What's it like getting your wisdom teeth cut out?

Question

Okay..I went to the dentist a couple days ago and they told me I need to get my bottom wisdom teeth cut out. I don't have ne on the top..I'm very nervous cuz I have to get put to sleep..but newayz they told me I need to go to an oral surgeon..and I freaked out..approx. how many stitches do they put in? How long does it take to heal? If any one has any answers or suggestions let me know...Thank You!

Answer 1

I have had all of my wisdom teeth removed. The procedure itself isn't bad because you will have novacaine and probably be lightly sedated. They often put just one stitch in. Afterward, it is somewhat painful for a few days, difficult to eat, etc. However, you will be given pain pills to help with this. Just buy lots of soft food like Jello, yogurt, soup etc. beforehand.

Answer 2

It isn't as bad as you think, at least, it wasn't for me when I had all four pulled (not cut out!!)

You will be given a shot to completely numb the area, and may or may not be put to sleep during the procedure. You WILL NOT feel any pain during the procedure. I was awake during mine and all I felt was some pressure. You will have some pain afterwards, when the numbing wears off, but, it will probably be more from having your mouth propped open than the tooth removal. The stitch or stitches (like one or two) is very small and not a big deal. Depending on what they use, the stitch may have to be removed by the oral surgeon (in like a week) or it may dissolve on its own. Depending on how well you tolerate pain, you may be able to get by with something as simple as Tylenol or Motrin, but, if you think you'll need something stronger, ask the oral surgeon for a prescription for painkillers. They will usually give you 4-6 pills because this really isn't a long-term kind of discomfort. You may have to eat soft foods for a day or so, so stock up on soup, etc. Ask the oral surgeon if you can take a Tylenol or Motrin BEFORE the procedure, to sort of get a head start on the relief.

Having the teeth removed is nowhere NEAR as painful as having them stay in and become impacted or infected. You are smart to have this done as directed, and braver than you think.

Answer 3

I just had mine done a couple monts ago. Same procedure. I was put to sleep and had the oral surgeon to remove them. The first day wasn't so bad I was really sleepy from the drugs. The next day I was really sore. It was hard to open my mouth to eat so i just drank a lot of liquids (Campbells was my best friend.) I slowly worked my jaw and over the next couple of days I was able to start eating solid foods . I only had one big stitch at each site and they were dissolvable. I have a very small mouth so I had a little more bruising on my jaw area than was usual but not anything dramatic. The only thing that was difficult about all of it was keeping the extraction sites free of food, some stuff just didn't want to come out of there. The best advice i can give you is just take it slow and easy don't try to rush your healing.

Answer 4

I had mine taken out when I was like 12 or 13. I was partially asleep and partially awake. What I can remember, no pain during the surgery, no feeling. I heard Christmas music, suctioning, and even some scraping (eww). I slept almost the entire day...had the next day off from school. No drinking through straws...ate lots of ice cream, drooled everywhere. Stitches are dissolving. I spent about two days sleeping it off and doing nothing. It's not so bad. They give you pain killers to take, which you'll need. The worst part for me I think, was the numbing shot in my jaw. It was a pinch on my gums that lasted for a second but it still hurt. That was for my bottom...they want me to remove my top ones now but since they're not crooked I told them no way. It really isn't that bad as long as you're drugged up....lol

Answer 5

I had mine done that way and it's not that bad. If yours is like mine, you will sleep most of the day of your surgery. I had mine done early in the morning and didn't get out of bed until dinner time that night. I felt fine that day (although I was still groggy even after sleeping all day). You may be a nauseous because of the drainage but mine wasn't bad. I was able to eat that night but obviously it was nothing that had to be chewed. I was back at work the next day but was sore. It wasn't horrible and Advil seemed to work fine. I didn't have much swelling but still tried to keep ice on it just to keep it down and help with the pain. After a few days the pain was minimal but the stitches were annoying. One thing you want to be careful about is keeping the areas clean. You'll probably get a prescription antibiotic mouth rinse which you'll want to use and your doctor may recommend rinsing with salt water. I put-off mine for years but when I finally had it done I wish I had done it earlier. Good luck.

Answer 6

if you have anaetshetic you wont feel anything. Once you come round you will feel a bit sleepy, groggy, out of sorts. You definitely musnt drive and someone else must collect you to make sure you get home ok,

You will probably receive painkillers - but the pain isnt that bad and certainly manageable with painkillers. Its more of an ache. For the first day afterwards you wont be able to feel your mouth, so resist the urge to keep looking! Then afterwards you will be able to perhaps feel the scar tissue with your tongue.

People often get bad swelling around the jaws - I looked like a hamster for about 3 days - and there was also a bit of bruising. I would imagine planning 2-3 days off work would make sense! And having lots of soup and sloppy food in the house. ice-cream can be nice too!

Answer 7

It wasn't that bad. People like to exaggerate their surgeries to get more attention, I think. For me, they put me out, did their thing, and woke me an hour or so later. My mouth was sore, but it wasn't "Damn,-I'm-gonna-die!" sore. I took pain pills for a few days, was careful about what I ate and how I chewed it, and got on with my life. I have no idea how many stitches they put in, if they did any. After 2 weeks, most everything was healed, and I was back to doing just about everything I was doing before the surgery.

Answer 8

The W Teeth "cut"
You mean extracted? If it is an extraction then it is like any other tooth. You don't need to be put to sleep. It is only an injection which) would cause a little numbness and the tooth is extracted. There is slight bleeding but it heals fast enough. Not to worry!

Answer 9

When people ask for encouragement about getting their wisdom teeth out, I like to share this story about my three children.

I removed two of my older daughter's wisdom teeth at 2:00 in the afternoon and told her to go home and lie down until dinner time. Before I got home, she had already left for the mall! I was rather angry, because I figured that she'd be moaning all night long and asking me what to do for the pain. Much to my happy surprise, she seemed just fine. She said that she waited until the numbness started to go away and she felt pretty good, so she decided to get up and go.

Same thing with my son. We were actually headed home from a drum lesson and he asked if we could stop in the office to check out the sore place in his mouth. It turned out to be an erupting wisdom tooth. He asked if I felt like taking it out right then, so I did. (I was afraid he might change his mind if he thought about it overnight.) His mom didn't even know he had a wisdom tooth taken out until he had to take the gauze out of his mouth to eat dinner. His uppers were both kind of difficult and he had trouble healing with one of them (sinus involvement), but that didn't last for more than 3 or 4 days.

With my third child, I took her to the oral surgeon, because the roots were sort of close to the nerve and _I_ didn't want to be the one to cause her any trouble if things got difficult. She had nitrous oxide and little bit of iv sedation and had all four removed at once. I wanted to get her right home, but she asked me to stop off at the mall before we went home. She insisted that she was okay. Instead of going home and lying down, she walked through the mall. Yes, she was biting on her gauze packs (in the mall!), but still she was a lot more active than I would recommend. She had no trouble at all healing. I think she went out that night, too. (It was 1999, so I don't remember the details.)

I'm not saying that they are ALL like this, but there are wisdom teeth and then there are w*!`S^D@m TEETH!!! I always say that wisdom teeth (and root canals, by the way) are like teenagers. At least 90% are no trouble at all, but everybody talks about the bad ones.

Also, see http://www.webmd.com/hw/dental/tm6328.asp

Answer 10

it hurts like hell but they give u good drugs for the pain. when i had mine out i only had like 3 stitches in each area. and it took like a week b4 i could eat normal. hope all goes well..... if u need ne thing else email me n we can talk more.