Wisdom teeth

I didn't just contemplate, I did it. Had all four yanked when I was 21. Was out of the office at like 1 (they let me drive home, not sure if they're supposed to do that). Played in our intramural league game that night, did have mouth packed with gauze. By the next day there was almost no pain. I was very fortunate. My roommate had it done around the same time and had dry sockets.

 

Oh yeah, I was so high after leaving the oral surgeon that my dad had a good laugh at me singing Summer of 69 around my mouthful of gauze.

I had to get them yanked because they were giving me daily headaches, which was just lovely. I'm not going to lie, the next six days sucked major balls, but at least I never have to go through it again. Basically, I didn't stop bleeding for six hours, I was allergic to the pain medication they gave me and it backfired after about two days of taking it, I was so swollen I couldn't open my mouth to eat much of anything for almost two weeks and after the swelling went down, I bruised all the way into my eye socket, so I walked into my first day at an internship (I had it done a week before I started) looking like an abused housewife with all sorts of lovely green bruises.

Oh, and for the record, mashed potatoes are awesome. That was basically all I lived on after I got sick of jello.

 

In addition to all the other potential problems, I seriously fear dry socket. I have a pretty high threshold for pain but when it comes to medical procedures, it's always Murphy's Law for me.

 

Ragu,

Absolutely stick with your plan. I'm older than you, and about a dozen years ago, my dentist started getting on my case about getting one of my wisdom teeth pulled. (I only had three, and of those, two are nowhere near my mouth.) This one was at a 90-degree angle and had broken through the gum's surface, but was giving me no problems, so I, like you, said I'm not doing anything.

Only about two years ago did it start giving me problems because food kept getting stuck in there and it was causing the tooth to decay. So I put it off and put it off and then just decided a few weeks ago to get it yanked.

So it happened, last Tuesday. Only today, nine days later, am I feeling decent. The first day I couldn't even swallow. The bleeding didn't stop for three days. Then the pain came, basically everywhere on that side of my face until today.

I'm knocking on wood that I've turned the corner, but the bottom line is, if it's not bothering you, at your age, leave it in. I probably had dry socket, but whatever, it was not pleasant.

 

I had mine pulled out while in high school without any problem. I went to hockey practice that night and just skated, but played in a game two days later.

 

Took my daughter, 17, to the oral surgeon yesterday for a consultation. They said her's are coming in crooked and now is an opportune time to remove them. Saw a video all about wisdom teeth and their removal, and all the possible complications that "rarely" happen.
I think my kid knows this, but I didn't bring it up again. Right side of my tongue and the inside of my lower jaw are permanently numb from the extraction. Guy nailed a nerve and it never recovered. This was about 16-17 years ago and 20 years after I was originally told I needed to have them removed.
My oral surgeon said, "I've never had that happen to one of my patients before."
I said, "Well, you can't say that anymore."

 

That's funny. I got mine yanked when I was 23 or 24, after I'd moved away from home and in with my future wife. My future mother-in-law took me to and fro the office, and I remember being higher than a kite on the way home and rambling on and on about how I used to go out to bars and drink but I stopped after I met her daughter b/c I knew she'd be the girl I'd marry.

Thank goodness I had no secrets I was keeping, b/c I'm sure I would have spilled the beans. "Ma, don't tell your daughter, but I am screwing the secretary at work."

Two other things I remember: This happened two days after the Super Bowl--I think it was the first Broncos win--and I'd read a story in the paper the day of the Super Bowl about some Broncos special teamer who almost died getting his wisdom teeth out. That was not what I wanted to read.

I also remember how fucking fast the drugs knocked my ass out. They gave me a shot and said to count down from 10. I think I got to 7 and the next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room. I thought there'd be some kind of drowsiness before I went under, but not a thing.

 

Like this one (start watching around 3:50 until 5:37)

 

I broke one of mine a couple years ago (two days before New Year's, naturally, when every dentist in the state had already packed up and gone home for the holiday). My dentist referred me to a wisdom tooth specialist.
A Chinese guy who called himself "The Oral-ental Surgeon." He even gave me a T-shirt with that printed on it.
Dude was like a wisdom tooth ninja. They put me under and he yanked all four -- including one he had to break apart to get out -- in under 20 minutes. Got some nice painkillers and a couple days off from work.
The only complication came when I started to eat solid food again. Some bits got stuck in the socket and irritated the hell out of it. To the point that even opening my mouth was painful. Went back to the Oral-ental Surgeon and got this little syringe thingie to clean it out, and it worked wonders. Within a day I was fine.

 

Fuck man, woke up from a nap and my mouth hurt something awful. Not doing bad now but still bleeding. I want that stoned feeling again because this sucks.

 

Had mine done 10 years ago. Was so out of it, was humming the "Duel of the Fates" tune from Phantom Menace during the early stages of the procedure. Dentist had to tell me, sort of laughing, sort of irritated, to shut up.

No problems afterward. Led to a week of the future wife feeding me nothing but strawberry milkshakes and ramen. yummy.

Just beware of milk the first day. It's sort of disconcerting when you take a drink, look into the glass, and see your own blood.

Have fun.

 

send me a PM if you have any perks left over. They go for big $$.