Wisdom toofs [xpost]
Jul. 30th, 2009 06:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ailbheToday I had three wisdom teeth out. I'm home now, numb of jaw and bleeding gently, and I thought it might be useful for some people to know how it went.
The worst part was the anticipation, and the next worst part was the injections. Once the anaesthetic took effect, the first two teeth (upper and lower left wisdom teeth) were removed in slightly less than one minute. Then the upper right was taken too.
I cope very badly with hospitals so I was panicking a bit, breathing deeply and shaking all over, and making horrible squeaking noises. I explained to the dentist that I was not hurt, just frightened, and that I would raise my arm if I was hurt, so he could ignore any noises I made. That worked well.
First they discussed what they were going to do and the possible complications, based on looking at my X-Rays. I had a second appointment so that I could get the teeth removed in two sessions if necessary, so they took the two left out first, checked I felt ok, and then took the right one out. I could feel vicious jabs and continuous painful pressure from the injections, but the extractions were just pulling, some sinister noises, and then nothing. They put gauze in to apply pressure ot slow the bleeding, and I bit down on that for a while, which wasn't very nice because of saliva pooling in my mouth. While I was thus immobilised they gave me instructions - don't eat anything hard, don't drink anything very hot or very cold, take paracetamol and ibuprofen soon so that pain relief is continuous, if I start to gush blood call them or go to the John Radcliffe in Oxford (er, how?), take all the time I need to recover.
I was able to phone for a lift home ok and when I got home I was able to swallow pills, but I couldn't tell they were gone and Rob had to confirm I'd actually managed to swallow them. My ears are slightly numb, from the anaesthetic. My face feels but does not look swollen; I've applied an ice-pack a bit.
They let me take my three teeth home to show my children, who were ghoulishly thrilled.
The worst part was the anticipation, and the next worst part was the injections. Once the anaesthetic took effect, the first two teeth (upper and lower left wisdom teeth) were removed in slightly less than one minute. Then the upper right was taken too.
I cope very badly with hospitals so I was panicking a bit, breathing deeply and shaking all over, and making horrible squeaking noises. I explained to the dentist that I was not hurt, just frightened, and that I would raise my arm if I was hurt, so he could ignore any noises I made. That worked well.
First they discussed what they were going to do and the possible complications, based on looking at my X-Rays. I had a second appointment so that I could get the teeth removed in two sessions if necessary, so they took the two left out first, checked I felt ok, and then took the right one out. I could feel vicious jabs and continuous painful pressure from the injections, but the extractions were just pulling, some sinister noises, and then nothing. They put gauze in to apply pressure ot slow the bleeding, and I bit down on that for a while, which wasn't very nice because of saliva pooling in my mouth. While I was thus immobilised they gave me instructions - don't eat anything hard, don't drink anything very hot or very cold, take paracetamol and ibuprofen soon so that pain relief is continuous, if I start to gush blood call them or go to the John Radcliffe in Oxford (er, how?), take all the time I need to recover.
I was able to phone for a lift home ok and when I got home I was able to swallow pills, but I couldn't tell they were gone and Rob had to confirm I'd actually managed to swallow them. My ears are slightly numb, from the anaesthetic. My face feels but does not look swollen; I've applied an ice-pack a bit.
They let me take my three teeth home to show my children, who were ghoulishly thrilled.
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Date: 2009-07-30 06:10 pm (UTC)Did your dentist talk about or discuss the risks of "dry socket" with you or prescribe you mild anti-biotics alongside the pain-killers? Dry socket affects women more than men, due to our reproductive biology and it can be excruciatingly painful and debilitating for several days if you do end up developing it. It may well be that there are new methods/treatments since mine were done 6-7 years ago which reduce the risk to trivial levels, but I always worry when women I know mention they are having/have just had wisdom teeth out. Someone else recently had it done and was fine, no ill-effects but I had such a bad experience I feel bound to mention it to be sure.