C
C633
Junior member
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2024
- Messages
- 5
- Location
- NC
Just for context: I am a 43 year old male. I experienced a lot of dental trauma as a kid and around 19 years old stopped going to the dentist for about 11 years. At about 29 years old I finally went back, had 12ish cavities, needed 4 crowns, one on each lower molar, ended up needing 2 or 3 root canals, and was told my wisdom teeth needed to go. Of course I got a second and 3rd opinion and they all agreed. They also agreed that the wisdom teeth were the lowest priority at the time. Over the course of a few visits and some great sedation and enough money that I probably covered my dentists car payment for the year, I got the crowns and cavities taken care of.
But I kept putting off the dreaded wisdom teeth, for roughly the next 13 years. The lowers were both partially erupted. The lower left was also partial bony impacted. The upper left had not erupted, and the upper right was also partial erupted. I could not properly clean the lower wisdom teeth and they were starting to get decay. I had no symptoms and so I just kept putting it off. Sometime at the start of 2024, I experienced some tooth pain and thought that the wisdom teeth were finally letting me know it was time. (as it turned out it was bad sinus pressure and a head cold, but I didn't realize it at the time). I decided to skip the dentist and make an appoint straight off with an Oral Surgeon. I had my xrays forwarded from my dentists office to the surgeon. The consultation was in February, and was painless as he just examined me and looked around. I made an appointment for the extraction date of April 18. As it got closer and closer I thought of any way to cancel it or get out of it and almost did a few times, but I just had to man up and stop being a baby. Easier said then done.
In the final days leading up to the big day I stocked up. Apple sauce, jello, pudding, eggs, gatorade, a big container of table salt ( you'll need this for salt water rinses), mac and cheese. On the final night before, I had a giant steak dinner. I could not eat anything after midnight.
The morning of the surgery:
I got a ride to the office, I had to wear short sleeves and I wore comfy sweat pants. They took me in, I sat down on the chair, and the assistant hooked me up to a pulse ox and blood preassure cuff. Doctor came in, and gave me an IV in the right right arm. It didnt even hurt. I dont like needles but if I am laying down I can deal with it, as was the case. Once the IV was in, Doctor pushed some drugs through the IV and literally with in 10 seconds I felt so much more relaxed, I was like jelly. With in 30 seconds I was outttt. I woke up and he was done. I felt NOTHING, heard nothing, smelled nothing, tasted nothing of the procedure. My entire mouth was numbed he said it would stay numb all day and probably as late as 9pm. He was right.
They had gauze in my mouth that I had to bite down on. He said once I got home I could remove it and shouldn't need to use anymore, but gave me some extra just in case. I still was not in any kind of pain. They also gave me an ice pack for my jaw.
The ride home was uneventful, at no time was I loopy or talking silly like you see the videos on line.
Once home, I took the gauze out, and went on my couch recliner. They instructed me to take at least 600mg of ibuprofein and 1000mg of tylenol as soon as I could, so I did. They gave me a prescription of oxycontin and peridex mouthwash.
I slept on the couch for a few hours with the ice packs on me and woke up in the later afternoon. When I woke up I was still numb but again not in pain. I had a few spoonfuls of jello and some water. That night I slept on 3 pillows mostly in an upright position, and was not in pain.
The next 2 days after surgery were essentially the same: Tylenol/Advil regime every 4-5 hours...ate very soft foods, scrambled eggs, jello, pudding, mac and cheese, drank water, and some coffee (but let it cool down so it wasnt too hot) Also did plenty of warm salt water rinses and peridex rinses. (tilt head side to side, dont swish. open mouth to let liquid out, dont spit). Jaw is very sore and its hard to open more then 1/2 way wide.
Day 3,4,5 was the same, except now I am supposed to use the syringe they gave me to irrigate the sockets. I did this as instructed and even though I thought I avoided getting food in there, food came out. It was kinda gross. Jaw not as sore each day gets better, by day 5 I could open wide. Also by day 5 I am trying to ween off the advil and tylenol but still need it, just not as often. At this point it feels more like my gums are sore from the incisions, kind of like a bad canker sore or mouth ulcer.
Day 6 I went to my dentist (not the oral surgeon) to have them check my crown, because it got dislodged during surgery but the Oral Surgeon recemented it back on but instructed me to follow up w/ dentist. The dentist approved of the crown placement and inspected all the sockets. They all looked good. I was however getting a funny taste coming from the lower left, and as it turns out I was not irrigating it well enough. The Dentist showed me how I had to actually stick my clean finger in my mouth and pull my cheek away to get the tip of the syrringe into the socket. I dont know if this was because of the way the tooth had grown in or what, but it worked and a bunch of nastiness came out. Still through all of this I am in no pain what so ever. At most a little discomfort because my gums are still sore. I ate my first real food for dinner, a rotisserie chicken, and was it ever so glorious.
Today is day 7. Somewhere around the 5 day mark, some of the absorbable sutures came out when I was irrigating. This morning, 2 more came out, I believe that is the last of them. It never hurt when they came out. In fact it felt good. I have only taken 2 tylenol today and been fine. I am still rinsing with warm salt water multiple times a day as it feels good on my gums. Peridex before bed and after breakfast in the morning.
If I had an office job or low impact job, I would say I could have gone back to work on day 4 if really really necessary but ideally day 6. I have a hands on kind of job and am still out from work but its not terrible at this point, kind of like a vacation to be honest.
A good tip for ice packs: Get some thing long and thin, like length of pantyhose. Cut it so the ends are open. Tie a knot in the middle of it. Insert 2 bags of ice into either open end, put that knot under your chin, and tie the ends on top of your head, so it will hold the ice along side your jaws. It is instant relief.
But I kept putting off the dreaded wisdom teeth, for roughly the next 13 years. The lowers were both partially erupted. The lower left was also partial bony impacted. The upper left had not erupted, and the upper right was also partial erupted. I could not properly clean the lower wisdom teeth and they were starting to get decay. I had no symptoms and so I just kept putting it off. Sometime at the start of 2024, I experienced some tooth pain and thought that the wisdom teeth were finally letting me know it was time. (as it turned out it was bad sinus pressure and a head cold, but I didn't realize it at the time). I decided to skip the dentist and make an appoint straight off with an Oral Surgeon. I had my xrays forwarded from my dentists office to the surgeon. The consultation was in February, and was painless as he just examined me and looked around. I made an appointment for the extraction date of April 18. As it got closer and closer I thought of any way to cancel it or get out of it and almost did a few times, but I just had to man up and stop being a baby. Easier said then done.
In the final days leading up to the big day I stocked up. Apple sauce, jello, pudding, eggs, gatorade, a big container of table salt ( you'll need this for salt water rinses), mac and cheese. On the final night before, I had a giant steak dinner. I could not eat anything after midnight.
The morning of the surgery:
I got a ride to the office, I had to wear short sleeves and I wore comfy sweat pants. They took me in, I sat down on the chair, and the assistant hooked me up to a pulse ox and blood preassure cuff. Doctor came in, and gave me an IV in the right right arm. It didnt even hurt. I dont like needles but if I am laying down I can deal with it, as was the case. Once the IV was in, Doctor pushed some drugs through the IV and literally with in 10 seconds I felt so much more relaxed, I was like jelly. With in 30 seconds I was outttt. I woke up and he was done. I felt NOTHING, heard nothing, smelled nothing, tasted nothing of the procedure. My entire mouth was numbed he said it would stay numb all day and probably as late as 9pm. He was right.
They had gauze in my mouth that I had to bite down on. He said once I got home I could remove it and shouldn't need to use anymore, but gave me some extra just in case. I still was not in any kind of pain. They also gave me an ice pack for my jaw.
The ride home was uneventful, at no time was I loopy or talking silly like you see the videos on line.
Once home, I took the gauze out, and went on my couch recliner. They instructed me to take at least 600mg of ibuprofein and 1000mg of tylenol as soon as I could, so I did. They gave me a prescription of oxycontin and peridex mouthwash.
I slept on the couch for a few hours with the ice packs on me and woke up in the later afternoon. When I woke up I was still numb but again not in pain. I had a few spoonfuls of jello and some water. That night I slept on 3 pillows mostly in an upright position, and was not in pain.
The next 2 days after surgery were essentially the same: Tylenol/Advil regime every 4-5 hours...ate very soft foods, scrambled eggs, jello, pudding, mac and cheese, drank water, and some coffee (but let it cool down so it wasnt too hot) Also did plenty of warm salt water rinses and peridex rinses. (tilt head side to side, dont swish. open mouth to let liquid out, dont spit). Jaw is very sore and its hard to open more then 1/2 way wide.
Day 3,4,5 was the same, except now I am supposed to use the syringe they gave me to irrigate the sockets. I did this as instructed and even though I thought I avoided getting food in there, food came out. It was kinda gross. Jaw not as sore each day gets better, by day 5 I could open wide. Also by day 5 I am trying to ween off the advil and tylenol but still need it, just not as often. At this point it feels more like my gums are sore from the incisions, kind of like a bad canker sore or mouth ulcer.
Day 6 I went to my dentist (not the oral surgeon) to have them check my crown, because it got dislodged during surgery but the Oral Surgeon recemented it back on but instructed me to follow up w/ dentist. The dentist approved of the crown placement and inspected all the sockets. They all looked good. I was however getting a funny taste coming from the lower left, and as it turns out I was not irrigating it well enough. The Dentist showed me how I had to actually stick my clean finger in my mouth and pull my cheek away to get the tip of the syrringe into the socket. I dont know if this was because of the way the tooth had grown in or what, but it worked and a bunch of nastiness came out. Still through all of this I am in no pain what so ever. At most a little discomfort because my gums are still sore. I ate my first real food for dinner, a rotisserie chicken, and was it ever so glorious.
Today is day 7. Somewhere around the 5 day mark, some of the absorbable sutures came out when I was irrigating. This morning, 2 more came out, I believe that is the last of them. It never hurt when they came out. In fact it felt good. I have only taken 2 tylenol today and been fine. I am still rinsing with warm salt water multiple times a day as it feels good on my gums. Peridex before bed and after breakfast in the morning.
If I had an office job or low impact job, I would say I could have gone back to work on day 4 if really really necessary but ideally day 6. I have a hands on kind of job and am still out from work but its not terrible at this point, kind of like a vacation to be honest.
A good tip for ice packs: Get some thing long and thin, like length of pantyhose. Cut it so the ends are open. Tie a knot in the middle of it. Insert 2 bags of ice into either open end, put that knot under your chin, and tie the ends on top of your head, so it will hold the ice along side your jaws. It is instant relief.