Anyway, I got them pulled and it felt like a new era in life over the past several weeks. I'm alright now, but the process of 110 percent healing takes forever (such as the holes, the debris, etc). Here are some of the words of support that I have received (courtesy of TWoP) before, during, after, and way after the procedure, along with the message that stated that I was paranoid and that I might never recover.
Basically I've heard different from family and friends. I don't know what to expect. Some people I've talked to say that it's painful afterwards (which is natural after any surgery). Others said they've felt nothing at all, and others said that the worst day is the third day.
Seriously, I need to know:
1. What should I really expect from Hour 1?
2. Will I be able to talk?
3. Is alcohol a better "pain-killer" than pain killers?
4. Anything else
#3 came up b/c "alcoholic 'things'" have helped many pain and injuries in the past. A couple others have said the same, but I'm not sure that I'll be allowed to consume it.
The other main reason I'm actually bringing this up (where it's allowed, I believe) is basically my way of informing the curious as to why a long-time lurker and pretty frequent poster such as myself may have disappeared for a few days. I'm not gonna turn this into a thread about personal stuff, but I'm just trying to receive the best advice possible from the best online crew that I've seen, ever.
I'll try to post a couple things over the next several days, so that you'll know that I'm alive; otherwise, thanks in advance.
I personally wouldn't try the alcohol thing though. The alcohol might burn the incisions on the inside of your mouth.
Good luck! I never really had any problems with mine. I guess I kept waking up during surgery, but I don't remember any of that. The doc said he had to give me four times the amount of normal anesthetic. I always wondered what that meant, exactly. Anyway, I was eating solid food pretty quickly, and I flew to NYC less than a week after I had the surgery. The grossest thing was the swisher deal to clean out the holes, but eh, better to be grossed out for a little bit and have a clean mouth. I had alcohol and I don't remember any problems. I would stick with a liquor though, and not beer or wine. Cleaner, less chances for infection. I know that sounds like a ton of crap, but that's what my doc and the guy that pierced my tongue (obviously, these occurred at separate times) told me, and I never had any problems. I never thought the pain pills were that great...I was like, where are the good drugs? Where's this weight loss I keep hearing about?
[ot]The alcohol/wisdom tooth thing:
Don't. Alcohol and opiates (morphine, codeine, oxycodone etc.) have an additive effect. Used together they can cause a lot of sedation, and respiratory depression (NOT BREATHING). Don't mix alcohol and pain meds other than ibuprofen. Alcohol and tylenol have a possible link to liver damage.
I am a real doctor and I know this is off topic but I don't want to see anyone accidentally off themselves.
Good luck with your teeth SeaBreeze341! I would answer your q's but I haven't had mine out yet.
I love these Trading Spaces banner ads. The Crying Pam episode was truly a classic.
I just watched 24. Amazing! It puts ER to shame in a VERY big way.
Hey SeaBreeze -
So, you're givin' the old wisdom teeth the heave-ho!! Good luck to you! Here's what I recall from my own experience:
1. What should I really expect from Hour 1?
You will probably sleep for hour 1, if not for hours 2 and 3 as well. Seriously - the stuff the dentist administers to knock you out can get pretty powerful.
2. Will I be able to talk?
Reality bites. :) You'll be able to slur some words, but the numbing agent will leave your lips and chin feeling rubbery, will make you drool, etc. In other words, don't invite a significant other over.
Usually the stitches are covered with wads of cotton for the first day or so. That renders talking quite difficult. Also, the scabs that form over the incisions can sometime be loosened by excess verbiage, so you might want to consider every word an "expense" of sorts - i.e., you have limited credit. And seriously - you don't want to have the incisions reopen. That would expose raw nerve endings to cold air and/or other teeth, tongue, etc. - and THAT is where all the "horrible, horrible, I thought I was going to *die*" pain stories come from.
3. Is alcohol a better "pain-killer" than pain killers?
Put it this way: ingesting the amount of alcohol to kill pain would undoubtedly leave you hungover - nasty headache and possibly vomiting, neither of which would help the incisions get better. Just go with what they perscribe you - and *don't* go overboard! Seriously - if you get too used to popping a painkiller, it can be a bitch to go off it cold turkey.
4. Anything else?
The level of post-op pain will probably depend on 1) how many teeth you're having removed and 2) whether any of them is considered "impacted." To have an impacted wisdom tooth means that they have to saw into your jawbone and crack the tooth into two or more bits in order to extract it. Don't worry - it's not as horrific as it sounds. All four of mine were impacted, and I survived.
My advice? Make this as much of a "fun" experience as it possibly can be! Take a few sick days. Write long, needlessly complicated notes to people. Try to make up your own sign language. Send your friends and/or family out to get you applesauce, milkshakes (eat with a spoon - the sucking action of a straw can shake loose the healing parts of your gums), pudding, etc. Rent a whole BUNCH of movies with your favorite actor and have a "_______ Film Fest." Or do what you've always wanted and watch the original three "Star Wars" in a row, in one sitting. Or watch all the ER episodes you have on tape. Or play Nintendo for three days running. Or just sit, relax, read a book, and catch up on sleep.
My point? Parts of your mouth may hurt for a while, but the recovery can be fun. I hope everything goes well for you!!
Well there's always the TWOP recaps to fill you in on the background.
Ah Seabreeze, the romoval of those pesky wisdom teeth...
I had mine out a little over a year ago. The whole first day was pretty much a blur, thanks to the painkillers my dentist perscribed. A lot of sleeping and passing out in front of movies I don't remember.
The third or fourth day was probably the most painful, by then I was off vicoden and just on over-the counter stuff, so I was more aware of it. But even then it was just really sore pain, not excruciating i-can't-function-anymore-and-want-to-die-pain.
Just be ready to take it easy for a few days. Don't try to talk much, and just be careful about the stitches...basically what RL said. You'll survive! Good luck!
I'll keep my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly, SeaBreeze. I haven't had mine out yet, and I'm pretty old. My friends have had experiences that run the gamut. One boyfriend had an awful time; his cheeks poofed out and he looked like a chipmunk for days. He told me to never get mine extracted unless they were killing me.
BUT, on the bright side, my girlfriends all had theirs out, and the next day they were fine. They still were slurring some words, but they weren't in pain at all. (The codeine sure helps!)
Hope yours goes swimmingly, and welcome! It's nice to have more East Coast folks here. (I've got family in PA, outside Philly.)
Edited to say, I don't mean I'm pretty old, period. I mean I'm pretty old for someone not to have had her wisdom teeth extracted! I'm still a spring chicken, dagnabit.
Hi SeaBreeze!
Wisdom teeth extraction is different for everyone. I'll put the gross parts of my post in spoiler tags, just in case we have some weak-stomached people reading.
If your WT are impacted (have not peeked out from under your gum), ask your oral surgeon how he is planning on extracting them. [spoiler start] Mine were impacted, and the oral surgeon made an incision on the side of my gum, folded the flap over (exposing the entire tooth), removed the tooth, and replaced the flap. [spoiler end] This way, I did not have the "pockets" some people experience, and my healing time was very short. As a matter of fact, I had the teeth removed on a Monday afternoon, and Wednesday night I ate pizza for dinner.
If you have cut your wisdom teeth (they are showing when you look in your mouth), the oral surgeon will [spoiler start] most likely dig them out. My brother had this done, and he was eating soft food for weeks. [spoiler end]
Insofar as the painkillers, usually the oral surgeon will make sure you are super-doped up when you leave, and will give you enough to keep you out of pain until you go back for your checkup.
Good Luck! Let us know how it goes!
My experience wasn't bad. It didn't hurt very much, and I was high as a kite from the Vicodin and general anaethesia (sp?) for three days. Then I cried all day when I was coming down off of all the drugs, but it wasn't from the pain... just from the drugs.
Wisdom teeth. Yuck. I had all 4 of mine cut out when I was 20. Had some excellent painkillers, though.
It wasn't too bad for me when I had my wisdom teeth out. I had three removed, two of which were impacted. I swelled a little and didn't bruise at all. I had it done on a Wednesday and was out with my friends the following Saturday. As for pain killers, I was given Tylenol 3's and they didn't work. They didn't touch the pain at all. So I switched to extra strength aspirin and it worked beautifully.
The worst parts for me were rinsing my mouth out with salted water (ew!) and the fact that the antibiotics made me feel a little nauseated. (I can't eat Spaghettios to this day. Not that I would want to, anyway. The smell brings back memories of how sick I felt trying to eat them after I had my teeth out.)
Grossness alert!
If you're a smoker, for Pete's sake, don't smoke until the incisions are healed! My father told me that when he had his out, he snuck a cigarette the next day. The vacuum created in his mouth by inhaling on the cigarette ripped some of his sutures right out and he had to go back to the surgeon to have them replaced.
They gave me Mepergan Fortis for pain. It kicked my ass. Totally got rid of the pain.
quote:
3. Is alcohol a better "pain-killer" than pain killers?
Seabreeze, I've never had my wisdom teeth removed, so I have no particular advice. But, depending on what kind of pain killers they give you, I'd be really careful about *mixing* them with alcohol, or you might end up in the, well, ER...
Good luck.
Hi SeaBreeze! My advice is to use teabags instead of gauze once you get home from the tooth removal. There's something in the tea (tannin, I think?) that aids in stopping the bleeding and forming scabs. Moisten two tea bags in lukewarm water, and place them in the wounds, closing gently. Your mouth will be quite numb so you won't taste it too much. Nice home remedy. Take the medication they give you, get plenty of liquids, and sleep, sleep sleep!
SeaBreeze341, I'm too late to do you much good, but for all other dental patients, I highly recommend diligent pre-medication (get ahead of the pain): take those pills before you feel pain, or they won't work nearly as well (there were some legitimate pain studies that arrived at the same conclusion, BTW, but my own were a lot more convincing :)
I had mine out a while ago, so I know sort of what I'm talking about. I went to a hospital to get mine done, i didnt just get it done in the dentists office. I also took local anaestetic(?). My first hour after i got out, I was still pretty much knocked out, I ended up sleeping in the hospital for a while after. Plan for lots of bruising, (i had green bruises all over my cheeks, people called me 'grass-stain' for a while after) My pain wasn't bad, they prescribed me some tylenol 3, with codein, i believe, which helped a lot. But by far the best part was in the week to follow, when your talking to people and stitches fly out of your mouth, and they are all 'thats disgusting'. But, enough about me, let us all know how it went once its all over, and take the time to catch up on some sleep, pain doesnt seem to hurt as much when your sleeping. Good luck, and I apologize for the long post
I don't know if you have had a straightforward extraction or if your teeth were impacted. I had a straightforward extraction a long time ago. It hurt for a few hours afterwards, but I could control the pain with ordinary Tylenol. Swelling and pain gone by the second day.
My daughter had impacted wisdom teeth out about 6 years ago. They put her under valium and damerol. When she came out of the dental surgeon's office she was very woozy. She went to bed with bags of frozen peas on either side of her face. Looked pretty chipmunk-y for about five days. Most of the pain was gone after the third day. Swelling hit a peak in 48 hours and then began to subside. She, too, was on ordinary Tylenol after that, which seemed to control the pain.
If you're on painkillers, I don't think it's a good idea to go near alcohol!
I do hope you feel better shortly.
SeaBreeze, my brother had them out about 7 years ago. Get painkillers. :-)
Also? Hang around someone with a video camera b/c it's really amusing to watch yourself "hung" after the surgery later.
Good luck
Good luck with the wisdom teeth, Seabreeze. I had mine out a couple of years ago and I wasn't in too much pain, but I slept for about 24 hours straight after the surgery.
ETA: Seabreeze, you'll sleep for three days afterwards. Don't drink, but take whatever they offer. Email me if you want more details - my battery is about to die!! You'll be fine - it's not that bad. I'm serious about the sleeping.
Seabreeze, it's been a lot of years (20) since I had my wisdom teeth out, but I'll try to remember some details. I had it done on a Thursday and was back at school on Monday. It is no fun whatsoever, but at least in my case, was not unbearable. I suggest you make sure they give you good drugs before doing the procedure, and send you home with lots more good painkillers. I can't answer the question about alcohol, but I suspect it isn't a good idea mixed with painkillers.
Hour 1 will be bloody and painful - have someone there to drive you home. Make sure they give you plenty of gauze to change out till the bleeding slows down. Don't plan on talking till that happens (the bleeding slows down). You will swell up like you've got the mumps, but it looks worse than it is.
I believe the first 12 to 24 hours will be the worst, and will get better after that. All this is assuming no weird problems getting them out.
Seriously, get drugs and use them. Best wishes and let us know how it goes.
seabreeze, I have all my wisdom teeth still so I have no experience to rely on but I am guessing alcohol really wouldnt be the way out. But I would absolutely take the drugs they give you, though. espi, my company subsidizes my membership at any Bally's Club in Canada and to date I haven't been impressed with the plastic front desk people. So I am with you. Phooey on Bally.
seabreeze definitely avoid the alcohol after your teeth extraction. For one, wouldn't alcohol hurt going by where your teeth used to be? (Not sure about this, but cringing at the thought.) Anyway, in my opinion? Heavy meds were invented for just this purpose--well, this and childbirth--so why not take advantage? I mean, it's not like you get offered narcotics every day. Everyone I know has hated the surgery, but praised the pain-avoidance of the meds. Take 'em! OTC Tylenol is not gonna do it, and why hurt if you don't have to? It takes way too much alcohol to equal the results of prescribed meds, and there's less damage to your body. Good luck!
SeaBreeze, I had my wisdom teeth out about 10 yrs ago. The top healed no problem. My bottom ones did not heal properly at first. That sucked big time and is too gross to discuss here! I agree with having someone drive you home. I was completely out of it. My mom said I asked her if they took them out about 50 times on the way home. I don't remember that at all.
Okay, Seabreeze, I got a fresh battery, so I hope this post comes in time. Definitely have someone drive you home. If you have a good friend who can stay with you, that's the best, because you'll need the gauze in your mouth changed, and when you're already woozy, it can bring some nausea to do it yourself. Baby food (pears, bananas, "light" colors) will be great to eat afterwards because you can swallow it so easily. The only juice you should be drinking is white grape juice, because everything else will sting a lot. The surgeon should give you a syringe to use to flush out your mouth with water - be diligent about this, as it will prevent you from getting dry socket, which is awful. I was knocked out with gas when I had it done, and I mean it when I say I wasn't fully conscious for about three days. Your face will look worse than it really is, so you might want to avoid mirrors if you're up and about at all in the first couple days. Really, the gauze is the biggest thing. If you have someone who will change it for you, take advantage. Good luck to you! Don't be worried - it's an easy procedure, just messy afterwards.
Big, warm 'n' fuzzy hugs to seabreeze for her upcoming extraction(s),
Anyone seen Seabreeze resurface? I wonder how the surgery went.
Hmmmm.
1. Expect to be all, "Huuuuuuh?" and numb. Literally wear a bib if you get a milkshake or something to eat. I ruined one of my favorite shirts during the trip to Mickey D's on the way home. The milkshake went in...well, actually it didn't stay in. I couldn't move my lips from the numbness. That was a problem. If you're anything like I was, you're just going to want to sleep. And that's a good thing :)
2. If by talk you mean mumble, yeah :)
3. I don't know about that one. I was only sixteen. I just know that my Lortabs were my friend. And don't expect to be 100 percent for a couple of days. My stepdad had to come and pick me up from school because the teachers were freaked out that I was acting high and drooling on my desk. Ewww. I know. When he came to pick me up, he had to steer me out with my backpack. Lortabs were my friend, but only when I didn't have to be at school.
4. Just get plenty of rest and keep your mouth clean. Infections are NOT fun.
Other than that, I hope you feel better soon, SeaBreeze! :)
DON'T drink after you've had your wisdom teeth out. Take the pain killers they give you or tell you take, and don't drink anything while you're taking those. Also, be very very very careful what you put in your mouth, it will aggravate the area that's trying to heal. I don't think alcohol would be good for incisions that are trying to heal, especially as it could get in there and fester. Do exactly what the oral surgeon tells you and you shouldn't have complications.
1. What should I really expect from Hour 1?
--You'll probably be pretty groggy. I was awake for my wisdom teeth extraction, but was still really loopy. Make sure you have someone to get you home and get you settled. Get some little ziplocs and fill them with ice, so they're ready to use when your mouth starts to hurt.
2. Will I be able to talk?
--Yumph, mull buh abul do dalk.
3. Is alcohol a better "pain-killer" than pain killers?
--No. Stick with the vicodin or whatever else they give you. Vicodin will be your friend.
4. Anything else
--Make sure you get one of those socket-pickers for cleaning out your gaping wounds. Do NOT for the love of god eat rice.
That is all.
when I got my wisdom teeth pulled, it was all 4 at once. it was in the hospital, so they zonked me out with anesthesia (on the 3rd try to find a good vein in the arm). My lungs felt pretty funny breathing in the oxygen from the mask on my face, but within about 30 seconds, it was 'lights out'.
Anyhoo, no dreams or anything... just as soon as I was zonked out, next thing I knew I was waking up, and my bed was being wheeled into a curtained area. I had a big mass of gauze in my mouth, and was told to bite down on it, as there was alot of blood, and plenty of it caked around my mouth and nose, too.
I kept bitching at them to let me go home, because within 30 minutes, I felt 'fine'. They told me, 'no, no... the anesthesia still needs to wear off more'. after about 1 1/2 hours, I was allowed to go home. I got up, and was teetering a bit, but could walk. my mom had come to pick me up and has waited till they'd let me get up. I was all, 'seeeeeee? I'm FINE! *whoops*'. it was funny. somewhere in the frame of time, someone cleaned the caked on blood off of my mouth.
Eating? god, forget about it... they froze my face really good. they said it'd wear off in about 8 hours, but it took twice that long. I was starving. I tried having pudding, and felt quite proud of myself after finishing the pudding cup... until I discovered that it was dribbled all over my chin *laughs*
anyhoo, it took me a full 2 weeks to get over the pain. I was on Tylenol 3s. for most of that time, but when I could tolerate the pain, I stopped taking them, because the codeine made me feel reeeeaaaally sick. I could eat a lot of foods, anything involving chewing was nearly impossible. I mostly stuck to gingerale, pudding, yogurt and ice cream... I was so lacking in nutrition for 2 weeks, I won't go into all the raunchy details of what that does to a person's body.
Anyhoo, I suggest you stock up on some Boost and real fruit juice, you're going to need it to help fill the nutritional gaps while you recover. i found my time off of school to be good. i slept, I ate ice cream, wth the occasional feeling of pukey-ness and the jokes from my family that they finally got to shut me up (couldn't talk much).
Don't worry, it's nowhere near as bad as some people might think. And if it is? well, i give you full permission to come over and beat up my brother. He never had and never will have wisdom teeth, lucky bastard.
Cautionary tale from my wisdom teeth removal -- if you have, or might have, an allergy to phenothiazines [Compazine and other drugs], depending on what sort of anesthesia they use, it can fuck you up. My oral surgeon said they cause side effects kind of like out-of-body experiences, really freaky stuff. I don't know what anesthetic they used on me... just keep that stuff in mind.
SeaBreeze341, I had my wisdom teeth out a week ago!
1. Basically, you'll have fluid in your throat, your jaw & mouth will be numb, you won't be able to swallow and you'll just be like "What the?"
2. Yup. Well, at least, I was.
3. I wouldn't know, I'm only fifteen. But I'd say not. Stick with the prescribed painlolles, because they will work.
4. Rinse your mouth out after *every* time you eat to make sure nothin, y'know, gets stuck. Heh. Anti-inflammatory throat lozengers are your friend. Take advantage of being able to eat lots and lots of icecream and jelly and custard. Expect swelling and bruises, but they will go down after about a week.
Good luck!
They gave me he " funny gas" and i went right to sleep. I woke up and didn't even know it had been done, i thought i had just falling asleep. Well when i got home i was hungry and the only thing i could eat was mashed potatoes... I ate them for 2 weeks straight! I don't like them anymore!!
Thank God my wisdom teeth decided not to grow in. This sounds horrible. It makes my jaw hurt just thinking about it.
Adding my $0.02 to the wisdom teeth conversation.
1) I was totally knocked out from the anesthesia for the rest of the day, couldn't do much besides lie in bed, and I couldn't stay awake for longer than 15 minutes at a time.
2) I was able to talk just fine, when I was awake long enough to do so.
3) Definitely do not drink alcohol, it will have all sorts of interactions with the anesthesia and the meds they give you. Also the stuff they give you will probably be good enough. The surgeon that did mine was really good, so I didn't have much pain at all, and only needed one of the pills they give me.
4) Don't let people get you worried about it, it's really not that bad. Just take it easy, and stick to milkshakes, applesauce, mashed potatoes and other soft stuff for a while. Also, make sure you have plenty of concealer and make up around, I had bruises on the side of my face for about 2 weeks. My mom was afraid to let me out of the house at first because she thought people would think she beat me.
I never had bruises but my face did swell up REALLY big.. i looked soooooo wierd.. lol
I took a teeny teeny tiny Valium and had general anesthesia... I didn't have any bruising at all. The biggest issue was keeping food particles out of the incisions. I had a weird-looking irrigation syringe and I had to squirt water back there to make sure everything was clean. It took me a few days to be able to really eat ANYTHING much and a few days more to be able to, you know, chew. I slept a lot, too, especially the first couple of days, and took extra strength Tylenol.
For me hour 1 included XF like moments of lost time. i'd got from the operating room to the lobby to the car to my couch without any knowledge of what happened in between and that includes a trip to the pharmacist.
Pudding, mashed potatoes, yougurt and the like are all really good foods. nothing with a straw cause that will pull the stitches out.
oh and painkillers are your best friends in the world. mmm, darvatset.
finally make sure not to get into solid food too fast. i had a burger within 48 hours and i ended up getting some of it in hole. it turned into a super nasty infection. not a fun thing to experience. one word: puss.
I think it just depends on how easy they come out.
I had all four cut out at once 10 years ago (I was 20 at the time). They put me under for the procedure, which I was more nervous about than the procedure itself.
For me, the worst segment was the two-hour period where the anesthesia had worn off, but before I could take a vicodin. just was really tired and sore. and thirsty from all the cotton crammed in my mouth, but it was hard to drink. Once I popped the vicodin though, I took a long nap and when I woke up I was fine. I even went to a friend's house and played cards that nite. Was a little tired/sore the next two days, but nothing worse than how you feel with an average cold.
I ate lots of ice cream too! that helps and is tasty!
Good luck...
Herm...from what I remember, it was the 4-5 hours afterward. I don't remember any serious pain during that time, to groggy. I do remember going home, napping and then waking up and eating a small amount several hours afterward. That turned out to be a mistake. The residual effects of the anesthesia and the oral pain killers had a deleterious effect on my stomach contents. I would recommend staying away from alcoholic type numbness until you are very certain that the other stuff has moved on.
Btw, be prepared for the chipmunk comments. It's like a rite of passage.
I had to have surgery on my jaw when I was 18 so they removed all my wisdom teeth before they'd even come in yet. I don't remember ever being in any pain at all. I don't know, maybe the process is different when they remove your wisdom teeth before they've come out, as opposed to when they're out and bugging you. Maybe they gave me a better pain killer or something but I honestly don't remember ever being in any pain. Also, I know people who have had their wisdom teeth out and been back at work the next day. I guess it varies from person to person.
I have all my wisdom teeth. The bad news is that for that to happen, in junior high school I had to have six teeth pulled and wear braces for five years. The worst news is that my wisdom teeth didn't come in until I was a freshman in college. You know how teething babies feel? That's how I felt for a month freshman year.
Had all 4 out at once as well, and it's not nearly as bad as you would think. I was gassed (not out) and remember the entire procedure, but I could feel nothing. By the time the gas wore off, I believe I had pain medication at the ready and just complied with the doctor's orders - no more, no less. Great naps on that good stuff!
Best recommendation for noursihment: McDonald's shakes! However, no straw because the sucking creates a vacuum in your mouth which will open your wounds. Let them sit on the nightstand for a while and then sip. Ahhhhhhh - sweet refreshment!
I had all 4 of mine surgically removed as well. I was put out cold. From what I can remember (it was back in 1987)it wasn't that bad. There was more achiness than pain for me so medication was definitely a plus. I too was instructed about the straw. I only had a little swelling and no bruising. They even gave me my teeth wrapped in guaze in a little envelope. I may still have that somewhere. My sister, Emjaytee, on the other hand had a different reaction....she swelled and bruised. We, well I, still laugh about that to this day. So, I guess it just varies from person to person. Good luck.
I had all four out at the same time, with only a local to ease the pain. But the drugs they gave me afterwards? Pretty sweet.
quote:
1. What should I really expect from Hour 1?
Depending on what they give you during the op, expect to be dazed. I didn't start to feel really crappy until a few hours later. Also, expect your mouth to be very, very, bloody. Monster movie bloody.
quote:
2. Will I be able to talk?
Talk? Yes. Talk well? Not so much.
quote:
3. Is alcohol a better "pain-killer" than pain killers?
I wouldn't think so. And if I am not mistaken, alcohol is considered not a good thing for your wounded mouth.
quote:
4. Anything else
Hm, nope, pain and blood about covers it.
Really, it wasn't too bad. I laid around in a codeine haze watching Red Dwarf. It was better than some weekends I've had.
Good luck with the surgery Sea Breeze.
Yes there's "lots o' blerd" after the surgery so have ENOUGH gauze for your mouth for multiple changes when your'e in recovery. And have something nearby where you can readily spit and dispose of the gauze. Sorry, it sound awful, but that's the way it is.
Also, take the meds and sleep a lot. Good way to get over the pain and discomfort not to mention the time. As for the swelling and bruising, not much you can do about it. Book off time from work if it's bad. I had to send a girl home once after she came in from wisdom teeth surgery. She could barely talk and looked awful with her face very swollen and bruised. No point in being a martyr.
I still have all of my teeth. I'm too much of a punk to have any of them taken away from me.
Just came to say good-bye. I'm off to LA until next week. YAYYY!, Woohooo!, and all that good stuff.
I had all 4 of mine taken out when I was in college. I was given a shot and knocked completely out. The next thing I know, I'm in a little room, curled up in a ball. An hour later, the pain starts. I tried to ease my suffering with a nice hot slice of Little Caeser's pizza. Amazingly, the pain didn't go away; in fact, it got worse. Probably when I chewed right on the sore spot, and heard a "CRUNCH".
I had my wisdom teeth pulled late in high school. I remember that I kept watching the dentist's hands to see the teeth (i guess I'm a bit of a sadist *shruc*). But then he said, "3 down and 1 to go" and I hadn't seen any teeth! the asistant had been actually carrying them out of my mouth! I drove home immediately afterwards, but mine had already come through, so wasn't a really serious case.
Okay, I got my wisdom teeth out almost two years ago, and I don't remember much. Here's what I can tell you: it sucks, but the good thing about it is that I was on so much medication, that I really don't remember much. It's like those 5 or 6 days of my life have been erased from my memory.
What I do remember:
-The first hour or so, I was really drowsy and out of it. What sucked most about it was when my sister told me that I had to take some pain killers, and I could barely open my mouth. I wasn't supposed to use a straw for a day or two, and the water I was drinking just would NOT stay in my mouth. My sister was laughing at me, and I would have told her to shut up, but I was basically half asleep, so I didn't care much at the time.
-I had a fever and was really nauseous for the first day or so.
-The worst part of it, aside from the pain (and I will have to agree: the worst day is the third or fourth day. Lots of pain.) is that for the first few days, I had absolutely no energy. But after a while, I just couldn't sleep anymore. So I would just sit on the couch and stare blankly at the TV screen (most of the time, it was turned off. But I couldn't tell the difference one way or another.) It got kind of boring.
-And yes, the pain does get worse after the first few days. For me, the pain kind of stopped after the second day, and then it just started up all over again.
-As for alcohol, I wouldn't know, because I didn't have any. But I would imagine that you are not supposed to mix some of those pain killers with alcohol. Maybe someone who has experienced it can tell you how dangerous it really is? ;)
-Mashed potatoes and soup can get boring after a while. My suggestion? Vanilla ice cream, and frozen or fresh strawberries (or any other fruit, for that matter) mixed together in a blender. Mmmmmm.
In the end, though, it's really not that bad. I mean, it sucks, but you'll survive. It's not the end of the world. If I (the biggest wimp in the great white north) can get through it, you can too! Good luck (not that you'll need it)!
ETA: Also, some people say that they can feel everything that is going on during the surgery, but I was completely knocked out and didn't feel a single thing. And another gross thing: the stitches. They kind of hang in your mouth like little pieces of celery, and you just have to wait for them to "dissolve" (gross!).
SeaBreeze341- I got my wisdom teeth pulled a few months ago actually. It really all depends on several factors. The biggest is, are they impacted, and if so, how severe is it. I got three teeth pulled, all impacted. For one tooth, the impaction wasn't too bad. He just went in with a plier type tool(I think it was a 76R?) and pulled it out. The other two were bad. He used a scalpel to slice the gums and then he had to use a drill to break the teeth into several pieces to extract them. Both of them needed stitches afterwards, and I had to take an antibiotic(in my case, it was penicillin) to prevent infection. I didn't get any pain killers, he just gave me this giant Motrin afterwards, and told me to keep taking more if I felt any pain. Sooo to answer your questions:
1) the first hour, depends on what anaethesia your dentist uses. I just got lidocaine, so I was awake the whole time.
2)You probably won't be able to talk afterwards, nor would you want to. It took a while for all my lidocaine to wear off, and then my jaw was so sore it hurt to talk for about a week. I found it helped to press up hard against the bottom of my jawline with the heel of my palm when I talked. A few people laughed so I kicked them. Then they stopped.
3) Alcohol is NOT recommended. Don't even drink caffeine or hot fluids. You will have this giant hole in your mouth, and the blood needs to clot. Alcohol and caffeine stimulate your circulation so you don't want that. In fact, if the clot in your mouth dislodges, you will have this empty air pocket there, which can lead to a dry socket.
4)ummm...I don't know. Ask away if anything comes to you. Or you can just AIM me at the alias in my profile and I can give you all the gory details.
okay wisdom teeth. I had mine out at the beginning of last summer. It's not fun. I was totally knocked out during the surgery so I just woke up in a small room and was a bit confused. Tip 1: don't wear anything you care about... there'll be blood and spit everywhere. Tip 2: swish your mouth with warm water and salt at least 3 times a day. It helps kill infection and feels pretty good. (my doctor made me do this) Tip 3: if you have a Rita's Italian Ice... make you friends buy you mistos... if not regular italian ice will do. Tip 4: take the pain killers. it helps. But it's really hard to take them right after surgery because your face is totally numb and you can't tell if you've swallowed it or not... your tounge will feel huge. I don't really like the feeling of pain killers so after two days I switched to lots of advil and that worked fine for me... for me the first day was the worst. Tip 5: get lots of good movies that are REALLY easy to understand... but not funny ones. Smiling almost made me cry. So I reccommend like disney movies...or old AI episodes :) and It'll be okay, it's really not that bad. oh oh Tip 6: sleep with a towel over your pillow... you will drool blood and you just don't want that on your pillow. and Tip 7: whenever you do anything stupid for the next two and a half weeks blame it on the pain killers (even when you've stopped taking them)
I realize you have already had your wisdom teeth out, SeaBreeze341 (how are you feeling, by the way?), so if this were going to happen you probably can't help it, but I understand that all bets are off if you get a "dry socket." I had my wisdom teeth all extracted at once and it really wasn't a big deal at all--general anesthesia, I took the pain killers and ate liquids (broth, juice), ice cream, etc., and I also kept a wet tea bag on the sockets sometimes at the instruction of my surgeon, not sure why they said to do this. My mom (I was on spring break from college) set me up on the couch and I watched tons of basketball (NCAA tourney) for a couple of days, and essentially after that I was fine, and felt much better as the teeth had been pressing on my other teeth for a while. But my husband's cousin got dry socket and apparently this is excruciating, so whatever they tell you to do to avoid it, I would say do it. Otherwise it shouldn't be too bad recuperating. I hope you are finding this to be the case.
While I didn�t want to discuss my surgery too much, I was worried as all hell, because of all of the permanent negative effects that I kept hearing about. Turns out that most said that I didn�t suffer as much as a lot of other people did. I�m still in pain though, but I�m alive, thank God. I�ll eventually get a complete recap of the �story of my life� on my webpage.
On the alcohol thing, it never crossed my mind one bit. For one, I felt wasted before the topic would come up, and two, I was (and still am) at my parents' house, and they would have killed me if I even thought of the idea.
For those who still have them, in the long run, things will turn out worse if you leave them in. However, if they come in perfectly, then you're lucky. It's not completely bad (although I worried like a 3 year old about it); what sucks is that I'm bored and I can't eat.
Once again, thank you all for your advice! I really appreciate it! I won't forget you guys! Enjoy your weekend!
Glad you survived and are on the mend SeaBreeze!
Good to hear it went okay, seabreeze! I've decided that I'm going to let my wisdom teeth stay right where they are, hiding under the gum line, until they do something that merits eviction. Screw what my dentists say! I think they just want to feel useful in some way, since I never have any cavities for them to work on.
seabreeze, glad to see you are back out and about. And that the surgery was not as bad as you were fearing.
welcome back. glad to hear your surgery went pretty well. i hear you about the boredom/eating dilemma. and while there's not much to do about the food you can at least kill the boredom and alleviate the pain by thinking happy alias thoughts. just avoid the dentistry eps. probably not the best thing to watch at the moment. but bangkok and zambonis and women with unusually large hands and the men that lurve them are all acceptable diversions. so get well and remember: pain pills are your friends.
Awwww! I'm glad everything worked out, SeaBreeze.
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