Current Events > What's it like getting your wisdom teeth taken out?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Had a cleaning today and talked to my dentist about getting them removed. She gave me a referral so I plan on calling a surgeon tomorrow.

It's supposed to be painless. You get put under usually, shit gets removed, you're all good. Need to worry about dry sockets, straws/vaping/smoking all that jazz etc for two weeks. Then life goes back to normal.

For me I woke up halfway through because their anesthesiologist sucked. Bonesaw in my mouth turned into one in my cheek, blood everywhere, and strangling the dentist before I got put under again. Your own mileage may vary. I hate being put under. <_<

Everybody seems to have different experiences. I got put under, had them taken out, swelled up like a squirrel for two days but had no pain.

hopefully that is how yours goes

Depends on the wisdom teeth.

Did all four at once, the top ones came out and healed up pretty easily.

Bottom two were coming in at 45 degree angles and under a chunk of jaw, so that part was a bit more unpleasant.

Mine wasn't bad. I got 6 days off work, was sore for a couple days, but the soreness was just kinda meh. Nothing crippling or anything.

I just had a local and while the pressure was uncomfortable, I didn't really experience any pain during the extractions or the stiches. Was definitely sore when it wore off though.

The older you are the worse it is having them removed.

Go to sleep and wake up feeling loopy. Didnt really hurt I just bled a lot. I had to keep changing my things. Also, cleaning food out of the holes in your teeth was gross

I had one pulled out separately because it was completely fucked. It grew sideways, fucked up the tooth in front of it, so both had to go. That was a nightmare. It kept breaking apart and the dentist had to yank at it repeatedly. It sucked so much.

So when I was meant to get the other three out, I opted for anesthesia even though it was waaaay more expensive. But they never bothered to tell me not to eat before surgery and I didn't think about it, so I just said fuck it and figured I'd suffer through. I was extremely glad in retrospect; those three popped right out with zero pain. No fogginess, I didn't act goofy on the gas, and I saved a lot of money.

The older you get the more dense the bones are in your jaw, making tooth extraction more difficult.
My main issue having them removed in my early 30s was the jaw strain. My mouth had to opened really wide to reach one impacted tooth that was completely horizontal. The gum pain and bleeding was only for 48 hours but it took a whole month for my jaw to heal.

I had mine removed in the mid 30s a few years back. It isn't the removal that is the problem, although I remember hearing crunch noises even while I was out. It isn't the recovery. It is supposedly the "trying to avoid dry socket at all costs" which I never got it. My daughter had her wisdoms removed a few months ago at age 16 and she didn't get dry socket either. So eh.

I recall eating a bunch of yogurt, scrambled eggs and egg flower soup for a day or two, but other than, I'd rate getting a colonoscopy worse because of the 2-3 hours of diarrhea.

the worst part before and during it is saliva management, when it is done always keep something to "bite" on, definitely through the first night, or it bleeds a lot.

C-zom posted...

Need to worry about dry sockets, straws/vaping/smoking all that jazz etc for two weeks

What happens if I get one? I don't smoke or use straws. What about coffee? I'll most likely eat nothing but yogurt and mashed potatoes for a few days.

MICHALECOLE posted...

hopefully that is how yours goes

Thanks! Let's hope so.

DrizztLink posted...

Depends on the wisdom teeth.

Bottom two only. I don't have any on the top.

Didn't get put under. One took 90 minutes and a lot of numbing injections, and some sutures, and the other was like 5 minutes, just popped it right out.

I had all four taken out, with local anaesthetic + IV sedation (remifentanil and propofol)
It was pretty straightforward. The procedure itself I only remember little bits of it, and I don't remember having any pain. I'd recommend doing it this way, rather than opting for a full general anaesthetic.

If you're a badass you can get it under local without sedation, but most of the oral surgeons seem to prefer doing it with sedation, especially if it's more than one.

The pain afterwards was quite achey and stiff, but not terrible. I just made sure I was really consistent about taking paracetamol + ibuprofen 4 times a day every day, and some days I needed to take a 50mg tramadol once or twice. Pain started to improve around day 3 or 4 I think.

Sonic_Cannon posted...

If you're a badass you can get it under local without sedation

I wanted to make a crass joke, but actually no, I'll take the compliment, it is heartening.

Depends on the difficulty/duration they expect as well. If they don't think it will be difficult there's less to be gained from doing the sedation.

ForsakenHermit posted...

The older you are the worse it is having them removed.

This. Get them all done simultaneously if possible. Got the first two when I was younger and it went perfectly fine. The second time was much harder and fucking sucked.

I wish I'd been put under the second time.

I had all four taken out at age 18 (at the same time). I wasn't fully under and can remember feeling pressure, but it definitely did not hurt. Recovery was achy and I only consumed smoothies and shakes for a few days, but it wasn't awful. Not being able to drive was annoying (I can't recall why, maybe pain medication?). I did not get dry sockets. Many years later I had gum grafts, and that was worse.

i was born without the roots to grow them

Had all 4 taken out in my 20s or so, it wasnt too bad. Certainly a lot better than when I had my tonsils taken out.

i still have three out of four
only one needed removing got a local and it was pulled out like any other tooth

it all depends on how many you get taken out and how easily they can remove them.
also depends on if you choose to be knocked out for the operation or not.

I got all four taken out at the same time, I was awake for the whole thing and they had to break one of my teeth in half to get it out. It wasn't a very nice experience. The wound where the tooth was broken took a bit longer to heal than the rest. I think about a week after everything was ok again.

Experiences can vary widely depending a lot on how badly angled the teeth are impacted in the mouth and what needs to be done to remove them. Anything from 'no big deal' to 'I'm gonna need a couple days off'.

Its different depending on many factors.

Mine were growing in crooked, so it hurt. I went under during surgery. Afterwards, i needed pain meds for a bit.

I had all mine surgically extracted when I was 17. I was given a "twilight" IV as the oral surgeon called it. I may have been awake most of the time but don't remember much, just bits and pieces. Didn't care about shit.

The dentist and my mom walked me out to the car afterwards because I was so high. The next couple days was pain even on pain meds. I remember sitting in the living room and my mom was crunching on those rockhard Snyder pretzels and I completely snapped because the noise was so annoying. That's the last thing I remember about it.

I got it done while awake back in May this year. The only part that hurt at all was getting the shots to numb me. Especially the ones that were right down against the nerve. That's probably the strongest pain I've ever felt, but it only lasts a second.

The actual extraction is simple and completely painless after that. A lot of tugging and movement, but nothing hurts once the numbing sets in.

What sucks is when the numbing wears off. You're going to have one hell of a sore mouth. I could barely even move my jaw for the first three days, subsisting on nothing but pudding and vanilla ice cream. A few sips of water, no straw.

After a week I was brave enough to eat semi solid foods, but it hurt.

After about two weeks it was mostly resolved. Nowadays it feels like some ancient memory I can't even fully grasp, even though it was only about 5 months ago.

The scariest part of all, though? The bleeding. There's a ton of blood at first, and you'll be cycling through gauze every hour or so depending on your surgeons instructions. It took me over 8 hours to stop bleeding, and I had pink saliva for a few days after that still.

How big are the pills they give you? I can handle advil sized pills just fine. But larger pills give me anxiety. I took some over the summer when I had the flu and it got stuck in my throat.

Guide posted...

just popped it right out.

I feel like the one on the bottom right might do that. The one on the bottom left is deeper though.

party_animal07 posted...

The second time was much harder and fucking sucked.

Why did you wait so long? Did they just not grow in?

Gobstoppers12 posted...

I got it done while awake back in May this year.

That sounds like such a terrible experience. Hopefully you had enough PTO from work.

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

How big are the pills they give you?

Mine weren't very big. Got some 600mg ibuprofen and like 5 vicodin they told me to cut in half so they'd stretch a little further. Neither was much bigger than an average pill.

I was 30 when I had mine removed they put me under, chopped them up with huge scissors and then sucked them out with a vacuum straw.

When I came back, something came back with me. It knows so much, about everything.

I had mine taken out this year. The dentist prescribed me something that didn't knock me out but kept me from remembering the procedure. I took the pills just before going to the dentist, I remember getting there and being in the waiting room and the next thing I remember after that is waking up on my couch (someone else helped me get home).

It hurt for a while after that but wasn't as bad after the first couple of days. The worst I think was being very restricted in what I could eat while the gums healed. I was fortunate in that they healed without much problem. There was some soreness on one side that took longer to go away but that was about it.

Beyond easy. But I was like 20.

Going under is just weird though. One second you're there talking to them. The next instant you're awake and its over.

I was a kid. They put me under. They cut into my gums to get them out early. Was painful when the stuff wore off. Got dry socket. That sucked.

I was more or less fine with just novocaine, but it varies greatly depending on how the dentist goes about it.

The first pair were removed relatively smooth...

The second pair, a few months later.......was a horror show because the top broke off :@

....what followed was an episode right out the Saw movies...including but not limited to a small buzz saw and some kind of corkscrew. ...

There. Scared yet ?! :P

You dont have to get knocked out, it I decided to when I got mine removed. And when people tell you that you dont want dry socket, believe them. I never experienced it myself, but I have heard horror stories.

Has my uppers taken out recently ( the bottoms got taken out almost 20 years ago) I only had local anesthesia, cause it was like $500 to put me to sleep. Doctor number me up, said he was gonna poke around a little bit make sure I was numbed good. Pokes around the right side, then poked around the left side, then put gauze in my mouth and told me it was done. Had no idea he even removed them. Best dentist ever! The bottom ones were a pain in the ass to remove and I didn't like the dentist I was going to, my old one retired and she was the replacement and she was fuckin terrible. Didn't see a dentist for almost 20 years because of her.

Oh and the reason I had my uppers removed is because without the bottoms they were gonna keep growing and growing forever. It's a thing I learned when I went to that dentist lol

It's not too bad. I got put out cold, so it was easy,. Don't remember anything except the ride home.

Taking care of the leftover holes is kind of annoying especially if you can't tell what's food and what's stitches. But just get a syringe and squirt water into them gently and it's fine.

The fears about dry socket are real but as long as you follow the "rules" it won't happen. Yogurt, potatoes, smoothies, then do some soup and your good.

It's definitely not fun but as long as you take like 5 days off or so you should be fine. I couldn't imagine going to work even after like 2-3 days.

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

Had a cleaning today and talked to my dentist about getting them removed. She gave me a referral so I plan on calling a surgeon tomorrow.

you don't already have them taken out? are you a young guy like a teenager?

Had all 4 out, and IMO the worst part (for me anyways) was constantly having to spit pus/blood out. And for the first while because of the swelling, i couldnt even 'projectile spit', i had to just lean over the sink and let it drain out.

going be looking into this likely in the future(mine are impacted, but not hurting me, so they arent sure if I need to remove them yet). My wife had hers done last year (she needed it massively). She was out of it, no straws and on a jello diet and had to sit up mostly for the first day. It gets better from there though.

I had all four taken out when I was 19 back in 1985. The operation went smoothly. The pain wasn't terrible, but I was kind of miserable for about 5 days. The most annoying part was irrigating the wounds after eating, but it's really not that big of a deal.

Overall, it was fine and I'm very glad I got it done when I did.

It really depends on if they're impacted or not. I had both since I did each side a few years apart. Non-impacted was super easy, barely had pain, and was back to normal in a couple of days.

Impacted fucking sucked! A lot of pain for a few days, a lot of bleeding, couldn't eat right for almost a week

I had a lot of teeth wisdom included pulled all at once. I was put under. Honestly felt like I coulda drove home after but I wasn't allowed to. Didnr need any pain killers. Bleed a lot on the way home though. Ended up stopping at another dentist for more gauze.

Never got dry socket and I didnr even slow down on smoking. I just learned to puff very lightly

Am I the only person in the universe who's got perfectly alligned teeth and all 4 wisdom teeth intact?
I know I'm lucky, but I can't believe more or less everyone has them taken out.
Mine were fully in their position when I was like 16 or 17.

Don't worry, I've got plenty of other health issues, lmao. But my teeth have always been more or less perfect.

I had them removed in the mid-20s. I really didn't mind it, but I got an infection in one of them and that was miserable for a couple of days while I was on vicodin & percocet. If it hadn't been for that, it wouldn't have been bad. I think the experience varies for everyone.

GunmaN1905 posted...

Am I the only person in the universe who's got perfectly alligned teeth and all 4 wisdom teeth intact?

No, my aunt has hers

What negative impacts happen if you never have them removed? In my 40's now and some of mine never developed as well, but no pain or anything.

chaos_knight posted...

What negative impacts happen if you never have them removed? In my 40's now and some of mine never developed as well, but no pain or anything.

Most people's jaws aren't big enough to hold 16 sets of teeth, meaning that wisdom teeth are usually the main cause of misallignment and pushing other teeth on top of each other, so to speak.

If you don't need surgery, they pop right out(when a Dentist uses a special tool)

Your experience may vary but mine was great. Got gassed, woke up loopy as hell, no pain. Spent a week in bed playing my DS and got to eat ice cream and Mac n cheese for every meal >_>