I'm about to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed, 3 of them are impacted. What much pain am I gonna have?

Question

How will the healing process be like? I go to college so I'm wondering if I'll be able to go to school without a swollen face.

Answer 1

You will be in a lot of pain of you don't take your painkillers.

Take them as soon as you get them, which must be after your surgery. Continue taking them on the scheduled basis.

Ice your face at home to reduce swelling.

Don't eat corn.

Answer 2

What you do for the first 24 hours will make all the difference in your healing. DON'T DO ANYTHING! Yeah, that's right. I'll write you a note saying this, in case anyone gives you a hard time about it. Lie around the house. Don't lift a finger. Follow your post-op instructions to the letter.

You are having SURGERY. Most people don't rank wisdom tooth removal up there with, say, gall bladder surgery, but your body has still been assaulted and you need time to recover.

If you have no allergy or other contraindications and you weigh at least 100 pounds, take 3-4 Advil LiquiGel caps about an hour or so before your appointment. This will go a long way towards cutting the "perioperative" inflammation that causes pain later on. It also gets you started on your post-op pain control routine and you may not need to use narcotics.

If you are going to be put to sleep, use just enough water to make them slippery enough to swallow. Clear this with your oral surgeon first, though.


Good luck!

Answer 3

Good news first: if you are going to have impacted teeth removed, you will have no pain during the procedure. They will give you something like "versaid" or another drug to keep your comfortable. They will also give you pain meds for when you get home. The bad news (I was in college when I had 4 impacted wisdom teeth pulled) is that there will be some swelling that will last a few days. I was able to return to college and to work, but I know I looked a little "chipmunky" for a few days. Go with it, you won't offend anyone and people are pretty cool when they know that you have had dental procedures done! Good luck - I hope you have as good an oral surgeon as I had.

Answer 4

I had all 4 of mine out, all of which were not only impacted but also growing sideways, and they honestly weren't very painful. I had to be put under and cut open and stitched, but I only felt slightly bruised, kind of an annoying ache, afterwards...and it only really got worse when I lay down. I also had 4 bicuspids pulled at the same time (my mouth was very crowded and I was about to have braces, that's why so many teeth out), and those hurt a lot worse afterwards than my wisdom teeth did. Unfortunately, I did experience quite a bit of bruising and swelling the first week after I had it done...my cheeks were puffy and a yellowish-brown color from the bruising. That was the only rough part about it though. Good luck, it's really not that bad!

Answer 5

You may or may not have a lot of pain. It depends on how difficult the teeth are to remove. The amount of pain will depend directly on the difficulty of the removal. I had to have mine removed when I was 22 because they were growing in at a forward angle and pushing my back molars out of line. My teeth were of the most difficult variety. By the way, they will NOT pull all 4 in one sitting. It has to do with the nerves they have to deaden which also deaden part of your throat, so they only do one side and then at a later date, the other side, so you won't drown in your own saliva ending up in your windpipe because you can't swallow if both sides are numb. Anyway, my roots were curled under like a fish hook or like your fingers holding a baseball, which meant the teeth could not simply be pulled straight out, but instead had to be split into parts so one section of root could be worked out because of the curved end. Impacted means they are under the gum line, which is easier to removed than teeth with curled roots, but it means more cutting into the gum to gt at them. In your case, they will have to dig them out which will mean cutting into the gum which probably means stitches and much more care than I had to take during my recovery. You will be on soft foods and liquids for a week or so as chewing will be difficult. The worst part was the crack sound when the dental surgeon used a chisel to split the tooth into sections. And, it was uncomfortable being upside down when the upper ones were pulled. You should have no problem with healing, but it will take some time, so be patient. You may have to have several stitches to hold the sockets closed so it will heal without leaving a hole. You will be advised to avoid using a straw or sucking on anything since that might loosen the blood clots which will form in the sockets under the stitches. Yes, they gave me powerful pain killers, enough for only 2 days. Driving was prohibited when taking the painkillers. Take them as prescribed. After 2 days, I experienced just a dull pain easily handled by common aspirin which lasted for about a week, give or take. Long after the fact, I notice the spaces left by the removed teeth and there is a depression left from both of my bottom teeth which can catch things behind my molars which take a toothpick to remove as my tongue just can't get into that spot so far back in my mouth. Will your face be swollen? Maybe. In my case, my face looked normal, no swelling which was visible, however, I could feel swelling on the inside, especially on the upper, with only a small amount on the lower. With impacted teeth, they will have to do more surgery on your jaw which may very well cause enough swelling to be seen externally, but anyone who sees this and knows what you went through will think nothing of it. Not to worry. Your worst worry is from infection. There are more bacteria in the human mouth than anyone would like to believe, so follow the orders you will get for the post operative care! Especially the use of a mouthwash without alcohol. And just so you know, you won't be in a mood to crunch a jaw breaker anytime soon after the procedure!

Answer 6

Excruciating pain. You won't be able to drive afterwards. You won't be able to eat for at least a few days. Only broths and ice cream. You will barely be able to talk, put you could probably go to class and listen. If you can take your mind of the pain. Oh ya, also you will be on pain killers for a week, not Advil either, the prescription kind, that makes you dingy.

My advice to you.......plan on missing a few days of classes. Good luck!!