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It's not that bad

N

NJT828

Junior member
Joined
Apr 23, 2019
Messages
7
Location
Ontario, Canada
Time to make a short story long. Having not been to dentist in 21 years, I went the other week and set up a appointment to have my lower left wisdom and the 2nd molar extracted. My previous dental trip to this was back in the late 90's, when a ripping toothache sent me running. 45 mins of tugging and that tooth was removed, the dentist was not happy, as it could have been easily saved with a RCT, but money...).

During my childhood, I wasn't really afraid of the dentist, but what kid really likes going? At around age 18, I was left to fend for myself (no more parents benifets) and I was working. My teeth were decent. My wisdoms erupted normally. By my mid 20's, I was getting toothaches, but would wait them out (sometimes a day, sometimes a few). My parents gave up nagging me about going to dentist and even offering to help pay. As I rolled into my 30s, the toothaches were becoming more frequent and more painful. I recall one delightful Christmas Day sitting in the ER at my hospital, in tears with the worse toothache yet. Made a appointment to have four teeth extracted. The dentist gave me a great price of $720 taxes in (Canadian here). I chickened out the day of, since I wasn't in pain, why bother creating any, right?

In the last 6-7 years, I've been dealing with on/off toothaches, abcesses that swelled my eye close, but still, I'd get a prescription for Anti-Biotics and set a date to remove that infected tooth....Then...Chicken out. As soon as I hit 40, I quit smoking and decieded to put all that money towards fixing my teeth.

Three weeks ago, a tooth was giving me grief. I went and made a appointment, then that tooth stopped hurting and my lower left wisdom started. Slight pain, really foul taste. Well today was the day, and sure enough, as the clock ticked, I was thinking to myself "I'm not in that much pain, so maybe I'll pass". Next thing I know, I was sitting in the dental office. Something told me to just go. In the back we go, where I meet this lovely lady, who is the dentist. I tell her, it's not the original teeth, but some others and tried to play it off that I might need some anti-biotics, to get rid of any infection (I know most dentists don't like extracting with infection, err, at least abcesses). Next thing i know, she laying the chair back and has a look and tells me, "Yes, they'll need to come out". 1000 things were running in my mind, trying to think of excuses "Don't have the money" came spurting out. She replied "It's ok, pay later, but these teeth are coming out, if you're ok with it?"

"Yes ma'am" My tactic of making up a excuse failed and now I realized it's game time. She laid me back in the chair, gave me the old "You're gunna feel a pinch", then hit me with the needle...And, it didn't hurt that much. Stubbing your toe hurts a lot more! Three needles later (numb me up good) and 10 mins goes by and next thing I know, it's serious. And she started..

I can tell you this, coming from someone who was just told today that I have "Really long roots and your jawbone is very, very strong", that there was zero pain. Pressure, but no pain. (if there was any sensation of pain, it was minor and nothing worry about". My wisdom came out pretty easy, considering it was rotted out to the gumline, but the 2nd molar was a lot of tugging and working it loose.. but..no pain. I think it's just annoying having your mouth open so long and having someone fiddling away in there and waiting for the "pop" (It never came lol).

1:15 mins was the total time, given my long roots and strong mantle/Jaw.

I can tell you, it's not bad. The worse part is actually going to dentist. The drive, the waiting. Once they start, it's all downhill. :) I think though, if I was having multiple extractions, I'd go for the big sleep and spend the extra money.

As for me, I still have 9 more teeth to extract, 2 RCT, 2 Implants and then we're going to start corrected my front (they're starting to fail, cause I use them to chew, naturally).

So for tonight, I'm sitting here, in zero pain (prescribed 600mg Ibuprofen), but the only thing that I'm worried about is the bleeding, which is just starting to slow down and the fact I'm insanely hungry. So for those who are terrified, it's really not that bad and the toothaches are far,far,far worse then any pain you'll get at the dentist!
 
Look at you. Well done.
 
Amazingly brave!!! You did amazingly! I hope your healing is fast and smooth!!
 
Congrats! Good job and it's behind you now. And because it was such a good experience, you'll now be able to get the rest done and you'll end up with a healthy mouth going forward!
 
Thanks all!

Here I am post extraction 27 hours and there's pretty much zero pain. I am popping 1-600mg Ibu every 8 hours just to help with any swelling, which seems to be very minimal. Most people say that the second day, you're just sore, and that is slightly my case. I did just have two long-rotted molars pulled, afterall!

My only concern is a light amount of blood, it's not dark red, just pinkish. I do know that blood and saliva is like oil and water and one drop can seem like a lot more. I can't recall if my last tooth extraction 20 years ago bled into the next day.

If it wasn't for the fear of dry socket, I would have went to work today, but my job is heavy and physical.

I still have lots of work left to do, but right now the only put off is the sound, which isn't bad at all, so I'll give it a few weeks before booking the next extraction(s)!
 
BUMP :)

Past Monday (Canada Day), had the worse, most screaming toothache I've had in decades. No over-the-counter pain meds would even touch it. Went to dentists on Tues, booked at appointment for Weds. She gave me some Amoxicillian and said it should calm it down a bit, over the course of the night. Didn't really.

lol. I showed up Weds at her office 2 hours early, because, they have Air conditioning (40c that day) and I thought if I showed up early, there's no denying I'm in pain.

Lower right wizzie. She had that thing out in under 45 seconds. Decayed badly, but it did erupt 20 years ago. It was basically two good cracks or in her words "Just pressure right, no pain?". and half that tooth popped out. Another two good cracks "You're doing well, it's coming....Oh, done!".

Then we had laughs. It's amazing to go from being a dentist dodger to spinning it into something positive. Not too much post-op pain, but now my upper wizzie is causing me a bit of grief, so that will be next. :)

I heard upper teeth are a lot easier to pull then lowers and it's comapred to pulling a nail from styrofoam vs lowers, which is like pulling a nail from a piece of wood. True?

I'm cursed with really long roots, and what she said "exceptionally strong bone"..I really wished I took care of my teeth, used to be strong and healthy. Rather have dealt with a cavity then expensive and painful toothaches and extractions. :)
 
And another:

Sunday Afternoon. In tears. upper right molar area was in severe pain. Nothing was touching it to relieve pain. Tried to find a dentist who takes emergency walkins, seeing as mine was closed and I never knew about a toll free number that puts you in touch with a on-call dentist.

Monday, I call when my dentist opens. I tell them I'm in severe pain, they asked if I could make it to the afternoon,at 4. By one o'clock I was in tears and driving there and 20 mins later in a chair. I've been having problems with these teeth for almost 7 years. I made a appointment back then to go my upper 1-2-3 molars pulled, but chickened out.

My dentists looks at my xrays and suggests pulling my 2-3rd molars, which were down to root tips. No big deal and I walked out 1 hour later, feeling relieved. Wednesday rolls around, and I can feel that same type of severe pain, when I rinsed with some salt water. I call them to make a appointment for a day or two later (week before Christmas). Reception tells me to come right away. I arrive and she looks at the tooth and I say, it's not too bad. She takes the blunt end of the mirror and gives it a tap. My eyes opened wide. "This one has to come as well, and I'm off till Dec 30th". That's all I had to hear.

The upper molar still had a crown and it took quite a bit of work to get it out, seeing as she worked slowly to try and get the tooth in one piece and not have to "fish around" for the root(s).

1 hour later I'm home and really bleeding for a few hours. I never knew the upper 1st molar in adults is the largest tooth in the mouth and that put my mind at ease (I took a pic of the extracted, decayed tooth and it's still big and it's missing some of the crown). 2 days later , as I type, it's still sore, but not in a toothache way, just tender and feeling a bit raw on the gums.

In short, I had 3 teeth extracted within 48hr and was super paranoid about disrupting the clots on the 2-3rd molars, but the dentist said they're healing really nice and not to worry, when changing gauze. It takes quite a bit of suction to remove clots, mostly.

Luckly, this happened a week before Christmas and not at Christmas. :) ... but that was a unexpected $700 gone, but it's a small price to pay to not want to suffer as bad as I did for 18 hours. :)
 
Wow, that sounds like a nightmare! VERY happy to hear that all is resolved now, and I wish you speedy healing from now on in. And Merry Christmas!
 
Thank you! I still have a few more to divorce, but I'll wait until the new year. ?
 
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