Wisdom teeth exam done today

[Luxuria]

Hey gang

So I went to meet Dr. Wallace the oral surgeon today. He is really nice, the whole staff are great. I am really confused about what to do with these teeth tough. He asked me if they have been giving me any problems so I told him what has been going on (headache, neck ache, sore & stiff jaw, ear ache, pressure, etc) and he asked me if I have been checked for TMJ. I said no but I thought about it. So he did a quick exam of the joints and there was discomfort when he checked them. I don't have any pain around the gum area where my wisdom teeth are so he kept on about getting checked for TMJ since I do grind my teeth and clench my jaw at night. He said getting my wisdom teeth out wont fix anything if the pain is TMJ related

So then he discussed my x-ray. My bottom wisdom teeth are partly impacted in bone and very close to the main nerve that runs along the jaw so there is a chance (1%) that removing the teeth could injure the nerve giving me a permanent numb or tingling feeling. EEP!   My top wisdom teeth are fully bone impacted and he said they have very bulky roots that are very close to my sinuses and there is a chance that removing the teeth could injure my sinuses so I wouldn't be able to blow my nose for 3 weeks following surgery. And it will take 1 hour and 30 minutes to get the teeth out!!!!  I would be completely sedated too. He doesn't do the extraction in a regular looking dental office either. He has those rooms with the dental chair but the extraction room is just like hospital operating room. Now that FREAKED ME OUT. The bed (who are we kidding, it's a table) the lights and all the equipment. My gosh, I can handle that on tv shows but this was all to REAL.   I would also need to see my doctor for a physical to make sure my heart and lungs can handle the sedation.

So he suggested that I get my dentist to make me a splint to wear at night for the grinding and to consider what I want to do about the wisdom teeth. He said it would be a longer recovery than most so I dont know if I should do it soon and risk still being in a recovery stage in July for my wedding (I cant get the teeth out until April at the earliest) or waiting and risk something happening and needing them out a lot closer to the date and totally ruining the wedding or there is a chance as well that nothing could happen for months (or years) but you know me, I love to expect the worst! *sigh* I will definitely be seeing my dentist about the TMJ problem. I'm not scared of that. What to do about the wisdoms?  

I'm trying to be positive about it but I am even more worried than I was before. It's a tougher job than I thought (and my dentist) and I wasn't aware of the type of environment I was getting into. The few people I have talked to in my family had theirs out in a regular dental chair, not a total OR setting. I never expected it to take so long either or be so complicated.

Is there anyone out there that had a similar experience? I feel totally alone on this one.

 

[letsconnect]

Hi Luxuria,

first things first: is there any specific reason why your wizzies need to come out? (assuming the problem is TMJ-related)? If there isn't, it sounds like you might be better off leaving them well alone.

Regarding TMJ, you can find more information here:

TMJ Pain, Clenching and Grinding

What can you do about TMJ pain, clenching, and grinding? We've collected tips from our readers and from dentists!

www.dentalfearcentral.org

 

[Luxuria]

The surgeon suggested I go get fitted for a mouth guard for my night time grinding so I am going to do that on the 21st. He said I could consider taking the teeth out because the bottom ones have pockets so food can get trapped in there but my dad has the same thing (top 2 bone impacted, bottom 2 partly impacted) and he is 55 and never had a problem with them. The dentist just wasnt able to give me a concrete answer because if the pain is TMJ related then taking the wizzies out won't fix the problem. I just keep freaking out over it because my wedding is coming up and I think about the surgery non stop so sometimes I think I should just take them out so I dont have to think about them anymore but that probably isn't really the right thing to do is it. Then I get worried that what if the night guard doesn't work and I need to get the teeth out. I dont want to be in pain for my wedding and honeymoon but it will probably take a few weeks or months to get used to the mouth guard I am assuming. I'm not good at being patient with these things. I get too worried!

Thanks for your reply letsconnect. Any other thoughts you have on the matter are appreciated.

 

[freakout]

Hi Luxuria I went through 10 years of TMJ and numerous mouth guards. The purpose of the mouth guard is to keep the top and bottom teeth separated at night, which will reduce the pressure on your teeth. If you are clenching and causing alot of pressure in the area where the wizzies are, this could be a tremendous help. Many times people will get immediate relief once they start wearing the mouth guard at night. In many cases it doesn't take very long to get used to it

Note: One of the reasons the is so much pressure and pain from clenching is that the masseter muscle (chewing muscle) is the strongest muscle in the body. Just a little trivia info.

T

 

[Luxuria]

Thanks for the info freakout. Hopefully the night guard will help. I find myself clenching my jaw during the day too sometimes. I have done some TMJ research and found that dentists can make a splint that you wear all day to help the jaw so I am going to be asking my dentist about this as well. I think I really need to make a list of questions as my head is filled with so many thoughts! It is hard to tell exactly where the pain is coming from since the surgeon said the nerves and muscles can spasam so I can't tell if my teeth hurt from the clenching or the wizzies. I guess it is possible for the wizzies to actually hurt from the sore nerves & muscles from the grinding. I am such a worrier though that I have trouble keeping patient.

I called a friend of mine yesterday. She's 60 (I'm 22) she was my neighbour in the apartment building I used to live in. Anyways, she used to be a surgical nurse so I was talking to her and she gave me a lot of positive thoughts. She (along with my parents and fiance) think that I will be ok with waiting to see what the night guard does and they dont think I should risk wisdom teeth surgery so close to my wedding date just incase I get an infection or take a longer time to heal. Really, if I had to have discomfort on my wedding day I'd much rather deal with what I have now instead of a dry socket.

The surgeon thinks that my wizzies may not be the issue right now as the gums directly over them are pink and not swollen and I can touch the area with no pain. After researching TMJ I see that symptoms can be a sore neck, deep pressure headache, jaw pain, teeth pain, and the neck pain and go into the shoulders and arms and ringing in the ears. I have all these symptoms!

I guess only time will tell. I never even thought about my wisdom teeth until I had this root canal done almost a year ago and that dentist went insane and told me I had to take them out and he refused to fix 2 of my other cavities until I had that done. Needless to say, I dont go to him anymore. Really, my teeth have never felt right since I had that root canal but the tooth itself has healded and has no infection.

 

[freakout]

Hi Luxuria Just a thought, (I am not a dental professional just very experienced with TMJ) When you had the root canal last year, did you get a crown?

Sometimes a crown can cause your bite to readjust to the tooth. Which in turn can cause the jaw joints trouble.

Sometimes people find that all they need is the nighttime splint to get thier TMJ under control, however if that does not do the trick a splint can be prescribed for daytime use as well. I used to wear one 24/7.

Note: If you did have a get a crown, I would mention that to the dentist who is making the splint, they can check to see if it is affecting you bite

Best of luck and keep us posted

 

[raspberry75]

hi

Sorry to hear about all your troubles...... but it sounds like you are doing the right thing. The nightguard maybe all you need right now. Take it one step at the time, I know it can be overwhelming to think about the whole thing and to become even more panicked.

My dentist recommended that i get my wisdom teeth out about 7 years ago.... and because of my fear I couldn't do it.... I'm not recommending to wait that long, but what i'm trying to say is that my body was able to tolerate them for that long. It doesn't sound like your are in an "emergency" situation with your widsom teeth right now, since it sounds like it is TMG. how about leaving them in until after your wedding? Just a thought!

hang in there you will find a solution

 

[Luxuria]

Hi freakout & raspberry

No, I don't have the crown on my tooth yet. I'm planning on it though. I just haven't had the time to do so.

My neck has been aching non stop the last 2 days which makes my headaches flare up really bad. I have ear aches, cheek pain, jaw pain and I think I am getting a cold on top of all this. I am getting pinching/twitching in my back teeth too, whether this is my wisdom teeth or nerve/muscle spasams I do not know.

I am going to hold off on removing the wisdom teeth though and see what happens with my night guard and go from there. It is just so hard to not worry and freak out though. I really dont want to remove the wisdom teeth, I'm petrified of the whole surgery idea. Especially the general anastesia. Because I do seem to have TMJ, if I did take the teeth out I think I may break the procedure up into 4 or 2 separate appointments just to ease the stress on my jaw.

My bottom 2 wisdom teeth are semi-impacted so would I still need general anastesia for them or could a lighter one be used? I know I need GA for the tops as they are bone impacted. I can see a bit of my bottom left tooth showing through. The bottom teeth have always had little gum flaps over them but I have been poking at this tooth with my tongue so I think I may have caused the loss of the gum flap over top myself from the constant poking. I'm trying my best to leave it alone.

I'm looking forward to Friday. My fiance is a teacher and spring break starts for us on Friday so we are going down to Kentucky until the 17th. It will be nice to get away and have a break. His father rents a house just outside of Lexington because he goes there a lot of work so it is easier to have a house rather than stay in a hotel every month so we get to use the house for our trip.

Hope everyone here is doing well. I'll keep trying to stop by and let you know how things are going.

 

[Luxuria]

Another thing I am wondering about is they said it would take and hour and a half to do the surgery. Do you think that means from the time I get ready, put out, have the teeth removed and wake up or is it going to take that long to just get the teeth out? I know I'll be asleep and wont know how long it took but it still scares me.