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LawrenceS
Junior member
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2021
- Messages
- 2
- Location
- Washington State, USA
I'd like to thank everyone who contributes to this website, it's been a huge source of inspiration for me.
I'm almost 44, and I was told as a teenager that I had plenty of room for all of my wisdom teeth, and that there was no reason to remove them if I kept them clean. As it turns out, that was easier said than done. I developed cavities in my two upper teeth several years ago, which I did nothing about, knowing that my dentist would simply remove them anyway. Those small cavities eventually turned into large ones, and my bottom right tooth also developed a deep cavity under the gum line. So, I was sent to the oral surgeon for a consultation a few weeks ago.
I have a lot of anxiety whenever I visit the dentist, even for routine cleanings or x-rays. I realize that it makes no sense, and I've always managed to convince myself of that to eventually make it through the door. That doesn't mean that it's been easy though, and my 115 pulse rate is always a good reminder to my dentist of that fact. When I was little, there was one dentist in our town that specialized in children, a man in his 70s or 80s by the time I saw him. He was super friendly to the parents, and then oddly heartless when the kids were alone with him. Who knows, maybe it was just me. If he didn't use enough local, and you complained, he would pinch my stomach or give me a light slap on my side, then continue on with whatever he was doing. Even after 40 years, those visits still seem to haunt my subconscious.
Today, about 12 hours ago, I had all four removed under general anesthesia at an oral surgeon's office. They gave me propofol, Versed, and fentanyl, along with clindamycin to prevent any infections, all of them through the IV. The entire visit was extremely fast. I was prepped in only a few minutes, and they had me under for only twenty minutes. In less than an hour I was groggy and on my way home. My mom stopped on the way and dropped off my prescriptions. Ibuprofen, oxycodone, hydroxyzine (for nausea), amoxicillin, and chlorhexidine mouthwash. The only ones I've taken so far are the ibuprofen and the amoxicillin, as well as acetaminophen that I already had (paracetamol for those outside the US).
I woke up extremely groggy, with a lot of my face numb, but I felt no pain at all. I'd taken some acetaminophen a couple of hours before the surgery, so when I got home I took 600mg of ibuprofen to compliment it. By that time (about two hours after the surgery), the effects of the local and fentanyl were beginning to wear off. Right now I'm sore, mostly in my jaw, but also at the sockets if I do something like drink or move my jaw wrong. I've been icing my right side off and on since I got home due to some swelling, but it's starting to subside now. The left didn't swell at all. My biggest problem has been bleeding. All four corners bled for 6 hours without much of a slowdown, and then bled a decent amount for another 3 hours. Now there's a slight oozing that I can taste every once in a while, but it's not too bad. I think it's coming from my upper teeth, which were left open. The bottom teeth were stitched shut. So, at this point I'm at a 2/10 in terms of pain, and with only OTC pain medications. The last 12 hours haven't been a lot of fun, but I'm glad I did it. The worst of the actual experience has been sitting here with my mouth full of gauze for hours on end, but it's not nearly as bad as the years of anxiety leading up to this. I'll update this over the next several days or weeks to let everyone know what my progress has been.
I'm almost 44, and I was told as a teenager that I had plenty of room for all of my wisdom teeth, and that there was no reason to remove them if I kept them clean. As it turns out, that was easier said than done. I developed cavities in my two upper teeth several years ago, which I did nothing about, knowing that my dentist would simply remove them anyway. Those small cavities eventually turned into large ones, and my bottom right tooth also developed a deep cavity under the gum line. So, I was sent to the oral surgeon for a consultation a few weeks ago.
I have a lot of anxiety whenever I visit the dentist, even for routine cleanings or x-rays. I realize that it makes no sense, and I've always managed to convince myself of that to eventually make it through the door. That doesn't mean that it's been easy though, and my 115 pulse rate is always a good reminder to my dentist of that fact. When I was little, there was one dentist in our town that specialized in children, a man in his 70s or 80s by the time I saw him. He was super friendly to the parents, and then oddly heartless when the kids were alone with him. Who knows, maybe it was just me. If he didn't use enough local, and you complained, he would pinch my stomach or give me a light slap on my side, then continue on with whatever he was doing. Even after 40 years, those visits still seem to haunt my subconscious.
Today, about 12 hours ago, I had all four removed under general anesthesia at an oral surgeon's office. They gave me propofol, Versed, and fentanyl, along with clindamycin to prevent any infections, all of them through the IV. The entire visit was extremely fast. I was prepped in only a few minutes, and they had me under for only twenty minutes. In less than an hour I was groggy and on my way home. My mom stopped on the way and dropped off my prescriptions. Ibuprofen, oxycodone, hydroxyzine (for nausea), amoxicillin, and chlorhexidine mouthwash. The only ones I've taken so far are the ibuprofen and the amoxicillin, as well as acetaminophen that I already had (paracetamol for those outside the US).
I woke up extremely groggy, with a lot of my face numb, but I felt no pain at all. I'd taken some acetaminophen a couple of hours before the surgery, so when I got home I took 600mg of ibuprofen to compliment it. By that time (about two hours after the surgery), the effects of the local and fentanyl were beginning to wear off. Right now I'm sore, mostly in my jaw, but also at the sockets if I do something like drink or move my jaw wrong. I've been icing my right side off and on since I got home due to some swelling, but it's starting to subside now. The left didn't swell at all. My biggest problem has been bleeding. All four corners bled for 6 hours without much of a slowdown, and then bled a decent amount for another 3 hours. Now there's a slight oozing that I can taste every once in a while, but it's not too bad. I think it's coming from my upper teeth, which were left open. The bottom teeth were stitched shut. So, at this point I'm at a 2/10 in terms of pain, and with only OTC pain medications. The last 12 hours haven't been a lot of fun, but I'm glad I did it. The worst of the actual experience has been sitting here with my mouth full of gauze for hours on end, but it's not nearly as bad as the years of anxiety leading up to this. I'll update this over the next several days or weeks to let everyone know what my progress has been.
