiting her return. 10 minutes passes, in she comes and where I've been sat back up for now, it's the first chance I get to see her as anything other than half a face in a mask looming over me.
She's tiny! Like 4'9" and easily less than half the other dentist's size. The one that's had his knee on my chest and a scaffold pole over his extractor to no avail. How this is going to work i have no idea. But, here goes.
It's also at this point that we come to the sudden realisation that a 30 minute session with him and another 10-15 mins of waiting for her, is just about the point at which the anaesthetic wears off.
Renumbed, we start again. Her with massive confidence, him with professional fascination, me a sort of bystander but with a major stake in this process.
And *** me, but with almost no pulling, a deft twist of the slenderest wrist in existence, and plink, plink, all the left behind roots are deposited in the tray with no fuss at all. Utterly amazing.
Aftercare no bother, was slightly worried that after all that I'd have a ragged hole and issues with healing, dry socket, etc. but according to her the left over hole was very tidy. As others have said, you won't be eating solid stuff on it for a while, keep up the salt water gargling as they tell you, and hope you get a Dr Lee and not a Dr Chugani
But, OP, don't let us put you off 🤣
I've just been told to have cold soft food.
Provide me with a tasty menu please.
Yeah 4 impacted wisdom teeth here bottom two had the nerve pretty much running through them. Loads of 3d modelling to work out how they were going to extract them as they kept getting infected.
In the end they decided they needed to remove part of my jaw to get them out, that hurt. Took about a week to recover from that one.
One of the top ones was actually worse though, i got something called 'dry socket' when it was healing up, basically the nerve and bone were just exposed to the air, the pain was unimaginable. Trouble is i had that one first, probably had another 2 years of infections in the bottom ones before i was bold enough to go back.
La la la not listening
I once took Mrs Scape to the dentist in the hope they could put some wisdom teeth in......
My experience is having the dentist kneel on the chair and put one hand on my chest to pull one out, other than that the recovery was pretty unremarkable.
I took a diazepam before I got mine out and they could have removed all my teeth for all I cared 😀
I've just been told to have cold soft food.
Provide me with a tasty menu please.
Ice cream. Various flavours. Job done.
I took a diazepam before I got mine out and they could have removed all my teeth for all I cared 😀
Good idea I shall raid my stash. Can you take them with ibuprofen?
I walked in to the dentist as it was next door to work, I had an abscess and was hoping they could fit me in to look at it. 5 mins later he says its because the wisdom tooth is rubbing and if I don't have it out the abscess will keep coming back. I agreed thinking I'd be booked in later that week. Next thing I know he's stuck a needle in my gum and told me to sit in reception for 10 mins whilst it takes effect. Quick call to work to say I'll be late in before he pulls it out. The only disconcerting thing was him putting his foot on the chair arm to get more leverage.
Back at work before lunch with paracetamol and salt water gargle no problem.
They're not all the horror shows described above 😀
Ladt one i had removed was very easy. My dentist said she wasnt strong enough, so sent ne to a specialist, a bloke from the balkans called Apollo or something equally ridiculous. Rather than pull he pushed and twisted and bingo. No big deal
a bloke from the balkans called Apollo or something equally ridiculous
Made me laugh.
Is it upper or lower?
I've had both, upper is better as much easier to keep clean.
They will probably give you a sheet of aftercare instructions, definitely follow them.
Take it easy the next day or so, it can be quite a trauma and you want to heal quickly and cleanly
I had both out by a tiny lady dentist, incredible technique and no pulling to speak of and no broken roots despite them having ghastly twisted hook like roots.
Sadly the lower got infected and I cannot describe how bad that was - do not get infected , if you are worried ring the dentist immediately. Mine was so bad they did not have enough antibiotics in the building and there was a Scrabble to find more. I ended up with a Dry socket (don't Google this) and my partner thought I was going to die. Then full maxillo-facial consultant (god of dentists) and two months rehab
Apart from that everything was tickety boo
One of my back molars had been getting progressively more troublesome for a few years, patched up with a couple of fillings over time. Eventually one of those at the side cracked off, and what was left was declared BLR. I thought it'll be a pain, literally and metaphorically, to get out, but the lovely Emily sorted it v quick and easy. She did acknowledge that one of the roots was an 'interesting' length when it'd come out. Piece of cake.
Getting it replaced with an implant was a bit more convoluted, but that was because access to lower left 8 is never going to be straightforward.
I'd wisdom teeth taken out aged13 or 14. Not a pleasant experience if i care to remember
Whatever happens ask if you can keep it. Then you can pop it under your pillow. Or put it onto a chain so you can hang it around your neck, Crocodile Dundee style.
My dentist asked if I wanted to see/keep it. After the grief it had given me for a few decadse, absolutely no chance!
I discovered that literally ALL my favorite foods are foods you don't need to chew.
Taramasalata
Nutella
Salmon Mousse
Angel Delight Mmmmmmm....
I could literally gorge on those things forever. It was absolute bliss having my wisdom tooth out.
The next thing, is what do you actually do with the thing? Presumably, you'd want to keep it afterwards? They give it to you wrapped up in a bit of tissue to take home.
But what do you actually do with it..?
I decided to bury mine in a shallow hole dug in the centre of Uffington Castle Iron Age Hillfort in Oxfordshire. It will probably stay there and maybe perplex archaeologists in hundreds of years time.
A little part of me still lies forever buried in an an ancient part of Oxfordshire, despite my now living 11,400 miles away.
Well ,I walked in with my cycle helmet and she said "are you seriously going to cycle home?".
That didn't fill me with confidence.
Anyway I get in the chair and she has a look and says that's odd as the tooth is still under the gum. She asked if it caused any pain and said if it wasn't, it was probably best to leave it alone.
It was also going to be a right nightmare to get out.
"Come back when it hurts."
She said it might have been in the condition it is for many years and the one on the other side was the same and why wasn't the dentist worried about that?
She has written to my dentist with her findings.
I was out of there before she knew it.
As I was waiting a man came out holding his mouth and started crying in the corner while his wife comforted him.
That really put me off.
On a brighter note my family tend to die at 72 so this tooth has only got to behave for another 10 years.
What a wholly disappointing outcome (for the rest of us anyway) 🤣
Sounds like you got lucky, thankfully I have no wisdom teeth to worry about
