I am now 5-days post-op of getting all 4 of my wisdom teeth taken out. Honestly, it’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Here are some things I did to make this experience no big deal.
Pre-Op:
The first thing to decide is whether to be put completely under with a general anesthesia, or just get local anesthesia shots. At the dentist’s office I was not even given the option. The dentist just said “You’ll want to be under for that.” I really didn’t want to be though because I have never been put under. I had no idea what it was going to be like or how my body would react. I called the surgery office and they said I did have a choice and could even wait until the morning of the surgery to decide. If you get put under, you can not eat or drink ANYTHING from midnight on. If you just get locals, you can eat a light breakfast the morning of the surgery. I decided to eat and just get locals. After watching a man who had chose to be put under stumble by my recovery room door as though he was hung over, I was really happy I chose not to be put under.
There are thing you need to consider in making this decision. First, have you ever been put under before? If so, did you recover from it with no complications? Were you sick or did you feel like crap afterward? Being put under is not necessary for wisdom teeth extraction, so do you really want to do something that is not absolutely needed? Can you go a long time without eating or drinking anything? I personally have low blood sugar in the mornings, so if I would not have eaten that morning I very well could have passed out before the surgery. Also, think about the cost. Do you have insurance that will cover it? Dental insurance does not cover this procedure, so you need to have good medical insurance. Can you afford the extra cost of total general anesthesia?
One down fall of only getting local anesthesia is the fact that the needles do hurt for a few seconds. I got all 4 wisdom teeth out, so I had to have 3 shots on each side to completely numb me up. 1 shot on each side did hurt quite a bit, but if you can take the pain for a few seconds you will be OK. I’m not that big on needles going into me, but I did it just fine.
During The Surgery:
Like I said above, I chose to get locals instead of being put under. This means that I was awake and conscious of everything happening. I was worried that I would start getting anxious, so I took my ipod with me. I did use it, but really didn’t feel that I absolutely needed it. I kept it low so I could hear the doctor and nurses.
When the procedure starts, you will get numbed up with shots. The nurse kept patting me on the shoulder while I got the shots to keep me clam. It really did help comfort me. If you are worried about the pain, ask one of the nurses to stay by your side and keep talking to you. It will give you something to focus on other than the pain. I also received a shot in the arm to help keep the swelling down after surgery. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was a steroid of some sort. Once all the shots are done it will take a little while for the anesthesia to take full effect. Take your time and let it completely numb up! If the doctor comes back in and asks if you are numb, be honest. If you still feel tingly, you’re not ready. Don’t worry about the anesthesia wearing off if you don’t get the procedure going right away, you have hours of numbness to work with.
Once the doctor comes back in to start the teeth extraction, make sure you are really relaxed and ready. If you are feeling anxious they can always give you nitrous (happy gas) too keep you calm. Take an ipod or any other player with you and start it before the doctor gets going. Keep your finger on the volume button because you may need to adjust it to hear the doctor or cover up the noise. If you don’t want to take anything but think you will get anxious, ask the doctor and nurses to keep talking to you during the procedure. My doctor asked my yes or no questions and kept me laughing during my surgery. He kept making sure I was doing good and couldn’t feel anything. This helped me stay clam and let me know exactly what was going on in there. If you want a play-by-play account of what he is doing, just ask.
It only took about 20 minutes from the time he started the extractions until all 4 wisdom teeth were out. I was actually in and out of the office doors in 1 hour! If I had chose to be put under for the surgery I would have been in there much longer recovering.
Post-Op:
Now we get into the fun part. Well, not really fun at all. After the doctor was finished with the surgery I was taken to a recovery room. This is where I put ice on my face to help slow the bleeding and keep the swelling down. I just sat back and relaxed for about 15 minutes. A nurse came back in to change the gauze in my mouth and give me some at home instructions. I felt great the whole time…no pain, sickness, weakness. I just got right up and walked out the door. My husband was with me so he drove, but I could have drove home just fine.
I was given 2 prescriptions to fill, one for Vicodin and one for a special mouth wash. I would suggest filling them right after you leave the office. You may or may not need the Vicodin, but it’s nice to know it’s there if the pain gets too much to bare. I do not like to take anything for pain in the first place, so I didn’t use any of my Vicodin pills. Really, there isn’t pain associated with the surgery because you are numb for quite a while after. I started to get feeling back after about 4 hours. I did take a Alieve as soon as I got home, but I would not suggest doing this! Although Alieve is an anti-inflammatory, it suggests that you only take 3 total a day. If you take 2 right away, you can not take another one for 12 hour. Trust me, you will want another one for the soreness before that.
I would suggest getting getting a bottle of regular Advil and take 2 every 4 hours. This is keep you comfortable and help get any swelling down as soon as possible. I kept this cycle up for the first day and a half. Now, I just take them whenever my jaw gets really sore from talking or chewing.
As far as the bandages go, keep changing them until it feels like they are starting to stick to the area. I only had to change my gauze 3 times on both sides. While changing it for the last time I accidentally pulled the blood clot off with the gauze. I decided to replace the gauze with a small teabag. This is actually suggested by the doctors if the bleeding doesn’t stop. I kept the teabag on for about a half hour before I gave up and let it clot on its own. I was really hungry and wanted to eat! You can’t very well eat or drink anything with your mouth full of gauze!
Of course, you are told not to talk much or chew for the first day. I figured I felt so great that I would have no problem talking after the gauze was out. Well, I was fine until the numbness started wearing off. Then the soreness of the jaw muscles hit me. Please take this advice, don’t talk! Or talk only if really needed. I used my laptop to talk to my husband for the first day. Typing was much faster at this point than trying to mutter a few words here and there.
You would think that being told to only eat things like ice cream, smoothies, shakes, and other cold goodies like that would be the best thing in the world. I did at first. I was loving the first day of junk food! But into the second day I was sick of soft, liquid things. It’s hard to find nutritious things you don’t have to chew and are cold. So after the first day and a half my body was getting really run down with sugar. I suggest finding some things before the surgery that are sweet, salty, and nutritious (not all together). Make sure they are cold things because you can not have anything hot until the 2nd day.
My last bit of info is that you will not be instantly better after 2 or 3 days. In my experience the 3rd day was the worst of it all. I felt run down and completely frustrated. I couldn’t eat what I wanted, I couldn’t open my mouth all the way without some kind of odd sensation, and my body was out of energy. I am still having problems too. This could happen to anyone getting any tooth extracted. I still do not have all the feeling back in part of my lower lip and chin. I called and asked about it and the nurse said it is normal. The doctor had to get the root from my tooth on both sides of the main nerve. The nurse said the nerve could be bruised because of this. It can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months for the sensation to fully come back! This does bother me a little because I can feel sensation, but not like it should be. It feels like my lip and chin is asleep and won’t come back. It makes a few of my lower teeth hurt also because my gums are still numb. Close to what it felt like after getting my braces tightened. There’s nothing you can do about this but hold out and deal with it.
