Has anyone had them removed? Are there actually any good experiences?

I went to the dentist yesterday and he wants to remove them asap since they have been causing numbness in my mouth. I am so scared and have been delaying this for 3 years now. They wont use general anesthesia, they just use local which scares me as well since I know I will hyperventilate (sp?) and probably pass out if i'm fully concious while they do it. I mean, i'm such a baby that when I get cavities filled I travel 70 miles away to the dentist that uses the laser so I dont have to get any shots and I spend an extra $100+ out of pocket.

So, I *know* there has to be a good story somewhere out in cyberland, LOL!

By Debbie on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 12:09 pm:

I had mine out and it wasn't bad at all. I had a wonderful dentist, so the actual removal of them wasn't too bad. I remember I was uncomfortable for about a day or so and then I was fine. My boyfriend in high school had his removed and we went out that night. So yes, there are some good experiences out there. You just have to be careful and do exactly what they tell you to avoid dry sockets. And, if you feel anything while your dentist is removing them. Don't be afraid to let him know!!

By Angellew on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 12:19 pm:

OK... I HATE the dentist!!! I breakout in a cold sweat just going for a cleaning, which is not as regular as it should be because of this massive fear!!!! But, when I had mine out it was not bad at all! I remember being awake and listen to the doctor talk to me through the whole thing. At one point, he told me not to swallow or I'd be having one for breakfast!!! After, there was some pain, but manageable!

If I can do it, I feel like anyone can do it, cause I am just a HUGE baby when it comes to the dentist!

Good luck!

By Katherine on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 12:45 pm:

I am a big baby, too. I have to get gas just for fillings. I had all four of mine removed. The bottom two were surgical and the top two were just pulled and it was a breeze. You'll do fine, but do, as Debbie said, follow all the rules to be sure you don't get dry sockets.

By Insaneusmcwife on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 01:00 pm:

Melissa,
Smile Care on Pendleton is awsome. I had mine pulled out there. They gave me the meds to knock me out through an IV. I didn't feel anything, nor do I remember anything. Have you considered going there? They are right behind the bowling alley, they used to be anyways. Dave had his pulled and went to Burger King right afterwards and was fine. I was a little more of a baby and stuck with pudding and mashed potatoes for a couple days. DONT eat rice. It got stuck in the openings. I think Dave gave it to me just to be mean. NO STRAWS NO STRAWS NO STRAWS!

By Vicki on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 01:11 pm:

I had all 4 or mine surgically removed and was put out for it. No problems at all with it!! I followed directions to the T and was fine the next day!! There are good stories out there!!

By Children03 on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 01:58 pm:

I had all of mine removed at the same time and it was awful. I did everything that I was suppose to and I ended up having 2 dry sockets and it was very painful. I know a lot of people have it done and there is nothing to it after a day or two.

By Boxzgrl on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 02:06 pm:

Kristie, I was thinking about Smile Care because I have a coupon for free teeth whitening through them. How much did you pay out of pocket? Western Dental want to charge me over $500 for what U.C. wont cover. I definitely need the i.v. sedation. Did Dave get his done there too?

And everyone else, thanks for the good stories! It makes me feel a bit better!

By Rayanne on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 02:34 pm:

I had mine removed and ir wasn't bad at all. I put ice in two pairs of socks and tied them together and draped them over my head so that I had one on each cheek and it kept the swelling down a lot.
Good luck sweetie.

By Angellew on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 03:52 pm:

Ohhhhhh..... I learned the no straws thing the hard way!!! When I left the dentist office, they told my mother (Yes... I had to have my mommy with me), to get something heavy and cold for my stomach so I could take the pain pills. So, she went to Burger King or something and got me a shake... WITH A STRAW IN IT!!! I was all dazed and confused, so I started sucking away!!!! The hysteria that followed was, looking back on it, quite funny!!!

Live and Learn!!!

By Babysitbarb on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 04:09 pm:

my 15 year old just had her's out over memorial weekend and she was put to sleep. Our regular dentist couldn't do it so we went to a surgeon(which is very costy). He did put her to sleep and that was by her choice and I think it was best because she was very emotional about it.(me too). She didn't really have much pain and she didn't eat much for about a day and a half because she had a lot of swelling. She did everything they told her to do and even used the ice longer then needed but, she still swellled a lot. Then about 3 days later she bruised on her lower jaw. She did have to take a second round of antibiotics because she wasn't keeping the wholes cleaned good and they weren't healing real good but, for the most part it went good.Just do everything they tell you and you'll be fine. Oh ya, NO STRAWS!!!

By Insaneusmcwife on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 06:11 pm:

I don't remember what it cost but it will be comparable to Western Dental....I don't want to scare you but my dad and Shavon have both had bad experiences with Western Dental. They will also work out a payment plan with you. And they WILL knock you out. My dad just went to a surgeon in Yucca to have 3 teeth pulled 2 days ago and they knocked him out...Thats the only way to go. You should definately give them a call and oh ya NO STRAWS! Did I mention that before??? OK one more time: NO STRAWS!

By Boxzgrl on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 06:26 pm:

LOL, Kristie! I could tell from my visit that Western Dental is NOT the way to go. It took them 2 hours to get me checked in, do xrays and my cleaning (the girl probably took 10 minutes cleaning my teeth) and I was sitting and waiting most of the time. Horrible!! I'm getting my cavities filled in Chino Hills where I usually go since they have the laser but even at Western Dental they wanted to fill 2 cavities (I have 4 ) send me home, have me come back and do the other two! Did I NOT mention I have a life, a daughter and a DH whos always at work? Grr.... Thanks Kristie... Smile Care it is!!!

By Insaneusmcwife on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 06:33 pm:

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 11:36 pm:

I had mine out when I was 23 with IV sedation along with the numbing medicine. I slept quite a bit after it was done and had to eat soft foods for a week or two while it healed, but no problems other than that. I didn't swell up either, like some people do. I was glad I had all 4 done at once, since I only had to go through the pain once.

By Pamt on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 10:09 am:

I didn't have any problems. Mine were removed whenn I was in highschool by an oral surgeon. I had IV valium and I was out before they even got the IV taped to my arm. I was loopy after the surgery too. I can remember my dad driving me home and I just talked and talked. I knew I wasn't making any sense but I couldn't stop. (Sometimes happens when I'm NOT under the influence of narcotics too ). My DH had his out a month after our first son was born and I had 2 babies to take care of. My suggestions: Bags of frozen peas make great ice packs! And make sure you get an irrigation syringe from the doctor to clean out the holes in your mouth. Food will get in them, you can't get it out otherwise, and it starts to rot in your mouth, Yuk!! The smell and taste is overwhelming, but with the syringe you can squirt water in the holes to clean them out. I had to learn that the hard way. Good luck!

By Boxzgrl on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 12:30 pm:

Okay, nasty question: How long will there be holes in my mouth??? Do they just fill in after a while?? That sounds sooo gross.

By Babysitbarb on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 03:55 pm:

my DD had her's out memorial weekend and she still has the whole on the one side but, it is closing in more. This is what happened to her with the food getting in the wholes and her not properly syringing it out and it was starting to get infected. She has been using one of those flosser sticks to keep it clean and that sounds gross to me.She also used the ice pack they sent home and she used frozen veggies for like the first 2-3 days and she still swelled a lot.I felt so bad for her because we had graduation parties that weekend and she also started driver's ed that following Tuesday and she looked like a chipmunk.
My DH got 7 teeth out when he was in high school and went out that night and ate pizza, needless to say he paid for it later. So stick with the soft foods for the first couple days.

By Cat on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 08:32 pm:

I had mine out when I was 26 and we lived in Panama. Being military stationed overseas it was free. Two of the wisdom teeth were impacted. They used what they call IV sedation. Basically they put a mild sedative in an IV that the doc described as a 6-pack in a drip. It was really cool. They also used a local, but I don't remember anything after the IV in my arm. When I woke up my arms were strapped to the chair. They said I kept trying to push the doc away and was trying to talk to them in sign--which is really good since I only know about 2 dozen words and the alphabet! lol I was pretty out of it the rest of that day, but had Robin's fourth birthday party three days later. My mom was visiting at the time and that really helped. Oh, don't eat salads either. It really wasn't that bad. Good luck and Hugs!

By Ginny~moderator on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 09:18 am:

I would go to another oral surgeon for a second opinion on the local anesthetic thing. A few years ago I wound up in the ER at 3 a.m. with terrible facial pain and it turned out that I had one wisdom tooth that had never erupted, was lying sideways under my molars, and had developed an abscess. The pain was absolutely unbelievable. The oral surgeon the hospital sent me to said he would remove it in his office with local anesthetic. Given the description of how the tooth was lying and the infection, I didn't think this was a good idea. I went to my dentist who said (a) this oral surgeon is the one he usually refers people to and (b) he didn't think local anesthetic was a good idea. I went to a second oral surgeon my primary doctor recommends, who said no way - outpatient surgical center at the hospital and proper anesthesia (IV drip). AND gave me a higher powered antibiotic than the first guy had prescribed which he said would work much faster on the infection (and did). So I used the second guy and it was a good thing I did because he actually had to remove a back molar in order to get that stupid crosswise wisdom tooth out.

If you decide to get a second opinion, don't ask the doctor who recommended the first guy for another recommendation - try another avenue for recommendations.

Yes, no straws and soft food for a few days (and no rice is a good idea). Follow the recommendations for cleaning the socket/hole as stuff will get stuck in it - my surgeon gave me what looks like a large syringe with a plastic curved tube at the end and told me to rinse out the socket 3-4 times a day after the first 3 days (you don't want to wash out the clot until healing has started). The hole gradually fills in, but it is very important to keep it clean while that is happening.

By Ginny~moderator on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 09:22 am:

Oh, I stayed home the day of surgery and the next day, but didn't have to use anything stronger than aspirin after the first day. My middle son had all four out by in hospital surgery because two were gum impacted and two were bone impacted and had a lot of swelling and pain the first day but by the second day had minimal pain.

As for having your mommy with you, this son had moved out about a year earlier and was living with 3 buddies/fellow students, but asked me to go with him for this surgery. After the surgery, the cab taking us to my house had to go near my office and I asked him if he wanted to be by himself, in which case I'd go to work, or wanted me with him. He wanted me with him. That is one of those mommy memories I rather treasure.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 09:40 am:

Gee, I got to stay home all by myself after I had my wisdom teeth out. My mom was 200 miles away. I had a boyfriend, but he had to work. Although, he did drive me home and fill my prescription for pain meds. I was working nights at the time and had to go AFTER work to have it done, since I couldn't work that next night. I only had one day off at a time. So, I basically went home to sleep. With the IV sedation and then pain meds, I wasn't awake too much that day.

By Karen~moderator on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 10:43 am:

Melissa, I just posted about my oral surgery. If you can get IV sedation, you won't be aware of or remember any of it. It will be a breeze.

All the posts above are accurate, especially about dry sockets and straws. NO STRAWS is printed on my patient instructions in several different places. LOL

If you are anything like me, the dread and anticipation is much worse that the actual procedure. Mine went OK and I'm sure yours will too. Just make sure you have help with your DD for a few days.