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Wisdom Teeth and the removal thereof
Rabid_Llama
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Well I just got back from getting them cut out. The doctor was nice enough and gave me a little advice on aftercare but I would also like to hear the opinions of other people who have had them removed. What are the dos and do nots. What about recovery time?
I am still a little groggy from the anasthesia so sorry if this OP is kind of weak.
I am still a little groggy from the anasthesia so sorry if this OP is kind of weak.
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Rabid_Llama on
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PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
Hopefully you have access to a food processor or blender, just mix up some yogurt, bananas, and whatever else floats your boat.
Also, applesauce is good, scrambled eggs, avocados, anything soft that you can chew up front for a few days.
Hopefully the doc gave you a water syringe and some hydrogen peroxide to clean out your sockets.
Using the syringe and a 50/50 water-H202 solution five (yes 5) times a day is a good idea.
When you get up, after each meal (most important), and before you hit the sack.
Your doc should have given you a schedule that tells you when to start doing this - if not, call back and ask when (based on your particular surgery) you are supposed to start syringe cleaning.
Mine started 72 hours after the extraction, and continued 5 times a day for 5 weeks (i had deep roots - took that long for the tissue to build back up).
Again, consult your cleaning schedule or call back and ask for one.
Using the syringe does not mean filling it up halfway and squirting in the "general area" of your sockets.
It means fill that thing to the max with the 50/50 solution, stick the tip of the syringe DOWN INTO the socket (like you're a hair's width away from the bottom) and squirting it all out into the depths of the socket.
It does not hurt at all, but note that you'll see all sorts of shit float out of those sockets (kinda gross).
I needed a mirror and a flashlight to make sure I had the tip deep inside all four sockets.
You WANT to scour/abride away the food, dead tissue, blood, and other crap in there to encourage the healthy tissue to build back up.
Salt water rinses twice/day can be a good idea, as can ice packs during the first day or two - also check with your doc's instructions.
You should not use antiseptic mouthwash for at least two weeks, the alcohol properties can be counter-productive to your swift recovery.
Do NOT blow your nose for at least two weeks.
The wall of tissue between your sinus and your upper wisdom teeth is a very thin, fragile membrane.
Blow your nose before the tissue has built-back up, and you can tear it.
The repair surgery is not a big deal and fairly quick - but you of course want to avoid it.
Here's to hoping your recovery is quick, I was eating most food after three weeks - and all food (nuts/chips/granola/etc.) after four.
EDIT:
For reference, I was 30 when I had mine out (hence the deep roots) and they were not impacted.
I had the IV sedation by an oral surgeon.
What kind of removal was it? Straightforward extraction? Were they impacted? are there big gaping holes or sewn up flaps of gum? details!
PSN: Broichan
Don't smoke, don't use a straw, don't even inhale through your mouth to hard. You have to protect the blood clot.
If you must spit, just squirt your mouth with water, and tilt your head forward - let it just dribble out. Yeah, it's nasty, but you're not damaging the clot. Stick with pudding, oatmeal, smoothies, until at least 3 days out. You'll find out what can be blended and not pretty fast, - I recommend mashed poptarts and carnation instant breakfast personally.
Are your stitches self-dissolving? Keep'em clean with the syringe. Also -, use a salt water mix with some water. Three or four times a day, wash it over your wounds. It help promotes healing, and keep'em clean. Careful with spitting, again, just let it dribble out. I recommend keeping a towel handy.
Don't try and eat solid foods too soon, either - I felt pretty good and gummed down some mac and cheese quite soon after I had mine out. Turned out, when I went back to the oral surgeon, I'd eaten the stitches from my left lower socket ... and I have a small hole that stuff gets caught in to this day.
Also, the rinsing out your sockets is way important. It is SUPER GROSS - imagine an entire broccoli floret surging up out of the depths of your little mouth-holes - but you don't want an infection. Watch out for bread - it can get really mushy as you chew it and then pack down in there for the duration.
This is great advice for any situation.
Ugh, Halo 2 multiplayer flashbacks.
Just so you guys know, the doctor did give me a note with care instructions for my recovery, I just think it is nice to have a wide variety of opinions and experiences.
Well, I slept from about noon to 3 and I don't really remember much about the time between the surgery and going to sleep. My recollection of making the OP is hazy at best. Since 3 I have been playing PGR3 on my new 360 racing wheel and chilling out on hydrocodone (WAY overrated).
I have a few questions though. When you guys talk about socketes you make it sound like they are gaping holes, but I dont really have any gaping wounds that I can see. The doctor stitched them up, is this different? Maybe I just can't see them due to swelling. The bleeding has stopped, I think that is a good sign.
Anyway, I just had my first meal, baked potato soup. I am starting to feel a little queezy though, probably just the medicine. I am guessing vomiting should be avoided at all costs, but I really dont think it will come to that. Basically all I have done to keep food away from the areas where the teeth were is swish water around in my mouth. I have a syringe for squirting the hydrogen peroxide/H2O mix but I don't think I am supposed to use it tomorrow.
In the span of posting this the queezy feeling has subsided greatly. I am guessing my stomach is just cranky because I haven't eaten much all day.
I wouldn't worry yet, although if you keep puking you might want to alert your doctor; he might want to switch you to a different pain med. Swallowing a bunch of blood from your gums might make you puke too, though, and so might a reaction to the anesthesia from earlier. See if someone can get you some green tea or ginger ale (I find that if it's flat it's more soothing to your tummy, btw).
Are you getting yours yanked too? Man, I was freaked out by the whole concept of going under before my surgery. The doctor had me pumping my arm as he was getting the anesthesia ready and I was pretty damn uneasy. Then the gas kicked in and I began to regret that I was going to have to go under soon because I was flying on that stuff. I was too busy worrying about not getting to have the gas very long to realize he had just given me a shot in my arm to be a local anesthetic so I wouldnt feel the IV go in. I couldn't have been awake and on the gas for more than 20 seconds. That was it, you just fall asleep. The next thing I know they are asking me how I feel and handing me my teeth. It was overall a very weird experience but now that I have done it once, I am not worried if I ever have to do it again. It was not at all a bad experience.
In short, there really isn't anything to be freaked out about.
healing has gone well so far, although my right sinus swelled up like a freakin' balloon a few days after surgery - I had this massive lump just below my temple and I couldn't close my jaw properly for about 18 hours. Its settled back down, but it might be a good idea to ask your doctor whether its worth grabbing some Clarytine or Pseudoephedrine in case that happens. The pressure is really damned uncomfortable.
I'm pretty much back to eating 'normal' softish foods already, although you won't find me chowing down on steak any time soon. Well-cooked pasta, scrambled eggs, and yoghurt/custard/anything tasty looking from the dairy cabinet are my go-to's. Its too cold for ice-cream here :P
For rinsing, Colgate's Savacol is really fantastic. Just dilute it 1:1 with water and swirl it around. Be gentle, but not paranoid-gentle - the wiki article on dry socket rightly points out that losing the blood clot isn't the end of the world. I can't actually tell if I even have mine on the lower teeth, but my surgeon's some kinda genius and its not like mine were impacted anyway, so it was a pretty neat job.
Oh yeah... if you're on codeine or similar opiates, take some fibre. Those pills back you up
There's no point even trying on the first day anyway, your lips will be too numb to form a seal around the straw. Embarrassing!
Satans..... hints.....
And for some reason that night for dinner they game me beef patties with green beans that sesame seeds in it.
Yeah but only advice I can give is to prepare for sleepy time slobber. You could drown yourself litterally.
Man, I just got subway for lunch thinking I'd be fine, only to discover I couldn't yet open my jaw wide enough to bite the sammich. had to squash it flat and nibble. I felt pretty silly.
i also took part of a standardized test (FCAT) while reducing the drug doses. I was freaking the fuck out the whole time. Shaking, wanting to run for the door, etc. In hindsight it was pretty fucking awesome/hilarious
...shit. I don't think that would be good for me.
When I had mine taken out one of them had roots that were at weird angles and so only partially came out. It's still in there, according to the dentist they'll come out over time.
It was painful and swishing salt water in your mouth isn't that pleasant either, but it's part of parcel of having the teeth removed. Not fun.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
The day-to-day pain afterwards wasn't too bad. 600mg of Ibuprofen 3 times a day and I was good to go. I subsisted off of chicken broth for the first 3 days and am now back on small pieces of soft foods. Instant mashed potatoes made for a good transition food. And if you add a little gravy, you'll feed that meat craving too.
As far as cleaning goes, I rinse regularly with water and make sure to rinse with warm water and salt after every meal. I try to dislodge any pieces of food that may be stuck in my mouth. They told me not to actually use the syringe for the first week, so tonight I'm going to try to figure out how to work it. I am kind of in the same boat, in that I don't have any gaping holes. Is this abnormal?
the pain pills are awesome if you are into that sort of thing. and you get holidays. its not all bad.
PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
I recommend finding a good TV show DVD set and sitting down and watching it. No straws and stuff like the aforementioned. I actually mostly drank carbonated water, and ate lots of ice cream.
I have been keeping myself occupied with reading (combined with pain pills this equals sleep), and playing PGR3 with my new racing wheel (which I suck at terribly).
Also, I don't see how people get addicted to hydrocodone. The stuff is way overrated.
edit* maybe not too overrated, I just reread my post on the other page and it says basically the same stuff.
lmao
I heard a npr spot the other day where I think they referred to that med as "Hillbilly Heroine." Apparently its cheap and easily accesible so all of my redneck brethren are getting addicted to it. great nickname for a drug regardless.
PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
Taken in pill form, it's addictive qualties are muted. It's taken in a different method by drug addicted users (of which I won't get into).
i thought that the drug company producing the things recanted that claim because of the recent rash of addictions. the story did imply that the drugs might be taken in other ways than their intended use so it was fair or so it seemed to me. I am no expert but the story was very interesting. Nor am I an illicit user of pain medication but I could certainly see how one could become hooked.
PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
tl;dr: take the damn drugs unless they're making you react badly.