Doctors Attempt to Shut the Funked Up

[funkedup]

Just had 6 teeth pulled.  4 wisdoms plus my 2 Kentucky-ancestry teeth (supernumerary).  My mouth is a swollen bloody mess that I can't open more than an inch.  I think my co-workers are rejoicing.

[Fishu]

I hate you!  I have a time for dentist after a week.

[funkedup]

Fishu, it's not so bad, because they gave me a lot of good drugs.  Be sure to ask for everything they have.  

[Wlfgng]

just got finished (friday) with a 3 part root canal.
parts 1 and 2 went normally (though quite painfully)
but before part 3 the temporary cap broke and it got all reinfected...shite that REALLY hurt.

drugs sucked IMO because all I did was sleep !
and wake up in pain, pop pill, sleep, etc

[AKS\/\/ulfe]

I got my 4 wisdom teeth pulled last winter, just before xmas I think... maybe just after... either way, I had one tooth that was coming in at an angle (forward instead of upward) and another one with a hole big enough to fit a BB into.

Got 'em yanked, went and got my meds.. they gave a whole load of percocets, only needed 'em once that night because I had put teabags on the wounds (doc's orders!) and pulled them off, but they had fused with the wounds... I had to endure about 5 minutes of the worst imaginable pain, but took a percocet and it was all good from there on out.

Next day, very little swelling, no pain and was good to go. Saw the doc a week later, got the sutures out and that was that.
-SW

[phaetn]

Dentists, ack!

I've been putting off having my wisdom teeth pulled (four impacted, my dentists tells me).  Every time I go in for a cleaning she chastises me for not having had them out yet.  I feel like a child getting scolded, but my dentist's *hot*, so I like the attention in a weird kind of way...

I actually made an appointment with the detal surgeon twice to have an inital consultation for the extraction, but his office later cancelled them both times.  I figure it's just fate, and that I'm not supposed to have them out.  Sheesh, it's not like I needed any other encouragment not to do it...

When the cute dentist get's really angry, and she stops looking quite so hot, maybe I'll reconsider.

What's the current school of thought on this anyway?  Dentists that graduated twenty+ years ago like to pull 'em as soon as they know they're moving, while dentists from more recent classes will tell you to leave them until they're causing problems.  Who's right?

Cheers,
phaetn

[Montezuma]

Originally posted by funkedup
Just had 6 teeth pulled.  4 wisdoms plus my 2 Kentucky-ancestry teeth (supernumerary).  My mouth is a swollen bloody mess that I can't open more than an inch.  I think my co-workers are rejoicing.

Now all they have to do is break your fingers...

[SOB]

The dentist said my bottom wisdoms look fine and he doesn't think they'll have to come out & I never grew any on top.  


SOB

[Airscrew]

Phaetn,  before I give this advise,  I was in USAF for 20 years, Dental Corp.  3 of those Years working in Oral Surgery, assisted 2 - 3 surgeries a day removing wisdom teeth, and 2 - 4 a day assisting other surgeries, working at a medical center that taught other AF dentists how to remove 3rd Molars.  Conservative estimate is about 520 wisdom teeth removals in one year for one surgeon,  we had 3 surgeons + one resident.  

Almost all surgeons recommended at that time to have your wisdom teeth removed as early as possible, as you get older your bone gets denser and makes them more difficult to remove and higher risk of complications, postop pain, and infections (dry socket).     However I also heard some surgeons say that if the 3rd molars are in occlusion (you bite together), you can keep them clean (even floss behind them) and do not have problems with periodic gum infections around them, then it's not necessary to remove them.

Its a gamble, depends on the person, no rule for or against removal.   I had mine removed when I was 18, 3rd molars were impacted into my 2nd molars, had recurring local infections around the gums it took 20 mins to remove 4 wisdom teeth and 1 supernumary on the upper right.  
   Balance that against one of our patients,  45 year old white male,  1 1/2 hours to remove 1 lower 3rd molar (lower are usually harder to get) molar was fused to the bone.(extreme case, usually anyone over 35 and it was 45 mins per lower wisdom tooth)
   And if you are african-american desent its worse, because usually your bone will be even more dense the older you get.

Its up to you, if Dentist says they should go, maybe they should, and you can always get a second opinion.

If you scanned your panoramic xray I could look at it and give an idea,  not a professional opinion but a good guess.


AirScrew

[funkedup]

Monty lol!

Phaetn:  Mine weren't positioned too bad and they weren't causing pain, but I had one that was collecting debris and had a small cavity.  The dentist decided it was too hard to fill and sent me to the surgeon.  The surgeon took some x-rays and decided the tooth had to go, and that he might as well pull all the wisdom teeth while he was at it.  Also the impacted supernumerary teeth had moved over the years and he thought they might cause problems in the future (pressure on my normal teeth), so he dug those out too.  

I asked for general anesthetic.  They hooked me up to a bunch of monitors and gave me an IV.  I was thinking, "Dude I don't feel anything, this stuff is weak!", waiting to feel some effects of the groovy drugs.  Then the next thing I knew they were taking me to the car to go home.  

[ra]

I only had 2 wisdom teeth (that tells you something).  They gave me pain killers after they yanked em, but it never got painful enough where I needed to take em.  I still have the bottle somewhere, for sale, cheap.

ra

[Airscrew]

Funked,  I dont know what kind of instructions they gave you but I will tell you this.   Even though it may hurt, open your mouth often and regularly like you normally would,  I saw many, many people that had pain after the first day and were afraid to open their mouths because it would hurt, so they kept their teeth clinched together.    Not saying it'll happen to you, cause every case is different.
After a few days they couldnt open their mouth if they wanted to,  we would have to prescribe muscle relaxants and pry their mouths open a little at a time.

And remember for 72 hours after your extractions, no cigarettes, no alcohol, nothing through straws, no heavy lifting.  
Keep your head slightly elevated.   If you blow out the clot on sockets you will know pain without boundries,  you'll end up with a dry socket (bone infection) and it takes sometimes up to 2 weeks to get rid of it, with daily trips to the surgeon to replace medicated gauze packing in your sockets with doses of pain killers and antibiotics.

AirScrew

[Daff]

Funked, go out and buy some anti-inflammatory gel (usually containing ibuprofen. A good brand over here is Ibuleve) and apply liberaly on the outside(!) of the swollen area. Worked wonders for me when I had a couple of wisdom teeth removed. It will help reducing the swelling and take the sting out of the pain too. (Unless you enjoy being knocked out by drugs all the time).

Daff

[Fatty]

If I were you I would quit going to the dentist.

[Saintaw]

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Everybody hear that Silence? It's Funked

Happy meds