Braces + RPE, now I'mgetting 4 wisdom teeth removed -NERVOUS

[WebDevGirl]

I've had a lot of things done to my teeth in the last year in this order:
Root Canal, Braces, RPE, Root Canal.

There was some nervousness but nothing too bad, usually just something that builds up a day or two before the procedure. Searching online has really helped. Overall the worse was the spacers before the braces and the first few weeks of the annoying RPE. Everything else was pretty mild. *shrugs*

However i'm about to get 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted next week (two impacted), and i am starting to really freak out. Keywords describing this being pain, blood, swelling. I hava a RPE in my mouth which i'll have to get the wire's near my back teeth clipped so when i swell it doesn't cause more pain.

I'm doing what i can to make the experience better. Taking Thur/Friday off work and then the weekend to recover. Planning some of my meals. Doing research where i can. Already picked up my meds. I already have a waterpik so that should be useful to use after i heal up to get food out of the exctracted areas.

I tried searching the forms but nothing came up with someone with a RPE and Braces getting wisdom teeth pulled. Any support/comments would help. I read so many 'eh no big deal' about getting a root canal... and they were right. But at minimum people are in pain and bleeding with wisdom teeth, with a slew of other potential problems.

I didn't think i'd be this nervous and i'm not sure what i'm going to be like by Wednesday.

[Iam918]

I don't have an RPE but do have braces now. I'll be getting 3 wisdom teeth (top 2 are impacted) & 1 Molar (bottom wis tooth split it when coming in) pulled though, here in a month or two.

I've mentioned getting these pulled to some co-workers who've had rpe/braces when getting theirs pulled & they all state were just fine. But yours & my experience may vary as we all know.

[lyphta]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is RPE.

I got all 4 of my wisdoms out about a month into my treatment. I'm not sure if your oral surgeon will do what mine did, but they cut the side of my gum rather than the top of my gum. And that was a bit of a pain because getting the gauze in and taking the gauze out was such a struggle with it getting stuck on my wires. Usually you aren't really supposed to bleed a lot, mine lasted about a day and a half, but just be really careful with eating and stick to soft foods for a few days - I lived off mashed potatoes and jello for the first few days and then moved onto soup with pasta.

I ended up healing in like a week and a half because one of the wounds ended up closing with a lot of my saliva and made it even more swollen and so I had to take anti-inflammatory medicine to get it down.

Best advice is to just rest and follow all the directions your surgeon tells you and ice your cheeks - 15 minutes on both sides to reduce the swelling a bit. Also, ask him for a water syringe (not actually a true syringe) - I was given one after the above incident so that I could squirt water near the wound and get all the food out that can get trapped back there. It was really helpful.

[Roboto]

Yikes.. I'm getting 6 teeth pulled soon (4 wisdom (2 impacted) and 2 uppers).. I am certainly dreading the week after. A friend of mine told me to start drinking loads of pineapple juice about a week before I go in. It's supposed to reduce swelling. (I don't know the science behind it, but it's worth a try!) It might be worth a shot, especially since you have the RPE.

Good luck!

[Rach44]

I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed back in December. My general dentist did it, so the only anesthesia I had was novocaine. My top two were fully erupted and my bottom two were impacted. I had very little pain afterward with my top two, but my bottom two were pretty painful (one was sort of twisted into bone), so there was a lot of yanking on the bottom two (definitely the biggest downside to being awake for it). I highly recommend using ice afterward for the first few hours, and warm compresses/heat thereafter. I bought bags of frozen peas because they were soft and formed very well to my face. Pain medication helps a lot too. I mostly used Tylenol during the day and my prescription pain medication only at night. I went back to my dentist three days after my wisdom teeth were removed and had two fillings done plus another tooth pulled. All of this occured within the five day span before Christmas (Merry Christmas to me, right? lol). Stock up on soft foods and get lots of rest! The first few days are obviously the most painful, but it all gets better after that! Plus, if you're like me, it'll actually feel better once they're out because mine were frequently causing quite a bit of pain. Good luck! I hope it all goes well!

[WebDevGirl]

I've mentioned getting these pulled to some co-workers who've had rpe/braces when getting theirs pulled & they all state were just fine. But yours & my experience may vary as we all know.

Yah, i just try and latch onto the 'best case' scenario and just prepare for the worst. Its nice to at least hear people with RPE having few problems.

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is RPE.

Rapid Palette Expander. My teeth were crowded and while you can't actually expand a jaw of an adult you can push the teeth out a little bit to give teeth room to shift. I attached a pic of what mine looked like before they glued it into my mouth. No fun the first few weeks but like anything you get used to it. I attached a picture, looks like a medevil torture device huh?

I'm not sure if your oral surgeon will do what mine did, but they cut the side of my gum rather than the top of my gum.
...
I ended up healing in like a week and a half because one of the wounds ended up closing with a lot of my saliva and made it even more swollen and so I had to take anti-inflammatory medicine to get it down.

I have two impacted teeth (lower) which i know are a bit more work to get out and which cause the most after-extracting bleeding and pain. I was already prescribed some Tylenol-Codeine, penicillin and some anti-inflammatory meds. I have those ready and waiting for me when i get home.

I bought bags of frozen peas because they were soft and formed very well to my face. Pain medication helps a lot too. I mostly used Tylenol during the day and my prescription pain medication only at night. ... Good luck! I hope it all goes well!

Ya know that is a great idea. I only have those hard rectangle ice packs. I'll make sure i have some frozen veggies in the freezer before i go.

Thank you you guys for your support. Hopefully i'll be able to say that even with Braces and RPE that things were smoothly!

If anyone is interested in seeing some before and after pics of my braces experience so far: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38976

[UGHBRACES]

I had to be put to sleep to have 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed years back. Recovery wasn't bad from what I remember. I don't think having braces in would make recovery any different.

[WebDevGirl]

Braces don't cause more pain, it just means their gloves are more likely to get caught. But i also have a RPE in, less room to work in. Anyways i had it done this morning so here is my update.

THE VERY SHORT UPDATE (cause i babble a lot)
Better last night then last meal, but it was awesome
Got knocked out, had my teeth pulled - EASY and painless!
Got home, tried to eat and drink too fast to take my pulls, big mistake.
Had some ice cream float, all is well.
Lots of random sleeping.
Warm fuzzies for my oral surgeon and the goodies bag they gave me.


GETTING THEM PULLED
WOW where is my easy button? I had general anesthesia and some local anesthesia. So i was knocked out and left all nice and numb. And because i'm a tech geek, when i woke up i whipped out my iPhone SMS my sister, tweeted 'ok' my status, and took a picture that i can use to feel better about myself that at least i look better then swollen-faced-webdevgirl hehehe.

From getting in office, to signing some things, to paying,to crying a little inside from paying (i have no insurance), and from me getting them pulled i was out of there in about an hour flat.

DAY 1 OF RECOVERY
So i had this time at 9:30am in the morning. Its 5pm now and i'm still a little numb (she said it could last all day), little bit swollen still, but not bleeding or anything. (one of my big fears!!)

I felt so tired i just wanted to go to sleep ASAP, so i was trying to eat some applesauce and water, and i guess i did it too quickly because i threw up a little, perhaps loosing my first set up pills in the process i'm not sure. I have Medrol tablets and they tasted pretty nasty so my body probably though i was trying to poison myself! I thought i was going to just pass out so i wanted to take my pills before that happened. That never happened i got less tired at the General anes wore off.

Tip 1 From Webdevgirl: Eat and drink something slowly and wait a few minutes before trying your pills. Maybe wait till the general anesthesia wears off a little bit too.

I rested some and let them general anesthesia wear off, then ate a diet Dr Pepper low sugar ice cream float!! After a few minutes i took more Medrol that i needed but left off on the Tylenol-Codeine because i didn't want to take to in case i did keep in down. Rested some more, with good music playing in the background so when i do wake up i'm all happy.

My Oral Surgeroen gave me me a goodie bag too!! I got these two AMAZINGLY awesome fist-size ice packs that when frozen are still soft and only really cold on one side, so its easy to keep it on on my face. I was just going to use a bag of peas but this was much nicer. I also go some chapstick (which i needed), and a small tooth brush that only about two-teeth wide. All came in a cool little thermal bag.

A++ goodie bag, even if it was given so they could blaster their logo on everything they were all items i could use.

My amazing last meal was anything but!! I had two rice balls and half a hotdog but i went to this amazing show with my friends in Santa Monica, a sort of open mic story night and i am a sucker for a well told story. They all seemed like professionals even though anyone can put their name in and they just randomly grabbed people's name out of a tote bag.

Now i am here writing my post. I gave in and looked at my holes, ewwww. But overall i'm not having a bad time or anything. I was really just worried about the recovery process, i've haven't had a lot of pain before so i don't know how i will take it. So far with numby and (assuming?) pain pill i mostly just feel weird. Also i talk very weird everyone is having a hard time understanding me but i'm not supposed to talking anyways.

I know my dentist and ortho were happy i was doing this, now i'm happy i did it!