wisdom teeth

[1989laredoxj]

so I wake up this morning and I have a bit of pain in me jaw, I figure its just a toothache and I decide to wait it out. By around 1 I realize its not going away even after meds and I go to the worst place in the world.... the dentist office. They take x-rays and figure out my bottom left wisdom tooth is coming in sideways and they tell me I need them all yanked out because I don't have enough room in my jaw to fit them. I plan on seeing a dentist tommorow about getting them pulled, but they havent even come through my gums yet. What kind of pain should I expect? drinking seems to take the pain away for now so thats what I have done. Now im going to go pass out and hope I am not hungover in the morning and the pain isnt as severe.

 

[Beej]

First off, get a second opinion, and make it clear to the second dentist that even if s/he thinks they need to be pulled, your first dentist will be doing the job (ie. dentist # 2 will not get the money!). Dentists LOVE wisdom teeth; after all, there's never any room for wisdom teeth in anyone's mouth. The pain won't be bad during the process of yanking. If yours are still under the gums, then you will probably have to go under a general anaesthetic to have them pulled. Healing after they've been pulled is another story. It will probably be a couple of days of aching pain and a swollen jawline bigger than a squirrel gathering nuts in the fall. Forget about talking or eating or drinking or breathing for a day or two. Sometimes weird things happen too, like I woke up with two black eyes after my surgery. I looked like I'd been taken to task with a baseball bat. Hope this helps!

 

[hackedxj]

I got the same advise from my dentist when I went in for a checkup.I never had them pulled even though they felt uncomfortable at times. The wisdom part still hasn't come in yet, but the extra teeth are cool.lol

 

[Boatwrench]

Two years ago I volunteered for an assignment on ship. I go to the CG dentist for an overseas screening, he says anything bothering you, I told him little discomfort on the lower left in the rear. After an x-ray, he tells me root canal and need to pull the wisdom teeth, but he sends me to a civilian specialist. The specialist looks at the xray and says he will do the work in three weeks (ship sails in two)...I go to a civilian dentist on my wifes insurance plan, he prescirbes a mouth guard says I am grinding my teeth in my sleep, don't mess with the wisdom teeth if they ain't hurting (I was 45 at the time) and the root canal was not needed. The CG says to sad too bad the ship's leaving in two weeks with someone else, you need dental work.

Two years later still have the wisdom teeth, no root canal and wear the mouth guard occasionally.

Best advice...get another opinion.

But hey....we here on aren't doctors and don't even play them on TV...so get the 2nd opinion from a trained professional.

 

[jeepinandy]

I got the same advise from my dentist when I went in for a checkup.I never had them pulled even though they felt uncomfortable at times. The wisdom part still hasn't come in yet, but the extra teeth are cool.lol

some people can have wisdom teeth with no trouble. and some come in with no trouble at first but then they start pushing your teeth together making them crooked.. then your looking at getting them pulled AND braces... just something to think about....

 

[jeepinandy]

But hey....we here on aren't doctors and don't even play them on TV...so get the 2nd opinion from a trained professional.

that too

 

[Beej]

But hey....we here on aren't doctors and don't even play them on TV...so get the 2nd opinion from a trained professional.

X2. I shoulda mentioned this too; caveat my limited experience if you will. I can't help your teeth, but I might be able to help you with your crippling emotional pain

 

[hackedxj]

X2. I shoulda mentioned this too; caveat my limited experience if you will. I can't help your teeth, but I might be able to help you with your crippling emotional pain

I've seen your work, quite impressive.

 

[junkxj]

When I was very young my mom had to have her wisdom teeth taken out. She has always had gum and teeth problems, and she had to have a pretty serious surgery to have them cut out. All I remember from it is her talking about the people dancing on the roof for about 2 days. I was much to young to appriciate what the doctor had given her for pain. Anyway, not trying to scare you. From what I hear most of the time it is not as serious of a procedure as my mom went through.

 

[nhrocker]

I would ask to look at the X-rays as well as get the second opinion. My dentist found out I needed them removed and sent me to someone else to get them removed. He showed me the teeth and the image showed how bad I needed them removed (all 4 were coming in at 45 degree angles to the other teeth). I ended up getting all 4 pulled at once. To be blunt, it sucks- if they give you some heavy painkillers for afterwards, they're for a good reason, take them..... I found out the hard way why they give them to you! :gag:

 

[olivedrabcj7]

i had my wisdom teeth out about 2 years ago (i was 18). its not bad at all. they hook up an IV, youre out in 30 seconds or less, you wake up, no pain, you go home, lay in bed for a few days, catch up on your reading of jp magazene, surf the web all day, eat hydrocodone like skittles, then go back to work a couple days later. seriously, there was very little pain afterwards. i only ended up taking one pain pill, and it was just to see what they were like.

 

[gearwhine]

I got mine yanked my freshman year of college...junior now. They showed me the x-ray...I'm no expert, but my god.....Those teeth were growing sideways, and I could see why my mouth was hurting to f'in badly.

My brother, cousins, friends, etc all had major pain from 2 days to a week after the surgery. Me....I am one special guy....haha, I was eating hard food the night I got them pulled. They only swelled a little, and I never took any of the pain reliever prescription they gave me. I was very lucky.

When you get home after getting them pulled, get huge bags of ice, and just wrap them around your face, bleed in a bucket for a while, (I bled in a bucket for about 2 hours or so, ) and try to go to sleep. Keep ice on your face for the ENTIRE day. It will keep the swelling down tremendously, which means less pain. _nicko_

 

[nhrocker]

I was either 14 or 15, but I was one of the unlucky ones. I was knocked out for it as well, but they had to do so much breaking to get mine out that even the Percocet they gave me didn't help for a while. Then again it was my own stupidity that thought I would be fine without it. So I ended up not taking it until the localized anesthetics wore off.....By that time I was not so comfortable. :doh:

Luckily the worst of the pain was gone within two days.

 

[Yucca-Man]

I've found out the hard way that normal loads of painkillers don't work for me. I had my annual dental exam at MCAS El Toro back in 1990ish and the "Doc" claimed I needed three of my Wisdoms removed. He shot me up whatever the standard painkiller was, and commenced to working. He spent so much time with both hands in my mouth that I thought I would never be able to close it again...by the time he finished farting around with it, I was starting to feel things again. Once he was at Number Three, I felt everything he did but he never stopped. Once he was done pulling it, he threw the tooth in a basin and walked out, telling the orderly to "pack him and get him outta here"

The orderly started packing my sockets and asked me whether I had felt the last two - I could only nod weakly as I tried to unclutch my hands from the armrests. Apparently I metabolized the painkillers pretty quickly. On the positive side, they gaev me Tylox (Tylenol III w/codeine) and I passed out, motionless and without pain for a good 14 hours...

When I was ordered back in the next time, the Doc wanted to remove the fourth one. Fortunately, I got the Dental Battalion CO that time and he reassured me that the last dentist was long gone. He numbed me up and I swear he never even got his hand in my mouth but the job was done. Dang I could have used his services the first time around....

 

[ILLXJ]

Had mine removed in 90. Did the right side then 2 weeks later did the left. I didn't have any pain or swelling either time. The CQ didn't believe I had them done & almost didn't let me go hame. JIM.

 

[RichP]

I had all 4 done in one sitting, wide awake, novacaine only, two top ones were out in less then 5 minutesm pop pop and gone, two bottom ones had be broken up with an air chisel into 4 pieces each, they were at a steep angle pushing my bottom teeth to the front. Had it done on a monday or tuesday and they sent me home for the rest of the week. My option was have the base dentist do it or take a chance on our onboard corpsman while on patrol. He was the reason I learned to take my own blood samples with the syringe and vacum tubes so no way was I letting him near my teeth...I did spend 2 days pretty much horizontal, around day 3 it was back to walking around, got alot of correspondence courses done though. Pain killers consisted of some high strength tylenol and that was about it. I hate drugs or being drugged.
They also showed me the xrays, we had to have them before every patrol so I could see the progress over a one year plus period and even I knew they had to come out...

 

[BlackXJ4x4]

Got mine pulled Freshman year college (god that was 7 years ago...) all 4 in one whack. I took ALL the pain meds and it worked like gangbusters. Also I had frozen peas and corn instead of ice. It molds MUCH better to your face and helps the swelling. DON'T smoke soon after. I worked in a cigar shop at the time and went back the day after and messed up a socket by tugging on that cigar. Also don't drink it just thins your blood and will make you bleed much longer.

Who knows though.

 

[1989laredoxj]

i have seen my x-ray and the bottom left is about 45 to about 30 degrees pushing forward against my teeth. the other 3 are coming in okay but are to tight to my teeth. I am not just going to have one pulled, I figure just get it out of the way. I already talked to the dentist and told him I had to be out cold for this, and I needed some serious meds. Having a good tolerance to pain but not when it comes to dentistry. He told me he would see what he could do. The dentist who told me I needed the teeth removed isn't going to remove them, I need to go to a orthopedic surgeon (spell check) So I see no reason he would tell me to get them all removed if its not needed considering hes not gonna make a dime, except for the 145.00 bill for getting x-rayed....... are they outa there mind?

 

[poomba]

My experience was like RichP's. Impacted wisdom teeth, chisled, gutted it out with regular tylonol. One thing, if you get it done, be very careful keeping your mouth clean. Some people can't tolerate the stuff they pack in the sockets (where the tooth was), but it does help keep infection down. And trust me, you don't want to get meat debris in there, cuz retching with a sore jaw, wellll..it isn't a lot of fun. On the other hand, when you drool on yourself, you can show people the dentist slip..over the years, you'll have to change the date, but..hey, you drive an XJ, you already know how to improvise. :laugh3:

 

[Steele]

geesh, am I the only one that has room for all 4!!! but I don't feel any wiser... doh!!!!