I Did It!

I've had an extreme fear of dentists since I was a kid, due to some procedures where I was not numbed all the way. After not having been to a dentist since I was 16 (just turned 22), I went in to an oral surgeon to have a lump examined behind my one of my front teeth. He said they would remove it and send it off to the lab to figure out what exactly it was. Right off the bat I was terrified. He mentioned that since I had my wisdom teeth, which were all impacted, he could remove all 4 of those as well and I could be sedated. Best of all, my insurance would cover most of it.

Fast forward one month (to about 2 days ago) and it was the morning of my surgery. I had multiple panic attacks on my way up to the office, begging my fiancé to just let me go home. We finally made t up, checked in, and got back to a room. I cried more when I read the consent form. I've had surgeries before, but I was more terrified of this than anything I'd ever done. When she inserted my IV, I absolutely lost it. I was crying and yelling and I said I was done and wanted to home. The dentist came in, just talked me through what the medicine was going to do. Last thing I remember was asking my fiancé not to leave.

I vaguely remember being helped into the car after that, and nearly falling on the dental assistant in the process. I also remembered being in the Walgreens drive-thru. I don't remember much else fully until we got home and I was in bed.

Recovery hasn't been the easiest, as eating yogurt, taking pills, and keeping my stomach settled have all been challenging. I also am a smoker, so I'm going on nearly 72 hours without nicotine. It's tough, no doubt about it. But I didn't think I'd be able to do it. This forum helped so much. Just reading about other success stories kept my mind semi at ease (until the day of) and I am so proud of myself for making it through the day. I've got some awesome chipmunk cheeks as well lol. I've still got a long way to go, as far as regular check ups and some major gum work due to my lack of care but I'm confident I'll be able to get through it!

One quick question. I am due to return to work in a little over 24 hours, but I'm still not able to be off painkillers and I can't quite close my mouth due to swelling. My coworkers all had a very easy time getting their wisdom teeth out and were back at work the next day. They were all a bit surprised that I was taking a Thursday and a Friday off with plans to return on Monday. I don't quite feel ready to go back. How can I present this to my boss? I'm afraid they'll just think I'm milking it.

Can you try ibuprofen and Tylenol instead of the prescription pain meds? You may be surprised that you actually feel better - you should hAve adequate pain control and the ibuprofen will help with the swelling which will, in turn. Help more with the pain than anything else. You also mention that you are having trouble keeping food down and this may very well be from the prescription pain meds.

If you're really still in too much pain to return to work tomorrow, I'd call the dentist and try to be seen tomorrow. Five days out you really shouldn't be in so much pain that you can't function.

FearfulInMA said:

Can you try ibuprofen and Tylenol instead of the prescription pain meds? You may be surprised that you actually feel better - you should hAve adequate pain control and the ibuprofen will help with the swelling which will, in turn. Help more with the pain than anything else. You also mention that you are having trouble keeping food down and this may very well be from the prescription pain meds.

If you're really still in too much pain to return to work tomorrow, I'd call the dentist and try to be seen tomorrow. Five days out you really shouldn't be in so much pain that you can't function.

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I was prescribed Ibuprofen and Percocet, which the dentist told me to take them both to help with swelling. I tried just taking the Ibuprofen last night but woke up and was not very comfortable at all. My bottom wisdom teeth were both impacted so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the pain/discomfort. I'm a receptionist and I feel like people will barely be able to understand me tomorrow lol.

I think if you're still waking up in pain, you really should call the dentist. I was 30 when I had mine out bad my bottom ones were severely impacted and each took about 90 min to remove. I had them out on a Thursday and was totally fine to go back to work in Monday.