5 Teeth Extracted Makes One Grumpy Flashaholic

I started off the morning at the dentist's office. I've finally after about 10 years been given the gracious opportunity to get much needed dental work in. And one of the first things on the list was 4 wisdom teeth plus one other that was beyond repair. I'll tell ya, teeth pulling is not fun.

Now there was very little pain during the surgery; I thought the procedure would be worse. Plenty of discomfort trying to get those bottom ones out though. And oh how I can't stand getting those anesthesia shots in the gums. I'd say those were always my least favorite part of the dentist, and things haven't changed much in 10 years.

But what I didn't expect is as the local anesthesia wore off how much everything would start to hurt... as I waited an hour for the pharmacy to fill my vicodin prescription. (Another first for me today too... pain killers stronger than tylenol... oh what a releif). I'll tell ya the things that were coming out of my mouth during that hour

Anyway I have a couple days off of work to recover so I'll probably be browsing a lot. I'm sure glad it is done, and I sure hope I won't ever have to do it again. I purposefully didn't speak out beforehand, because the last thing I needed was anxiety over today.

But now that it's done I'm more open to dental discussions because, well I'm one of those people who likes to know what they did, how the did it, why they did it that way, etc.

Drink a lot of water, and frequently; but don't drink it through a straw. A squeeze sports bottle is best.

I'm very uncomfortable simply reading your post. Hope you heal fast and well.

I hope you get feeling better soon. TG, for pain meds sometimes and locals. When I was a kid my dentist was old school (or simply a sadist), and did not believe in giving locals to numb pain. I went through any number of cavities, extractions, and a root canal with nothing for pain. When I became old enough to choose my own destiny, one of the last things I would do was go to a dentist willingly.

Luckily since I have been married my wife convinced me to go, along with an bad tooth, and we found an excellant dentist I trust. But I had extensive work done that was built up over the years like you, so I know what you are going through.

I had my wisdom teeth cut out earlier this year. It was not near as bad as I expected it to be, but it wasn't exactly fun either. As someone already mentioned don't drink out of a straw for a few weeks, and just be careful in general, and you will be fine.

Hope you start to feel better soon!:thumbsup:

Hope you're feeling better soon. An occasional gargle with warm water with a little bit of salt in it can be soothing.

PhantomPhoton said:

And oh how I can't stand getting those anesthesia shots in the gums. I'd say those were always my least favorite part of the dentist, and things haven't changed much in 10 years.

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Find yourself another dentist. Mine uses a painless computer driven syringe that pushes the anesthetic at a rate your tissues can absorb - pushing too fast causes the stinging. And he uses a topical anesthetic on the gums first so you don't even feel the stick. Absolutely painless. Given my own childhood experiences, I was a confirmed dentist hater, until I met my current dentist. I still do the white knuckle thing but through many intense procedures he has yet to cause any pain. I love that guy! (my wife knows about this)

My goodness Lee.... Reading that post was scary

Phantom: I do hope you recover soon. :thumbsup:

I think it's the approach with the pliers, then feeling the twisting and hearing the grinding and crushing noises that gets me. That was a long time ago I had teeth pulled. Maybe it's better these days, but it doesn't sound like it.

My 5-yr old did it the old fashioned way 2 days ago. We're vacationing in Hawaii and he fell onto a lava rock after a cave tour. Bang! out came his first one of the front baby teeth, root & all. Tough little guy cried a bit, then fell asleep in the car. When he woke up he was all happy again and ready to go. Did you know the tooth fairy is super generous here? ;-)

I hope you're feeling good soon too.

shakeylegs said:

Find yourself another dentist. Mine uses a painless computer driven syringe that pushes the anesthetic at a rate your tissues can absorb - pushing too fast causes the stinging. And he uses a topical anesthetic on the gums first so you don't even feel the stick. Absolutely painless. Given my own childhood experiences, I was a confirmed dentist hater, until I met my current dentist. I still do the white knuckle thing but through many intense procedures he has yet to cause any pain. I love that guy! (my wife knows about this)

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Agreed. My dentist is VERY steady with the needle and uses the topical as well. Even shots in the roof of my mouth didn't really hurt. Also find one that has nitrous oxide, it really helps relax you alot. Hardest part was not biting my tongue afterward because everything was numb.

I had my wisdom teeth yanked about seven years ago - they put me completely under, so one minute I was counting backwards from ten, next thing I know I'm coming to, all four teeth gone.

Vicodin is your friend. So are frozen pea bags. Get four of them, keep them in the freezer. Rest one cheek on a bag while laying on a pillow for about 20 minutes, then switch sides with a new pea bag. Put a thin towel or folded over sheet between your skin and the bag so you don't get frostbite, and have someone check on you from time to time in case you fall asleep on the bag. It will help a lot with the swelling.

Like others said, no straws for the first five days or so - the sucking can undo the clots you have in the holes your teeth used to reside in. And don't play with the stitches with your tongue. :laughing:

If you have a syringe, gently irrigate the wounds after eating to dislodge any food that may become trapped there.

Anyway, the first three days are the worst and they go quick, especially if you're off work and on pain killers. Hang in there, there's a flashlight at the end of the tunnel!

PhantomPhoton said:

I started off the morning at the dentist's office. I've finally after about 10 years been given the gracious opportunity to get much needed dental work in. And one of the first things on the list was 4 wisdom teeth plus one other that was beyond repair. I'll tell ya, teeth pulling is not fun.

Now there was very little pain during the surgery; I thought the procedure would be worse. Plenty of discomfort trying to get those bottom ones out though. And oh how I can't stand getting those anesthesia shots in the gums. I'd say those were always my least favorite part of the dentist, and things haven't changed much in 10 years.

But what I didn't expect is as the local anesthesia wore off how much everything would start to hurt... as I waited an hour for the pharmacy to fill my vicodin prescription. (Another first for me today too... pain killers stronger than tylenol... oh what a releif). I'll tell ya the things that were coming out of my mouth during that hour

Anyway I have a couple days off of work to recover so I'll probably be browsing a lot. I'm sure glad it is done, and I sure hope I won't ever have to do it again. I purposefully didn't speak out beforehand, because the last thing I needed was anxiety over today.

But now that it's done I'm more open to dental discussions because, well I'm one of those people who likes to know what they did, how the did it, why they did it that way, etc.

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Ohh man I feel for you. Just take it easy for a bit and make use of those nifty pain pills they gave you.

Had my back 4 wisdom teeth pulled a few years back. One grew up to the gum line then never got taller so the doc had to go in after it. And one of the other ones (one with a bad cavity) shattered when he attempted to pull it so it was a pick and pull for a while.

Had my wisdoms pulled when I was a youngster. All I remember was constantly having to replace bloody gauze pads every now and then...

Just had two wisdoms pulled and about to get the other two out soon. It was no problem. I can't even feel the shots and my other two took less than 5 minutes to pull.

Vicodan will be your friend (which doseage they give you?) Just a warning - do NOT take any other Tylenol containing products while on the Vicodan - they have a full dose in there to prevent abuse

Another hint - make tea - save the teabag - put teabag on the wound - good for it. You do NOT want to get "dry socket"


I have a complete phobia of dental needles (I have a hard enough time with arm/butt) - My dentist gives me a bit of NO2 for about 5 minutes - then gives me the shots - the shots still hurt, and scare me, but I'm too far out of it to care

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

Let's see, I do have a great dentist, I'm just incredibly sensitive to the injections. I'm on nitrus and get a topical anesthetic. They sent me home with a printout of instructions and tips, a lot of the same things you all have been saying. I've never heard the reason the pinch happens is because they inject it to quickly. Very interesting.

And even if they were just a good dentist office I'd still ind of be "stuck" with them. They are providing me the opportunity to get work done that needs to be done. A lot of my current problems stem from not being insured and hence not being able to fix things as they came up over the past several years. Some of this discomfort is definitely my fault.

I just consider myself lucky to have been able to get in and get work done. If dentistry weren't insanely expensive and it was a simple matter of not buying flashlights and other such junk for say a year then I'd have been able to get work done over the past few years. But unfortunately it isn't.

As for the vocodin its 30 tablets of 5/500 whatever that means. 500mg? All I know is its working. I can sit here in peace and type on my laptop without a giant ache from the neck up. The oral surgeon calle dme up lat night to check on me as did a dental hygienist to make sure everything was alright, and I'll probably get more calls over the next couple days from them.

Mmmm mashed potatoes for lunch.

Chicken soup and oatmeal are good too lol.

Had one bad tooth removed under local & it ended up being a surgical removal as the top was gone but the roots were really really well stuck in there.

I have found that taking your pain meds before the local wears off is a VERY good thing to do.

Also instant pudding is very tasty & filling if you let it warm up a bit when you jaw feels like it is swollen up into a lump the size of the moon.

I have to go back for 4 wisdom teeth to be removed (joy).

For some cold will help with the pain from the swelling but for others (including me) a gentle heat does wonders , many a time after I had my tooth out I would use my hands to warm the area up, as well as pre warming my pillow.

DO NOT PULL ALL 4 WISDOM TEETH AT ONCE!!!

Tell your dentist to pull only one side first so you can have the other side to eat/bite. After the one side is somewhat healed, then go and take out the other side.

I took out all 4 at once, i had to eat porridge/congee for at least 1 week.

Not fun!

When I had had my first tooth removed I didn't eat much for a week anyway so it won't be much of a problem.

Also my wisdom teeth need surgical extraction & I will be getting put out for it so it will be very expensive for one time let alone twice (over US$1600).

I think I will save up some more $$$ and order a SF M6 on the Friday before I have them out so it will arrive while I am recuperating.