I extracted a wisdom tooth on Friday 18 December and decided to write about it since it put me out of commission for a few days. The first thing that I thought was significant was the fact that I could not eat past midnight the night before the surgery because I was going to be put to sleep. The last time I had to be put to sleep for surgery I did not eat for 16 hours and I was a ravenous beast afterwards so I was interested to see how it would relate to this time.
Day Of Surgery
I got up and tried not to faint from the smell of the yummy breakfast that was going on around me and got ready to go to the dentist. I had to take a full head X-ray so they could get the full positioning of the teeth and then went to lie down to get ready for my anesthesia. The anesthesiologist came in and spoke to me about the risks involved and had me sign the waiver.
To Extract Or Not To Extract?
The oral surgeon then came in and asked if I was ready to remove that tooth.
What?
One tooth?
No I had TWO teeth to remove. He took a look at the X-rays again and said that one tooth was definitely a wisdom tooth that was lying sideways but they were not sure about the other one. After a few moments of talking he decided that he was not going to remove one tooth because the size and positioning indicated that it might just be a regular molar.
Upper Teeth Too?
The oral surgeon then indicated that I needed to have the upper wisdom teeth removed because they were both out and at a slight angle. I told him that I had never had any problems with them so he decided that they could stay. He did warn me that if they gave problems later on in life it would be a more difficult surgery but I elected to leave my teeth in my mouth for now.
They got me set up with the anesthesia and I drifted off…waking up 35 minutes later to the dentist patting my hand. They were not alllowed to give me the tooth but he took a picture of it with my camera so I could see the bits.
They had to cut it apart because it was lying sideways and was partially embedded in the bone. The doctor also said that the root was wrapped around a nerve and I might have some nerve damage as a result of the tooth being pulled. This could result in loss of feeling in part of my lip if the nerve did not heal properly.
Home Again
I was a bit woozy but managed to walk to the car after a little while so I could go home. The ride home took about 15 minutes because I was feeling nauseous and my driver was trying to go slow so as to keep me steady. By the time we got home and climbed the stairs to my apartment I was REALLY ready to throw up so I went to the bathroom and threw up what little there was in my stomach.
I then took my pain medication and went to lie down.
I was able to eat a jello cup with great difficulty and drank some liquid and then went to sleep. I take pills every four hours round the clock for pain, anti nausea and antibiotics and dream of food.
Saturday
Take pills…eat jello and icecream. Repeat every four hours. I am moving like a zombie because of the high levels of pain medication and low levels of sleep since I have to take something every four hours. Face is swelling a little bit and the left side of my lower lip feels numb.
Sunday
See Saturday. Face is still swollen and jaw hurts to move it. Spend most of the day in bed eating ice cream again and ate some butternut squash soup. Oh that is the BEST soup ever!!!!!! Getting some tingling in the lower lip, which is a good sign as it means things are healing.
Monday
Drove to Walmart to get some more soup as it has little chunks of potato that make me feel like I am eating real food. Jawbone hurts and it is hard to open my mouth but I have a follow up with the dentist tomorrow so he can see my progress. More tingling in lower lip and teeth feel like they are dancing in my head….or maybe that is just the effect of the pain killers.
All in all the worst thing is not being able to eat what I want and having the pain in my jawbone.
At least it is all done and over with! Hopefully everything will heal by Christmas time so you can eat lots and lots of delicious solid foods!
I had 4 that needed to come out. Instead of doing it when I was in my early 20’s, I elected to wait until my late 30’s, which I think just made the process much harder than it really had to be.
I wanted to get the whole thing over with at once so I decided to have them take all 4 at the same time. After I woke up from la-la land and made it home, I looked like a giant chipmunk. Both checks were swollen up to the point where I cold barely open my mouth. Luckily, the surgeon gave me wonderful meds that basically knocked me out for 2 full days. I woke up long enough to slurp soup through a straw and then back to sleep. By the 3rd day, I was starting to feel a bit human again. It took about 5 days before I felt even remotely close to normal.
If I were going to make any suggestions on this procedure, I would say have it done when you are young. The longer you wait, the more complicated the procedure.