Well guys I'm back. I had the surgery at 12:30 PM CST on the 8th. I woke up and was fine, and didn't have too much pain. My cheeks are a little puffy. I had a major problem with the anesthesia they gave me though, because I threw up 8 times yesterday when trying to eat simply things like soda crackers and yogurt. It's 2 am right now, and I haven't had anything to eat. The worst part was throwing up. I think the blood was getting into my stomach and upsetting it, but I put gauze on the back area to help the bleeding. Other than that, it's been ok. I took a codeine pill at first, but threw it up and haven't taken any pain medicine since. Thanks for all the support, and it's intersting to see how man people have had their teeth out!
If your mouth is big enough to hold them, and they come in on-time, straight and perfect, there's no reason to get wisdom teeth removed. The value of tooth root in preserving the bone mass of the jaws is well-known. A lot of people have mouths too small for all their teeth. In fact, my mouth didn't even grow four wisdom teeth, only the top ones ever developed. My wisdom teeth were impacted (would not erupt), but my main concern was that they would eventually come in at an angle and push other teeth out of position. I've known people that had this happen, the effects can be seen even in the position of the front teeth. My orthodontia was expensive and uncomfortable and I wouldn't want to do it again. I had local anesthesia. The worst part was the clarity of hearing the crunching noise of the teeth being pulled out. Dental-work sounds are the worst. There were no complications and any pain after the surgery was very mild. For extractions prior to orthodontia, I had "general" anesthesia, the kind where you are half-out, not caring, la-la-la-la-la. Pretty cool. Bottom wisdom teeth are supposed to be more difficult to extract with a higher likelihood of pain or complications, but I wouldn't know personally. -ingenue
Old fashioned trick - for those of you facing dental extractions. Wet a teabag with lukewarm water and put it on the extraction site and bite down on it for a while. Tastes nasty, but it stops bleeding, clot forms very nicely. It's the tannic acid in tea that does it. Your dentist will most likely confirm this.
Well ! A topic I can finally sink my teeth into ! My extractions (or root canal work) have to be done at an out patient surgical center because I am one of those stubborn souls who are resistant to all anaesthesia. I go thru several injections of "local" even for minor cavities. Have woken up several times in the midst of surgery,went into shock once! Putting me to sleep is "like pulling teeth".
