Extracting 6 teeth all at once?!

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#1 Post by **genoisegurl** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:47 pm

Hi! Anybody here extract 6 teeth at one appt? Is this crazy?
I have been braced about 3 weeks now. My ortho sent me to a general dentist to consult about taking out a couple of premolars on the bottom. He didn't mention the wisdom teeth though. So the general dentist I see suggested I take all four wisdom teeth out (3 out but very hard to clean and one impacted) in addition to the premolars. She suggested I go to an oral surgeon and be put under and to remove all 6 at one going.
Part of me wants to do all 6 at once because if you do one side then you will get more nervous again when you do the other side. However, having that many teeth out at once, is that too much pain to bear and how am I going to eat anything?? Another option is to just remove the premolars first and take out the wisdom teeth after braces since they supposedly do not affect straightening the teeth. Any advice? thks

#2 Post by **LadyJ** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:12 pm

Well, I'm not braced yet (January 17th!) and my ortho thinks I can get away without any more extractions, but that remains to be seen.

However, I did have all 4 wisdom teeth out in August, at once. They put me completely under for the procedure. The pain wasn't bad at all. I think I took the vicodin the first day, which made me sleepy, and then just heavy-duty ibuprofin for a couple days.

My biggest problem wasn't pain but being afraid to eat for stuff getting stuck in the "holes". I chewed with my front teeth for about a week (not sure if that's an option with brackets on). The OS gave me a nifty syringe to rinse the pockets out and that helped a lot.

So I think you'll be okay if you do all 6, and that will save you on recovery time and expense for two separate surgeries. However, if you opt for just the premolars I don't think you'll be too scared to get the wisdoms out later. It's really not that bad. Everyone's different, tho.

Good luck!

#3 Post by **TsuKata** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:19 pm

Were I you, I'd have it all out at once, *but* I'd give myself a good week afterward before I got the braces put on. The normal extractions will be easy enough for the braces, but the wisdom teeth will make your whole jaw sore and tender. Doing that *and* braces is a bit much for one day, IMO. But, it is worth it to do all the extractions at once. You will spend less for it, and you deal with recovery once instead of twice.

I had five wisdom teeth (yes, five!) removed in one sitting, all impacted. I got knocked out for it (highly recommend that, too) and it was easy enough to recover, but I would not have wanted to deal with that and with braces.

Before I got my braces on, I got two normal non-impacted extractions while awake (but numb, of course), and it wasn't horrible, but if they'd been my wisdom teeth, it would have been hard to bear. I got my braces put on the same day, and it was just alot to cope with on the same day. Lots of vicodin made it all better, but still...it was alot to do at once, and it made it harder to take care of the extractions because I had the braces to work around. Noodle soups that are really good to eat in those first few days after braces are not as fun to eat when you're trying to not get food in extraction sites.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that first week after the braces was made easier because I was on vicodin for the extractions, so there is that to consider.

#4 Post by **Gennel** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:43 pm

I also needed to have 6 teeth extracted . There was no mention at that appt of wisdom teeth needing to be extracted ASAP also.
I've had a really bad phobia with dentists most of my life but I decided to go ahead and get all 6 teeth pulled on the same day.
For me I wished I hadn't done it . ONLY because one extraction(premolar) became infected and recovery was about 2 weeks.
This year I had my two bottom wisdom teeth plus a bottom front incisor extractions ,so 3 more done in one day and recovery went smoothly.
I think 6 extractions can be done on the same day and recovery can go well. It just happened that I was that one out a thousand people that happened to get an infection!
For me I am waiting a long while to get the top wisdom teeth taken out.
If you have insurance it might be better to have the 6 taken out at once. My insurance would only pay for General Anesthesia if I was getting 3 or more extractions done on the same day.

I also live in Florida. What is your ortho's name?

Gennel

#5 Post by **bratsche** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:46 pm

I took out 4 bicuspids, two at a time one week apart. My ortho said it's up to me if I wanted to take out the wisdom teeth as well, but usually they have no impact on the braces; so I'm going to defer that till after my braces are done, but I'll probably have them taken out right after I'm done with braces. It's just too many inconvenient things to deal with, as someone said. Extraction of normal teeth are very straightforward and painless, so don't worry about those. I've heard that wisdom teeth operations are much more complicated and hurt more after, because of the need to open up the gum to remove the impacted teeth if any. So I guess in the end it's really up to you how you want to proceed.

Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:04 am

I had 6 teeth removed under general anestsia ( i think thats the word) when you are put to sleep.

It wasnt so bad, i was just feeling really tired and in pain, but tolerable, we had a 4 hour drive home and i slepted the whoe time lol, if you go to the 1st page of my journal, it tells my experiance about my surgery

#7 Post by **Lisa65** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:32 am

I'd be tempted to get them all done and get it over with. I had 4 premolars out using laughing gas when I was 12, and I don't really remember having any trouble afterwards. Then I had 4 impacted wisdom teeth taken out under GA when I was 21. I was uncomfortable for a few days and my face swelled up a little, but within about 4 days I felt fine.

#8 Post by **chillin-in-grilz** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:36 pm

I rather it all in one shot, then multiple pain lol

#9 Post by **Miss Smiley** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:57 pm

All of my premolars were out at once and it was under local. I'm a really good dental patient! I'll take any needles in the mouth since I can't see what's going on. Take me to get a shot in the arm and you'll see me running out the door or screaming, kicking, crying, and holding my mom's hand. I'm a big wussie when it comes to a shot in the arm just because I can see the needle. Anyhow, recovering from the premolars was a bit difficult since I couldn't bite into anything until the sutures were healed. The wisdom was a cake walk compared to the premolars. I had local for a partial impacted and got a gold star from the nurses for not moving an inch while they were hard at work! Healing for the wisdom was the easiest for me, little bleeding and I was eating noodles the same night. Tried the mashed potato thing but didn't like how I could feel it getting comfy around the suture.

#10 Post by **Lisa65** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 12:44 am

Yes, just don't look! I detest needles, but I still donate blood. I just look away while they do the needle thing

#11 Post by **Lisa65** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 12:46 am

Meryaten wrote: I have this amazing tip for you: look away! Seriously, I am very scared of needles, but have learned to cope by looking away; even used to donate blood regulalrly til it was decided that people who had lived in the UK in the 1980s should no longer donate.

Official proof that Meryaten is indeed a "mad cow"

(sorry Tracey, but I just couldn't resist that)