What to expect after wisdom teeth removal?

Question

I am going to be having all 4 removed on January 5th...was just wondering if I should expect severe pain afterwards..I am being put to sleep during so I'm not particularly concerned about that...but how long should I expect to be kept in the hospital afterwards? what could I do to help the pain while at home besides being heavily medicated :)

Does everyone throw up after this kind of thing? :\ vomiting just really freaks me out

I'm going to be alone after my surgery! for about 3-4 days...and after reading all these answers i'm even more freaked out :(...

Answer 1

ohh your gonna be fine!! i'm very weak-hearted when it comes to these things and when i got all 4 of mine removed it was nothing! Worrying makes it worse so dont worry. No one can be with you after your surgery? How are you getting home? Plan things out and ask your doctor for advice, but you may want to have things ready before hand...ex: have prescriptions ready, ice packets, ice cream and soft food stored, and movies for when you get bored...pain is minimal afterwards if you follow your doc's orders and take your meds...i'd say worse case scenerio you'll feel groggy and in that case- sleep is the best cure..good luck, you'll be fine :)

Answer 2

If you have an oral surgeon do them you have nothing to worry about. You don't get to stay in the hospital or office more likely atleast not after you wake up. Being knocked out really isn't worth it. The worst part of the visit is the shots and that's over in 2 minutes or less with 4 teeth. The shots wear off after 5-7 hours and you start up on the lortab or whatever they give you, you don't need antibiotics unless your top wisdom teeth are really deep and removing them opens your sinus cavity. It also depends how compacted they are and if the need to be broken to get them out. If so it may take a little longer to heal. Pain is the same. The worst part about getting teeth pulled is worrying or actually getting dry socket. I would suggest you save as much of your prescription as possible, the pain only lasts a couple of days and isn't really that bad after the first. If you get dry socket you will most definitely be in a great amount of pain. Don't suck on anything until your healed and be careful when you brush and spit. Let it come out and rinse gently. Don't rinse for the first 24 hours, and if possible stay home from work because you won't want to eat anything on the first day. Buy some yogurt and get a bib.

Have fun

Answer 3

Take the meds, keep ice packs on for the first little while to prevent swelling and bruising. Keep your tongue out of the holes! I had it done in September. Wasn't so bad. 'Eating' was more a case of swallowing. Don't suck on anything like a straw or it could dislodge the blood clots and cause you severe pain. I was able to eat tender roast chicken after 3 days and I had a pizza at 10 days so recovery isn't that bad. Keep yourself entertained and the time will pass quickly. It's a bit hard to talk, you never realize how the air forms in your cheeks til it hurts! And it is hard to open wide or yawn or even smile but you'll be fine. HNY

Re: Vomiting- I had mine under sedation, I blinked and it was over pretty much (except one part where I opened my eyes and the freaky painting on the ceiling was moving and changing colors! )
I didn't vomit and I haven't personally heard of anyone vomiting until the young lady above said so. 3 possible reasons, an allergy to the anesthetic (I was sick after two generals in the past too but they have changed since then) She may have swallowed a lot of blood during the op and the human body has trouble processing it so it gets rid of it or the meds disagreed with her. Again, I am sure you will be fine.

Answer 4

When I had my 3 wisdom teeth removed, I was ok with no pain for the rest of the day, but gradually the pain meds wore off. Then my jaw hurt really bad (it felt like I had someone's fist in my gums) and I had to take narcotic pain meds and just sleep for about 2 days. After that, the pain was bearable with otc stuff. They don't keep you in the hospital. This is an outpatient surgery. You can go home as soon as they wake you up as long as you have someone to drive you home.
I had a lot of pain though because the teeth were impacted and I had to have bone removed. I've had other people tell me they had no pain at all.

Answer 5

I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled at one time, also. I had it done as an out-patient procedure and I went home after about 4 hours. Before the procedure was done, I was told all of these horror stories by people who had had this done, so I was terrified. Well, my experience was totally different from any that I had heard. I had zero bleeding. They packed my gums really tight and I never bled, except for a little tiny bit. After I took the initial packing out, (I was supposed to change the packing after so many hours), I was suprised that there was no blood. I did put more packing in, but I never bled after that. It was wonderful. As far as the pain, I think he gave me a prescription for pain pills, and I think I took a total of 2 pills and that was it. First let me say, I have zero tolerance to pain. I hurt if someone pinches me, so I was so scared to have this done in the first place. I took a pill when I got home and then another one when I went to bed that first night. That was it. I never experienced any more pain! And no, I never had any nausea after the procedure. When I got home, my husband was there with me the rest of that first day and then he went back to work the very next day. As a matter of fact, I went back to work after 4 days, because I felt wonderful. I had no swelling, no bleeding and no pain. I guess I was one of the lucky ones! Good luck with your procedure. Think positive and maybe your experience will be as good as mine was. Happy New Year!

Answer 6

I had all 4 out under general ann. I was home about 1 hour after waking. Was great that day, even ate mashed potatos. Was on 2 panadiene forte and 2 nurofen plus at a time so pain was kept at bay. Spent the 2nd day throwing up! Then gradually swelling wend down (i looked like that Chicken Hawk from loony toons) and was at work 2 weeks after!

Answer 7

Everyone is different. Me, I had a rough time. My daughter, she had all four cut out, bleed like you wouldn't believe. We stopped and got her a chocolate shake on the way home from the suregons office. About 1 hour later she was eating pork chops. She has a few days where there was some swelling, but other than that she did excellent.
Oh yea, keep plenty of cold/ice cold water in the fridge before you go and drink plenty of it when you return. Helps stop the bleeing and the swelling. Good Luck to you.

Answer 8

Depending on how your teeth are growing in, you could have next to no problems. I had impacted teeth, and my nerves were growing through the roots of my teeth.
I suffered nerve damage in my face (some permanent in my chin). I threw up a handful of times when I woke up from anesthesia. (Mostly due to the fact that you swallow a lot of blood during surgery). I stopped barfing after the first 1/2 hour of being awake. You will most likely swell in your cheeks. Sleep alot, avoid solid foods (it hurts getting food stuck in your fresh holes), take all the medications prescribed to you after discharge. Alternate ibuprofen and acetaminophen for pain, drink plenty of fluids. Rinse your mouth out with alcohol-free mouthwash. Keep your mouth clean! You don't want any infections in your open wounds! And use cold compresses on your cheeks. If you don't bring down the swelling, you could pull on your stitches, and take it from me, it hurts! And no, you won't be kept in hospital. You should be free to go when you wake up. Good luck!

Answer 9

first, you will blink and it will be over. your mouth will be numb for anywhere between 2 and 8 hours. take a dode of the vicodin(or whatever) they give you as soon as you start to feel pain. dont be alarmed about the biblical ammounts of blood that will fill your gaus. place a pack of frozen peas on one side of your face for an hour, then the other side for your face for an hour. do that for at least 8 hours (it will keep the swelling down and the peas conform well to your face.

then the pain starts coming i recomend taking half the recomended dose of pain meds ad half the recomended interval; then you have a constant low-pain world. DO NOT EAT ANYTHING COLD FOR AT LEAST A WEEK; it will hurt lika the hell! eat anything soft enough to swallow without chewing (mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, soup, etc). cleane your sockets with salt water often but SO NOT swish the water round like when ur using mouth wash, it can disolve the clots and u'll start bleeding again. just move ur head from side to side insted.

after 3-4 days u'll be ok to eat solid foods if ur teeth weren't impacted too badly. after 2 weeks u'll have no discomfort at all. you will have "holes" for months, so dont be alarmed.

be sure to keep ur sockets clean :)

Answer 10

pain, lots and lots of pain... lol

hey, they are removing 4 teeth. anyway, you shouldn't be kept very long if you don't have any complications with the anesthesia/sedation or during the procedure, usually they keep you for one hour post-op
then you can go home.
my suggestions:
1. put ice on it right away, like as soon as you get home (try bags of frozen peas) - i didn't swell all that much and I attribute it to the quick and consistent icing
2. take the pain medicine as soon as you get home also, you don't want to wait until it starts to hurt 'cause then it'll be like another 30 - 45 minutes before it stops hurting, and take them as prescribed (every 4 - 6 hrs or so) so that you don't have bouts of pain

everybody heals differently, so whenever you'll be able to eat solid foods varies on how much pain you have
I had A LOT OF PAIN, and stupid me I waited until my follow up appt and it turns out i got dry socket, so if it hurts a lot, then just call the dr. 'cause they can take care of it right away
i was eating ensure for several days... lol