E
ericthegreat94
Junior member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2014
- Messages
- 1
- Location
- Queens, NY
So about a year ago I was told by my dentist that my wisdom teeth needed to be checked out. He gave me a referral to an excellent Oral Surgeon in my area. Now, I had never had any sort of sedation/GA before, and the last time I recieved an IV was when I was a baby for a high fever. Naturally, I was already quite nervous. When I was younger, I had a BIG fear of GA and being put to sleep, and some of it still carried over to today.
Fast forward to about a month ago, when I met my oral surgeon at the consultation. They took a panoramic X-ray of my teeth, and I nervously awaited the results with my father as I looked at the X-ray. As soon as I saw the state of my wisdom teeth, I knew what the answer was going to be. Of course, once the OS came in he confirmed my fear: All 4 teeth were impacted, and had to be removed under GA. I asked him what drugs he would be using to put me to sleep, and he said he would be using a 2-drug cocktail: Versed and propofol.
When scheduling the procedure, my school schedule was a big issue (I'm taking summer courses 4 days per week in the city, and I move back into my dorm August 21). So, after a few days of debate, along with trying to decide whether to wait for the winter break or do it before school starts, me and my parents decided it would be best to get the procedure done August 15 at 10:00 AM. This was because I didn't want my wisdom teeth to bother me at school.
The weeks leading up to the procedure were nerve-wracking, and the closer it became, the more terrified I was. The summer course helped me keep my mind off of it, but my thoughts still drifted towards the looming surgery. I couldn't function when I woke up on the 15th, and was nervously watching the clock. At 9:30, me and my mom left to go to the OS.
We sat in the waiting room for about half an hour, and I saw another boy about my age come out of the surgery with gauze in his mouth. After what seemed like the longest wait in my life, my name was called by the nurse! I was led to the surgery, where the first thing I saw was the IV bag...
Anyway, I sat in the chair and the nurse attached a blood pressure cuff to my arm. I don't exactly remember what my BP was, but it was around 140/90 or something like that. My heart was also racing. I was surprised that they didn't hook me up to an EKG, SpO2, etc, just a BP machine.
The OS came in, discussed some post-op stuff with my mom, and handed me a consent form to sign. Now, I am over the legal age of consent (thank god!) so it was my last chance to back out by refusing to sign, and my mom wouldn't be able to force me to have it done against my will by signing for me. But, I knew that if I didn't have this done soon, my wisdom teeth would be giving me problems (one of them was partially erupted and growing in horizontally), and I was already having mild shooting pains in my molars when I ate. So, I signed my life away, so to speak.
It was time for the IV to go in. The OS and nurses didn't let me watch anything. They sprayed a freezing spray on my arm, then I presume he inserted the IV, but I did NOT feel A THING. After that, he must have injected the Versed/propofol mixture, because the next thing I knew I was stumbling into the recovery room with gauze in my mouth.
Now, I was told that I was a bit loopy from the GA, because I was apparently saying things like "I'M [expletive]'D UP!" and "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!", much to the amusement of my mom. I was a bit light-headed, but I didn't feel that drowsy as I sat in the tiny recovery room. My entire lower lip and chin were numb, and felt my lip was about 3x the size, lol.
I vaguely remember a nurse coming in and checking on me a few times, but I don't think the OS came in. At this point, I was allowed to go home. So we left the office, and I don't really remember doing this. I vaguely remember the ride home, though.
I was given a painkiller and Amoxicillin (antibiotic) to take about once every 4 hours. The real pain did not start until the afternoon, after I had eaten my first post-op meal (scrambled eggs and milk). I took a painkiller, but had broken the tablet in half. Apparently, it did not help me that much, so I was in bad pain for the afternoon. I tried to take a nap, but couldn't because the pain was quite bad.
After my failed attempt to take a nap, I was finally allowed to take another painkiller at about 4:15. This time, I didn't break the pill in half. It worked a lot better this time, and I felt significantly less pain, so I was able to take a short 40 min. nap.
As the day wound down, I continued to take my painkiller and amoxicillin. By the end of the day, I was feeling a lot better. The gauze was quite annoying, though. I had to leave it in until about 5:00 pm.
Last night, I woke up about once every 2 hrs. However, I went to sleep around 9:00 pm and woke up around 7:00 am. I woke up at 11:30, 2:30 and 5:00-ish. I also took another painkiller when I woke up at 11:30.
Amazingly, when I woke up at 7:00 I was not in a lot of pain, even though I did not take a painkiller for 8 hours! This morning, I was a bit nervous about brushing my teeth, but I decided to do it very gently. Of course, I had to rinse my mouth out afterwards, and it was only about 20 hours after the procedure. Was I supposed to do this yet, as you are supposed to wait 24 hours before rinsing your mouth? A little blood came out, but it was mixed with saliva so I didn't think it caused much damage.
I then had a cup of coffee and a container of yogurt, and took a painkiller and ammoxicilin. Now, at the time of writing this post, it is about 22 hours after the procedure, and I am happy that I will be able to begin the salt-water rinses soon.
The main thing I am worried about is getting a dry socket, and am doing everything I can to avoid this, even though my gums are stitched up. I was also supposed to ice the area for about 24 hours on and off, but I iced both cheeks for only a few minutes about 3x each yesterday. I also did one or two longer ice pack sessions. My mother was hounding me about icing my cheeks. I didn't really want to have an ice pack on for 24 hours, ugh.
Right now, as I am writing this post, I have slight swelling of my cheeks, but nothing too major. The soreness and pain is also being kept under control by the painkillers. I hope this post clears up a few things for anyone who is going to have their wisdom teeth removed, and I will post back soon as my recovery continues. I have been lurking on this forum for weeks before my wisdom tooth removal, and I would like to introduce myself and periodically check in about my recovery. See you soon!
Fast forward to about a month ago, when I met my oral surgeon at the consultation. They took a panoramic X-ray of my teeth, and I nervously awaited the results with my father as I looked at the X-ray. As soon as I saw the state of my wisdom teeth, I knew what the answer was going to be. Of course, once the OS came in he confirmed my fear: All 4 teeth were impacted, and had to be removed under GA. I asked him what drugs he would be using to put me to sleep, and he said he would be using a 2-drug cocktail: Versed and propofol.
When scheduling the procedure, my school schedule was a big issue (I'm taking summer courses 4 days per week in the city, and I move back into my dorm August 21). So, after a few days of debate, along with trying to decide whether to wait for the winter break or do it before school starts, me and my parents decided it would be best to get the procedure done August 15 at 10:00 AM. This was because I didn't want my wisdom teeth to bother me at school.
The weeks leading up to the procedure were nerve-wracking, and the closer it became, the more terrified I was. The summer course helped me keep my mind off of it, but my thoughts still drifted towards the looming surgery. I couldn't function when I woke up on the 15th, and was nervously watching the clock. At 9:30, me and my mom left to go to the OS.
We sat in the waiting room for about half an hour, and I saw another boy about my age come out of the surgery with gauze in his mouth. After what seemed like the longest wait in my life, my name was called by the nurse! I was led to the surgery, where the first thing I saw was the IV bag...
Anyway, I sat in the chair and the nurse attached a blood pressure cuff to my arm. I don't exactly remember what my BP was, but it was around 140/90 or something like that. My heart was also racing. I was surprised that they didn't hook me up to an EKG, SpO2, etc, just a BP machine.
The OS came in, discussed some post-op stuff with my mom, and handed me a consent form to sign. Now, I am over the legal age of consent (thank god!) so it was my last chance to back out by refusing to sign, and my mom wouldn't be able to force me to have it done against my will by signing for me. But, I knew that if I didn't have this done soon, my wisdom teeth would be giving me problems (one of them was partially erupted and growing in horizontally), and I was already having mild shooting pains in my molars when I ate. So, I signed my life away, so to speak.
It was time for the IV to go in. The OS and nurses didn't let me watch anything. They sprayed a freezing spray on my arm, then I presume he inserted the IV, but I did NOT feel A THING. After that, he must have injected the Versed/propofol mixture, because the next thing I knew I was stumbling into the recovery room with gauze in my mouth.
Now, I was told that I was a bit loopy from the GA, because I was apparently saying things like "I'M [expletive]'D UP!" and "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!", much to the amusement of my mom. I was a bit light-headed, but I didn't feel that drowsy as I sat in the tiny recovery room. My entire lower lip and chin were numb, and felt my lip was about 3x the size, lol.
I vaguely remember a nurse coming in and checking on me a few times, but I don't think the OS came in. At this point, I was allowed to go home. So we left the office, and I don't really remember doing this. I vaguely remember the ride home, though.
I was given a painkiller and Amoxicillin (antibiotic) to take about once every 4 hours. The real pain did not start until the afternoon, after I had eaten my first post-op meal (scrambled eggs and milk). I took a painkiller, but had broken the tablet in half. Apparently, it did not help me that much, so I was in bad pain for the afternoon. I tried to take a nap, but couldn't because the pain was quite bad.
After my failed attempt to take a nap, I was finally allowed to take another painkiller at about 4:15. This time, I didn't break the pill in half. It worked a lot better this time, and I felt significantly less pain, so I was able to take a short 40 min. nap.
As the day wound down, I continued to take my painkiller and amoxicillin. By the end of the day, I was feeling a lot better. The gauze was quite annoying, though. I had to leave it in until about 5:00 pm.
Last night, I woke up about once every 2 hrs. However, I went to sleep around 9:00 pm and woke up around 7:00 am. I woke up at 11:30, 2:30 and 5:00-ish. I also took another painkiller when I woke up at 11:30.
Amazingly, when I woke up at 7:00 I was not in a lot of pain, even though I did not take a painkiller for 8 hours! This morning, I was a bit nervous about brushing my teeth, but I decided to do it very gently. Of course, I had to rinse my mouth out afterwards, and it was only about 20 hours after the procedure. Was I supposed to do this yet, as you are supposed to wait 24 hours before rinsing your mouth? A little blood came out, but it was mixed with saliva so I didn't think it caused much damage.
I then had a cup of coffee and a container of yogurt, and took a painkiller and ammoxicilin. Now, at the time of writing this post, it is about 22 hours after the procedure, and I am happy that I will be able to begin the salt-water rinses soon.
The main thing I am worried about is getting a dry socket, and am doing everything I can to avoid this, even though my gums are stitched up. I was also supposed to ice the area for about 24 hours on and off, but I iced both cheeks for only a few minutes about 3x each yesterday. I also did one or two longer ice pack sessions. My mother was hounding me about icing my cheeks. I didn't really want to have an ice pack on for 24 hours, ugh.
Right now, as I am writing this post, I have slight swelling of my cheeks, but nothing too major. The soreness and pain is also being kept under control by the painkillers. I hope this post clears up a few things for anyone who is going to have their wisdom teeth removed, and I will post back soon as my recovery continues. I have been lurking on this forum for weeks before my wisdom tooth removal, and I would like to introduce myself and periodically check in about my recovery. See you soon!
