Wisdom teeth extraction

[Anonymous]

Your anecdote is worthless. Dentists recommend it when it's time.

[Anonymous]

The stories of people whose kid had an easy recovery are heartening. My kid is having his out soon (age 16), he only has two, on the bottom, and they are deeply impacted. One is blocking a 12yo molar from coming in. Any recovery tips are appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Good painkillers. Heavy sedation. They are going to smash them up to get the deeply impacted ones out. Frankly, they did mine that way and I am glad I was not awake to experience it. Lots of ice. Watch for dry socket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember this happening for peers in college but not before. Hearing more and more extracting in MS and beginning of HS. Why? Is it moving up of braces to younger years? Is anesthesia more/less risky in MS v college age?

Looking to make a buck. My dentist tried to do several treatments to my kid. I said no and kept waiting. Things worked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember this happening for peers in college but not before. Hearing more and more extracting in MS and beginning of HS. Why? Is it moving up of braces to younger years? Is anesthesia more/less risky in MS v college age?

Looking to make a buck. My dentist tried to do several treatments to my kid. I said no and kept waiting. Things worked out.

My coworker just had his pit at 60 after declining it when recommended. He regretted it. Needed several root canals in other teeth over the years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The stories of people whose kid had an easy recovery are heartening. My kid is having his out soon (age 16), he only has two, on the bottom, and they are deeply impacted. One is blocking a 12yo molar from coming in. Any recovery tips are appreciated.

Here's my recovery tips:
1. Keep your head above your heart for at least the first 24 hours.
2. Stay on top of pain management.
3. Bone broth and (strained) vegetable broth are your friends.
4. Be absolutely vigilant about flushing out the tooth holes after every time you eat. I watched a roommate get dry socket - super tough guy was reduced to moaning on the floor while in the fetal position. Avoid that at all costs. Err on the side of caution with food to avoid dry socket.

[Anonymous]

Everyone's come in differently.

I was very late in getting all my adult teeth—I was still losing baby teeth as a sophomore in high school, and when I went off to college there was no sign of any wisdom teeth.

The first one came in when I was about 23 and the others over the next five or six years. They were straight and I had tons of room, and initially dentists told me not to worry about them... I had never had a cavity in my life (still haven't wiht my normal teeth) but my wisdom teeth were absurdly bad. The first crumbled while I was eating a pickle and the others followed in turn. The first was pulled by a regular dentist—it was straight and easily accessed and I had no dental insurance so I told him I wouldn't be going to an oral surgeon and he said "eff it, I was in the navy, I can do this!" and pulled it for $90.

The others were done by a proper oral surgeon when I was about 30 because I was having insane headaches, and it was because the roots had grown so long they had become entwined with a nerve—when my wisdom teeth hurt (because they were in terrible shape) I got insane headaches, and when I got headaches, my teeth hurt. Allergy season was excruciating.

Anyway, the point is that people get them at all different times, and even if you have room and they're straight they may be of different quality (my dentist said my regular are so good because I developed them while getting fluoride treatment and my wisdom teeth are so bad because I was in college drinking beer and the occasional bottle of non-fluoridated water when they developed), or affect nerves.

[Anonymous]

Thank you pps! I'm the one who asked for recovery tips (sorry to have somewhat hijacked this thread). I've read about dry socket and it sounds awful and I am definitely concerned my kid will end up with that. I'm trying to make sure I understand everything that can be done to avoid it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The stories of people whose kid had an easy recovery are heartening. My kid is having his out soon (age 16), he only has two, on the bottom, and they are deeply impacted. One is blocking a 12yo molar from coming in. Any recovery tips are appreciated.

My 18 year just has her's out. All 4 impacted. It was a longer recovery than my previous kids. Get the face ice holder thing from Amazon. Remember to cover pillow with a towel when they come home and go right back to sleep! She did have some break through pain and lingering nerve pain which needed actual pain meds. Most was handled easily with Advil and Tylenol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone's come in differently.

I was very late in getting all my adult teeth—I was still losing baby teeth as a sophomore in high school, and when I went off to college there was no sign of any wisdom teeth.

The first one came in when I was about 23 and the others over the next five or six years. They were straight and I had tons of room, and initially dentists told me not to worry about them... I had never had a cavity in my life (still haven't wiht my normal teeth) but my wisdom teeth were absurdly bad. The first crumbled while I was eating a pickle and the others followed in turn. The first was pulled by a regular dentist—it was straight and easily accessed and I had no dental insurance so I told him I wouldn't be going to an oral surgeon and he said "eff it, I was in the navy, I can do this!" and pulled it for $90.

The others were done by a proper oral surgeon when I was about 30 because I was having insane headaches, and it was because the roots had grown so long they had become entwined with a nerve—when my wisdom teeth hurt (because they were in terrible shape) I got insane headaches, and when I got headaches, my teeth hurt. Allergy season was excruciating.

Anyway, the point is that people get them at all different times, and even if you have room and they're straight they may be of different quality (my dentist said my regular are so good because I developed them while getting fluoride treatment and my wisdom teeth are so bad because I was in college drinking beer and the occasional bottle of non-fluoridated water when they developed), or affect nerves.

My recovery btw, with all my nerve tangled broken wisdom teeth was about four hours. I think I had soup for dinner and the next day was fine.

[Anonymous]

wrap around ice pack for head - its very helpful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:wrap around ice pack for head - its very helpful

+1 I just had 3 removed, borrowed a wrap around ice pack thing, it was great. Def do the swishing re dry socket to help. Also remember to be gentle to your face - I washed my face in the shower the first night and scrubbed out of muscle memory and was worried I’d knocked out the clot. I didn’t, but it gave me pause to be more gentle. Don’t stop pain meds cold Turkey - I tried to and was in pain. Went from 800 mg to 600 to 400 slowly. Good luck!