Golley Gee...

Message

#1 Post by **AirRetro1's** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:05 pm

Well I have to extract four teeth(first bicuspids). I was wondering a lot about pain, things that can go wrong and how to prevent it, how to treat the post extraction phase, advice, tips and etc. about after extracting the teeth. All help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

#2 Post by **cowlypso** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:36 pm

Your oral surgeon should go over the post-extraction care with you. Mine gave me a nifty little pamphlet. Of course, you'll be drugged up and have a mouth full of gauze and therefore unable to answer any questions...

As for the pain, I had mine out with the gas and lots of novocaine. I highly recommend the gas. Of course, you can do it with just the novocaine and you won't feel a thing. But I was horribly nervous about the whole thing (just the idea of somebody pulling teeth out of my head), so the gas really helped me to stay seated in the chair and not worry about what was going on. Didn't feel a thing. The novocaine shots didn't hurt too much. No more than getting a cavity filled. Then I was totally numb. Actually, when he started, I couldn't even tell if he was doing the upper or the lower! So no pain at all during.

Afterwards, there was some pain. Not too bad, though. I took the vicodin he prescribed at night, and just some tylenol during the day. That took care of it. I got them out in the afternoon. I had to go teach a review session that evening, which was not a good idea. I was still bleeding a bit so I had to keep gauze in my mouth and bite down. So talking was a challenge. I took a friend with me to help talk. The next day I was okay until the afternoon, when a huge migraine hit. My mouth was hurting a little, and with that and my head I ended up having to go home from work. But I think without the migraine I would have been just fine at work all day. I think I took the vicodin in the evenings for maybe 4-5 days.

The most common complication is getting a dry socket, which is when the blood clot falls away too early and your tooth socket is exposed. Apparently, it really hurts a lot. I've never had one with my 4 wisdom teeth and my 4 premolar extractions. To prevent this, you're not supposed to do anything that could suck out those clots. So no straws, swishing, smoking, or anything else like that for the first 2-3 days.

The problem with getting all 4 out at once is that you run out of places to chew. So soft foods are helpful. Soup, pudding, yogurt, ice cream, mac and cheese... And try to avoid foods with small chunks. Little pieces of things tend to get lost in the holes where your teeth once were, only to surface days later. This is especially a problem the first few days, when you can't really rinse with much vigor. After a few days, you'll find that swishing water after every meal is a must. Your surgeon might give you a syringe to squirt out the holes with, but generally it's not to be used until 4-7 days after the extractions. By that time, I found that swishing worked just fine.

Another thing that is good to have on hand is a very soft child-sized toothbrush. Get one with the smallest head you can find. That way, you can brush the teeth around your extraction gaps while being careful to not get too close to sensitive areas in the first week or so.

I've got some gruesome pictures and such from my extractions in my story. Click on the www below and go to page 3 (I think this is where the extractions were...).

But try not to worry about the extractions. It's literally over in no time at all. It takes longer for the novocaine to set in than it does for them to get the teeth out. Seriously, it's maybe 30-45 seconds per tooth, max. The worst part is the waiting. Once you get through that, you'll be done before you hardly know you've started.

#3 Post by **PrincessMelody** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:13 am

I had to have two wisdom teeth removed and one was impacted (bottom left #17) so it had to be cut out. It had partially come in and had come in sideways (horizontally). The other (top left #16) had grown in fine and was simply yanked out of there. For nerves alone (really didnt fancy the idea of being awake since they had to make an incision, saw the impacted tooth in half, and then dig the rest out), I chose to be put under general anasthesia and I have nothing to complain about. Firstly the oral surgeon was, well, REALLY good looking

and he was the last thing and first thing I saw coming in and out. He was REALLY nice and I have an extremely (yet perfectly explainable) fear of needles and he put me totally at ease. I had never had an IV placed so that was what I was most nervous about. Once the IV was in I sat there a few minutes so they could finish prepping. Then they came in and injected the contents of 3 syringes into my IV. Within seconds I felt a warm, tingly sensation going up my arm and then spread through my body. Within a few seconds I was out, and the next thing I knew I was waking up. They gave me novacaine shots once I was out which was nice because I was numb when I woke up. I was also given vicodin, 800 mg of ibuprofen and antibiotics (amoxicillin). I took the vicodin all day the first day. It was a Saturday so I didn't have to worry about being anywhere plus I didn't want to feel any pain. I spent most of the day in and out of sleep. Whenever I was awake I would place a cold compress (wrapped in a towel) and that seemed to really help with the swelling. All day Sunday (the day after) I made sure to keep the cold compress on it often. I would put it on for about 30 mins (that's about how long it stayed cold anyway) , leave it off for about 2 hours (enough for it to get frozen again), and then repeat for another 30 mins. It took a little while for the bleeding to stop (about 6 hours for the top and 8 hours for the bottom) but that was to be expected with the bottom impacted one, especially since an incision was needed to be made and I got sutures as well in that area. I just kept gauze in my mouth which I changed often. I felt NO pain. I just took the Ibuprofen regularly for the first few days (after the first day of vicodin) and then the days after that I would take it at the first sign of discomfort. I didn't eat any solid foods the first couple days, but by Monday (two days post extraction) I was eating fairly normally. Make sure to keep your head elevated as it will really help with the swelling. Best reccomendation is lay propped up on the couch.

Funny side note... my mom was my transportation to and from (you have to have a driver if you go under general) and when I was coming to they had her come back. Apparently they were having a hard time keeping me awake so they had her come talk to me in order to keep me awake. The first thing she asked was if I was ok. I went to answer yes, but no words came out. She said I kept trying and trying to answer her (I was mouthing the word yes), got this hysterical look of confusion and frustration on my face, and then finally gave up and simply nodded.

#4 Post by **Spidey** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:20 pm

I had 8 extractions, all while still awake.(of course not all at the same time)

I had 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed when I was 19. 2 of them had erupted and were growing in sideways. The other 2 were completely impacted and had to be broken and remeved piece by piece.

I was on strong codeine for a few days after that happened and just remember sleeping for a week during my recovery. I was awake when I got them removed, but it was a pain~free (very drugged up) experience.

Just this summer I got 4 more premolars taken out.

They were pulled and I remember actually helping the dentist get them out by pushing my head back into the chair to add force. The experience was fine, just be prepeared for a little bit of blood. It is weird when the numbness begins to go away, and you can feel spaces where teeth used to be.

Freeeeeaky....

#5 Post by **choccyface** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 2:55 am

I recently had 6 extractions.

The first three were with a local anesthetic and it wasn't pleasent and two of them broke so he couldn't get the roots out. Then I had a general to get the roots and other three teeth out.

I got dry sockets after the first set of extractions and was quite brusied and swollen. It was my own fault, I messed with the extraction sites, poking in them because some grey gunk was in them, I didn't reaslise that this was the blood clot and part of the healing process, the result was dry sockets which were very painful and I was on painkillers day and night for 3 weeks and had antibiotics and anesthetic gauze put in.

With my second set I was very nervous but it went like a dream. NO pain afterwards so no painkillers, not much swelling or bruising. In fact I felt wonderful even though I had stitches everywhere. This time they healed without any problem and I was amazed that it was so easy.

I think the problems I had the first time were my own fault really, most people have extractions that are uneventful and comfortable so try not to worry and follow the advice given to you carefully, and don't poke and prod!

Good luck!

Sarah x

#6 Post by **LucyVanity** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 9:56 am

I got 4 bicuspids pulled old-school. I only got local anesthesia, and I didn't take any drugs afterwards. It kind of sucked XD

I have to get my wisdoms out at some point... so not looking forward to it >.> only a third of my friends who've done it already had smooth recoveries.