Current Events > To those who've had it done, how bad does a wisdom teeth removal suck?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I really need to get it done, but it sounds like it sucks massively and I'm considering just living with a low-to-midgrade toothache forever.

Taking a week off of work in the worst case would be the suckiest part.
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Mine wasn't so bad.
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I only got 2 out but it wasn't bad at all. The worst part was that I had gauze in my mouth for about 8 hours after due to the constant bleeding.
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Not too bad. I had to get all four done and chose to get anesthesia to make it easier. Just wake up and everything is done and then it is a few days of pain or painkillers and no solid food.
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It wasnt bad at all I got all 4 done. I spent a couple days with aching pain and on painkillers. Spent more time flushing out the food in the holes than anything.

Also any pain you have now is nothing compared to when they start pushing on your other teeth and fuck them up.

Get it done on a Thursday or Friday, spend the weekend in discomfort and go to work on Monday.

I got it done on a Friday and was at school on Monday (I was in HS when it was done
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Got one taken out, I was awake during the process and it was horrendous hearing the tooth root snap and get pulled out. Somewhat painful too.

But compared to the toothache I had prior, it was way better.

And yes, you'll be between 3 and 7 days out. Do take medical leave.
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I had all four out at once, and two of those required cutting into my mandible.

Really wasn't that bad. I couldn't open my mouth completely for a while, and I needed to flush a lot.

I had to go completely under with IV sedation, so that could alter some things.
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heard it's worse as you get older
did it when i was in HS and it wasn't that big of a deal
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Also I was all worried about the procedure and shit but I was sedated. I literally just knocked the fuck out and then woke up and it was over
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Did any of you have them impacted? Dunno if that makes any difference, but mine are massively impacted.
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JustMonika posted...

Mine wasn't so bad.

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More uncomfortable than painful
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I had 15 teeth pulled in one surgery, including 4 impacted wisdom teeth. They knocked me out, and I woke up in my recliner at home. They gave me a bottle of pain meds, but I didn't take any of them. Even with 15 teeth removed, it didn't really hurt much at all. Just a sort of dull ache for a few days.

Just go for it. You'll be glad you did in the long run.
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People are pansies. It was not bad at all. All 4 of mine were impacted. I dont eat that smoothie shit so I survived on ramen noodles. Never ate them before and never since but they saved me during that time. Just eat with your front teeth.
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Aristoph posted...

I had 15 teeth pulled in one surgery, including 4 impacted wisdom teeth. They knocked me out, and I woke up in my recliner at home. They gave me a bottle of pain meds, but I didn't take any of them. Even with 15 teeth removed, it didn't really hurt much at all. Just a sort of dull ache for a few days.

Just go for it. You'll be glad you did in the long run.

15 teeth...what the fuck.
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Its really nothing to worry about. Ive had 2 removed one was surgical but, that just meant they had to cut my gum open at that tooth. I was numbed up the whole time and there isnt any pain but you might feel tugging and I got two stitches and went to work in the afternoon the same day (on pain pills). The other one popped right out idk if it took 5 mins.

Edit: The first tooth they had to sort of break apart but, again its not painful.
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Mine was pretty rad.

Skyrim was still a pretty new game when I had it done. They put me to sleep during the surgery, so I didn't feel a thing. I never experienced any pain that I would describe as more than just uncomfortable. I was probably fully capable of going back to work after like the 3rd day, but they had given me 6 days off. So I played Skyrim for 6 days straight while experiencing mild discomfort for the first couple of days. I fucking loved it.

not bad at all. I was completely healed(swelling gone too) in under 48 hours
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It didn't suck for me. Didn't get any pain after the removal and also didn't swell. It's not so bad.
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My uppers were decayed and taken out.

You won't feel pain if properly anesthetized, but you will hear it. The dentist I had used old-fashioned equipment, my teeth weren't pulled out so much as pried out.

You'll have to keep your jaw still, you'll have craters in your mouth and so much as stretching your jaw too much will break the clots.

There will be lots of blood. I incidentally got mine taken out the week before halloween and I couldn't even spit, I had to go slack-jawed to empty my mouth of blood and bled all over the grass outside. I looked like I could've been in a horror flick.

You may get a scrip for hydrocodone, 1 week. That's all you'll need it for.

It doesn't hurt as bad as you'd think, but after 2 days you might have a system shock. I decided to get on the computer, I felt drained and sick after 1 hour and had to go back to bed. no lingering nausea, but the longer I stayed up the crappier I would feel.

If you can get a week off do it. You won't regret it. I had to do mine during a layoff.
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got all of mine taken out at once

I was out for the procedure but I ran out of painkillers by day 3. I couldn't eat solid food until day 7. the pain didn't stop until day 10
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I still have my wisdom teeth, they came in properly because I have less adult teeth than I should so there was room for them. They haven't caused me any problems and I've had them for over 10 years

Also, impacted wisdom teeth are the worst. I think those are the ones they sometimes have to cut into your jaw bone to get them out.
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According to my dentist lowers are harder than uppers.

If you got uppers, they can be taken out in a normal procedure.

Lowers? You'll be deferred to an oral surgeon.
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MI4 REAL posted...

According to my dentist lowers are harder than uppers.

If you got uppers, they can be taken out in a normal procedure.

Lowers? You'll be deferred to an oral surgeon.

ugh
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Oh.....this is important. After a day, stop using gauze

It was against my dentists advice, but gauze tends to stick to wounds, and when removed will break the clot/reopen the wound. Once you do that then you can finally clot it up.
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Had all 4 removed at college. Did it on a Friday and was able to go to class on Monday. Would probably be able to go to work if I did it now. It's super annoying for sure about what you can and cannot eat, but the pills do a pretty decent job of killing the pain and I didn't get too groggy from the drugs either.

I definitely recommend getting knocked out though. Also the first day is literally the worst, but it gets better.
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I went to the dentist recently and they said it would be very risky to remove them since they are so close to the clump of nerves in my mouth and I could go numb from the procedure. They also said they would have to cut part of my bone to get them out which is very complicated.

She told me she advised to just keep them and keep on eye on them. I'm 28 and I haven't had much discomfort from them so far but I've read that they could get infected if you keep them there. But then again, it's probably not worth the risk of going completely numb in my mouth.

Anyone here over 25 and still has their wisdom teeth??
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pikachupwnage posted...

Aristoph posted...

I had 15 teeth pulled in one surgery, including 4 impacted wisdom teeth. They knocked me out, and I woke up in my recliner at home. They gave me a bottle of pain meds, but I didn't take any of them. Even with 15 teeth removed, it didn't really hurt much at all. Just a sort of dull ache for a few days.

Just go for it. You'll be glad you did in the long run.

15 teeth...what the fuck.

Yeah...my teeth were massively crooked. Like it would take a solid 20 minutes of flossing and I still wouldn't have gotten everything out of all the little cracks and crevices between my teeth. It made no difference how much I would brush, floss, or rinse. Every single time I went to the dentist I'd have another cavity.

I tried to get braces as a kid, but I had a really bad gag reflex and every time they'd press the putty onto my teeth it would make me gag and I would throw up and ruin the mold. And there's only so many times you can strap a 12 year old into a chair and make him puke on himself before he tells you to fuck off (for me it was 3 times, fwiw). After that I just stopped caring. And eventually just stopped brushing altogether. By the time I was 24 half my teeth were rotted, some of them cracked, and I think 7 of them had exposed nerves. I physically couldn't eat things as basic as an apple because if I had tried to bite into it I'd probably have taken a tooth out. I pretty much never smiled or laughed for fear of people seeing how nasty my teeth were.

Then my brother got engaged and asked me to be his best man. There was no way I was going to ruin my brother's wedding pictures by not even being able to smile, and there was also no way I was going to let him down and not be there for him on the biggest day of his life. So I decided to finally do something about it and got dental implants. Best decision of my life, tbh.

They pulled the front 5 along with the back molar and wisdom tooth on either side on my upper jaw, as well as both molars and the wisdom tooth from both sides on my lower jaw. Replaced the front 5 with an implant bridge (3 titanium screws) and the first molar on either side of the bottom with 1 screw each. They said if I felt there wasn't enough surface on just the first set of molars for chewing properly they could go back in and add screws & implants for the second molars later if needed, but I haven't had any issues at all so we didn't do the second molars.

They look fantastic. I never worry about being self-conscious because of my smile anymore. They feel like real teeth, too. I know they're there and even I have a hard time telling the difference. People are always shocked when they find out they're fake. And they're pretty hardcore badass to boot. The ceramic they use for the implants is so strong you can literally take a hammer and drive it into a block of wood like a nail without chipping them. And the titanium screws are cemented into the jawbone so firmly that if someone were to grab them with a pair of pliers and rip them out, they would actually take a chunk of my jawbone out before the screws came loose. XD
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The worst part is the chisel. It's really hard to hold it steady.
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-GalacticBass- posted...

Anyone here over 25 and still has their wisdom teeth??

Yoooo
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pfft....there is no chisel. But in my case it was more like a damn screwdriver prying off a paint can. I wish I wasn't serious, for your sake(s).
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Mine was pretty bad, I was out on meds for a while. Some people have a pretty bad experience, some are luckier.

Man, the amount of blood I was spitting up for the whole day was staggering.
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Should I tell TC my story?

Or would it be to scary?
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Thrillwell posted...

Should I tell TC my story?

Or would it be to scary?

Go ahead.

I'll probably get them done just so food will stop getting stuck in there. Chicken is a nightmare.
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All of mine were impacted, but they put me to sleep for it. It's not as bad as you might think, but there's a dull pain for a couple days after, and eating's annoying for a week or two. Just make sure to keep food out of the gum holes, because you'll get an infection if the gums seal up with stuff still inside.

pegusus123456 posted...

Thrillwell posted...

Should I tell TC my story?

Or would it be to scary?

Go ahead.

I'll probably get them done just so food will stop getting stuck in there. Chicken is a nightmare.

Top 2 were a breeze, even for Navy dentists. Took out top mainly for them not to have a chance to push the row.

Bottom 2. Impacted. Went to Naval Hospital. Surgery was almost over as I barely came to. I heard all the crunching and cracking. Then it was over. Or at least I thought.

Day 1 had passed and I still didn't have feeling in my chin area. I was told it could come back tomorrow, a month from now... or never.
I prayed, and after 3 weeks I finally got the feeling back. It was a long 3 weeks.
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Better get a bottle of Ibuprofen. At least it's the only shit that works for me nowadays.

Aside from RX narcotics, of course. Shit.
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I had all 4 removed at once. I was 29 and they say the older you are the longer it takes to heal and the more impacted they usually are. Which was true on both counts for me. They did put me under for the event thankfully. 2 were impacted really bad and the other 2 were partially erupted.

It took 6 weeks for there to stop being blood occasionally in my spit. Not a lot mind you but some. The holes were so large and taking a very long time to heal.
No pain though. I had a month supply of tylenol/codeine to go with it.
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Thrillwell posted...

pegusus123456 posted...

Thrillwell posted...

Should I tell TC my story?

Or would it be to scary?

Go ahead.

I'll probably get them done just so food will stop getting stuck in there. Chicken is a nightmare.

Top 2 were a breeze, even for Navy dentists. Took out top mainly for them not to have a chance to push the row.

Bottom 2. Impacted. Went to Naval Hospital. Surgery was almost over as I barely came to. I heard all the crunching and cracking. Then it was over. Or at least I thought.

Day 1 had passed and I still didn't have feeling in my chin area. I was told it could come back tomorrow, a month from now... or never.
I prayed, and after 3 weeks I finally got the feeling back. It was a long 3 weeks.

What was it like not feeling your chin? Did it affect your speech? Did it affect how you chewed food?
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-GalacticBass- posted...

Thrillwell posted...

pegusus123456 posted...

Thrillwell posted...

Should I tell TC my story?

Or would it be to scary?

Go ahead.

I'll probably get them done just so food will stop getting stuck in there. Chicken is a nightmare.

Top 2 were a breeze, even for Navy dentists. Took out top mainly for them not to have a chance to push the row.

Bottom 2. Impacted. Went to Naval Hospital. Surgery was almost over as I barely came to. I heard all the crunching and cracking. Then it was over. Or at least I thought.

Day 1 had passed and I still didn't have feeling in my chin area. I was told it could come back tomorrow, a month from now... or never.
I prayed, and after 3 weeks I finally got the feeling back. It was a long 3 weeks.

What was it like not feeling your chin? Did it affect your speech? Did it affect how you chewed food?

It actually didn't affect either. Probably the worst part was just shaving.
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It sounds worse than it feels.
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I had mine taken out when I was 11 or 12. It was a long time ago. Sucked not eating normal food for a week but I managed with just Tylenol and lots of soups.

You definitely feel it for a few weeks
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I literally just had 3 removed on Friday. It wasn't bad at all, but I think I had a good surgeon or something, because when I had the first one removed a few years ago it was worse. It's just annoying having to chew with the front part of your mouth and only eating mostly softer stuff. Also no straws.

But, you get painkillers, even though I only got some 5mg oxy's, it's still enough that I'm enjoying them more than the tooth is annoying me.
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It varies drastically from person to person. Mine were all impacted, but I was fine with just occasional ibuprofen. If you're unlucky, it can be unbearable.
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Aristoph posted...

pikachupwnage posted...

Aristoph posted...

I had 15 teeth pulled in one surgery, including 4 impacted wisdom teeth. They knocked me out, and I woke up in my recliner at home. They gave me a bottle of pain meds, but I didn't take any of them. Even with 15 teeth removed, it didn't really hurt much at all. Just a sort of dull ache for a few days.

Just go for it. You'll be glad you did in the long run.

15 teeth...what the fuck.

Yeah...my teeth were massively crooked. Like it would take a solid 20 minutes of flossing and I still wouldn't have gotten everything out of all the little cracks and crevices between my teeth. It made no difference how much I would brush, floss, or rinse. Every single time I went to the dentist I'd have another cavity.

I tried to get braces as a kid, but I had a really bad gag reflex and every time they'd press the putty onto my teeth it would make me gag and I would throw up and ruin the mold. And there's only so many times you can strap a 12 year old into a chair and make him puke on himself before he tells you to fuck off (for me it was 3 times, fwiw). After that I just stopped caring. And eventually just stopped brushing altogether. By the time I was 24 half my teeth were rotted, some of them cracked, and I think 7 of them had exposed nerves. I physically couldn't eat things as basic as an apple because if I had tried to bite into it I'd probably have taken a tooth out. I pretty much never smiled or laughed for fear of people seeing how nasty my teeth were.

Then my brother got engaged and asked me to be his best man. There was no way I was going to ruin my brother's wedding pictures by not even being able to smile, and there was also no way I was going to let him down and not be there for him on the biggest day of his life. So I decided to finally do something about it and got dental implants. Best decision of my life, tbh.

They pulled the front 5 along with the back molar and wisdom tooth on either side on my upper jaw, as well as both molars and the wisdom tooth from both sides on my lower jaw. Replaced the front 5 with an implant bridge (3 titanium screws) and the first molar on either side of the bottom with 1 screw each. They said if I felt there wasn't enough surface on just the first set of molars for chewing properly they could go back in and add screws & implants for the second molars later if needed, but I haven't had any issues at all so we didn't do the second molars.

They look fantastic. I never worry about being self-conscious because of my smile anymore. They feel like real teeth, too. I know they're there and even I have a hard time telling the difference. People are always shocked when they find out they're fake. And they're pretty hardcore badass to boot. The ceramic they use for the implants is so strong you can literally take a hammer and drive it into a block of wood like a nail without chipping them. And the titanium screws are cemented into the jawbone so firmly that if someone were to grab them with a pair of pliers and rip them out, they would actually take a chunk of my jawbone out before the screws came loose. XD

did you get 15 implants? How much did that cost?
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ArchangelBaruch posted...

Got one taken out, I was awake during the process and it was horrendous hearing the tooth root snap and get pulled out. Somewhat painful too.

But compared to the toothache I had prior, it was way better.

And yes, you'll be between 3 and 7 days out. Do take medical leave.

No you won't... Unless you have complications there is no reason you need more than the day of off unless you're talking on the phone all day. I didn't need to keep gauze in after the first night and had only minor pain.
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I read that you have to sleep upright. That true?
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pegusus123456 posted...

I read that you have to sleep upright. That true?

I never did. I also smoked an hour after having them removed. If you're a smoker just pack wet gauze in there tightly and pull on your smoke slowly (though you should avoid cigarettes for sure because that shit is full of nasty chemicals that can fuck with your wound). If you choose to smoke, just do a light salt water rinse afterwards and be sure to keep the gauze in to avoid dry socket (if the gauze is too dry when you put it in it can pull out the blood clot as well so be careful).
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pegusus123456 posted...

I read that you have to sleep upright. That true?

not that i know of, probably better sleeping on either side instead of on the back.
and one thing to add, not really healthy sleeping standing up.
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pegusus123456 posted...

I read that you have to sleep upright. That true?

Not upright but for the 24 hours after you are supposed to be either sitting or when laying have your propped up with several pillows
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