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4 wisdom teeth with local anesthetic

M

Mikej55

Junior member
Joined
Jan 27, 2006
Messages
8
Is it possible to for the oral surgeon to take all 4 wisdom teeth out at one time with local anestheic? I had a consultation with one oral surgeon and he told me that he could only take out 2 at one time. I have a consultation with another sureon in 2 weeks because i could get a sooner appointment with him and he was also the one who my dentist sends most of his patients to. So im hoping he can get all 4 out because i am terrified of IV sedation and i really dont want to have to go back twice under oral sedation. So if anyone has any idea please let me know.
 
We usually do one side at a time unless you're having a general anaesthetic. The reason for this is..

You don't want to have too many GA's, and you may as well have them all done at once then.

If conscious sedation is used and all four teeth made numb at once, then all four corners of your head are going to be numb at once! For hours.. and you know the way some patients bite their lip after just one injection. There is a distinct possibility you might chew your own face off.

Very few dentists do bi-lateral injections, never mind all four quadrants at once, it's just not nice.

Hope that helps explain this in some way. :)
 
I just had 3 wisdom teeth removed on Monday with a local (One wisdom tooth was removed in 2002 because it broke) and it didn't bother me at all.
 
I had all 4 of mine taken out (about 7 yrs ago now) with local and IV sedation.... all 4 were impacted. Actually it was even more complicated than this as my back top left tooth was in bad shape, so instead of trying to save it, they took that one out, then took the impacted wisdom tooth out, never removing it my mouth at all and stuck it in the space where the other one was taken! They implanted my own tooth one space forward and then sutured it all up like over the top of it and everything to protect it until it took root again.

Anyway I think that my oral surgeon used only just barely enough local to complete each side before it wore off and then moved on to the other. I remember going home after and I dont thinkt here was much freezing left by then. The drawback was that he used the the bad injection... the one way in the back in your jaw joint... on both sides, and since my jaw was so painful after to move... I held it in a closed position for over a week. That resulted in my jaw locking shut. Of course even on one side I'd have held it still.... but both sides just made it that much more worse. I just couldnt bring myself to stretch my jaw again to get it to work. Once it locked.... here's the horror story.... the oral surgeon had to FORCE it open using tongue depressors pushing one more in between my front teeth, then another then another... forcing it open and it was very very painful! If I did not let him do this... the most I could get between my teeth was a LEVEL teaspoons worth of antyhing. It took me the better part of a month after the surgery before I could get my mouth fully open again. :(

So I dont think both sides at once is a good idea for local.... the pain and stiffness after is just too much.
 
After wisdom teeth are removed, it is very important that you try to gently keep stretching your mouth open to get it moving again. Although it's tempting just to not open it wide at all, this can lead to permanent limitated opening (called trismus). There are some tips for healing after wizzie removal here:

Tips for healing after oral surgery

It sounds like you've had your fair share of bad luck - was this oral surgeon military as well?
 
letsconnect said:
It sounds like you've had your fair share of bad luck - was this oral surgeon military as well?

Yes.... yes he was :( Thing is... if something hurts, I can not bring myself to do it. If i get a particularly painful needle in my arm for example... an IM injection for vaccination lets say.... sometimes I immobilize my arm until the soreness goes away. The only way I would have been able to even 'gently' stretch the mouth open would have been if some pain killer existed that would have taken the soreness away so that I could have done it woithout soreness. If its sore... I dont use it.
 
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