I need to have my wisdom teeth taken out.....

[undergunfire]

...and I am so scared. I have never had surgery before and the thought terrifies me. I also need to go in on the 21st (I think) to my dentist to have 1 wisdom tooth pulled and get a few fillings. I have never had a tooth pulled, either, and I am also terrified about that.

For those who had their teeth pulled....was it really painful? What did it feel like? Could you hear it coming out? I don't like the dentist or anything having to do with teeth....I can't stand the thought of teeth being pulled, it literally sickens me.

And for those who have had their wisdom teeth taken out, how was it? Were you scared? Are you totally knocked out through the procedure and can't tell what is going on? How was the healing?



I hadn't been to the dentist in a really long time because I didn't have health insurance. I went in for a cleaning on Thursday and he tells me that he is referring me to someone to have my wisdom teeth taken out and he will pull my other wisdom tooth & do my fillings in one appointment. Now today my wisdom teeth are really causing me pain. They are hurting and it feels like they are putting pressure on my other teeth...like causing them to move forward...it hurts!

I need to see how much it is all going to cost with the insurance and if I can get it done this year or if I need to wait until the first of the year. We have like $1500 (what the word?) and I need to have a tooth be pulled & fillings....so I am not sure how much money will be left over. Our insurance only covers silver fillings and our dentist only does white...so we have to pay the difference. Ryan needs fillings, too....so we are going to be paying like $400 to get us both done .

 

[Gordon]

My wisdom teeth came in quietly when I was in grade school, and I never noticed.

I have my teeth cleaned every six months, and the only cavities I ever had filled, were many moons ago, but they used gas, and I remember floating out of the dentist's chair, LOL.

 

[pla725]

I had mine pulled when I was 17 or 18. They put me under for the procedure. I did have pain and swelling for afew days.Percocet wasmy best friend.

 

[undergunfire]

I am just really scared because I get panic attacks. I am not sure they can drug me up whilst I am in a panic??

 

[Gordon]

undergunfire wrote:

I am just really scared because I get panic attacks. I am not sure they can drug me up whilst I am in a panic??

I definitely am familiar with panic attacks and anxiety. I don't know how your dentist will deal with your situation. I imagine he or she will just give you a bigger dose of the medicine.

 

[degrassi]

IF you have panic attacks they can give you valium to take before you come in. I too get panic attacks and I took 1 valium before leaving the house and I was fine.

I've had pretty much all my teeth pulled when I was a kid. My mouth is really small so the doctor had to pull out my baby teeth to make room for my adult teeth. Having your teeth pulled isn't too bad but its definitely not fun. They freeze up your mouth very well and you don't feel any pain but you can feel them working them out and can hear the noise. Thankfully now most dentist have headphones to listen to when having things done. That makes the noise part less gross.

I"ve also had my wisdom teeth out along with 4 other teeth surgically removed. The wisdom teeth were a breeze. I went in at 11am, they knocked me out and an hour later I was awake and ready to go home. By supper time I was eating soup. I didn't have much pain or swelling at all. IN 2 weeks all the holes were healed up and I was back to normal.

For wisdom teeth they usually give you the choice of being put to sleep or just having local anesthetic, unless they are really bad and need to be put under. IN my case I had to pay a bit extra to be put under as my insurance only covered the local freezing(and they give you some sedatives). It was definitely worth paying extra. A few of my friends weren' t put to sleep and they did not enjoy the experience at all.

 

[undergunfire]

Gordon wrote:

undergunfire wrote:

I am just really scared because I get panic attacks. I am not sure they can drug me up whilst I am in a panic??

I definitely am familiar with panic attacks and anxiety. I don't know how your dentist will deal with your situation. I imagine he or she will just give you a bigger dose of the medicine.

Good..I don't want to know what is going on or I will probably continue to panic.

I mean, I had a panic attack before I went in for my cleaning.....so you can only imagine what I am feeling towards my wisdom teeth :nerves1.

 

[Gordon]

undergunfire wrote:

Gordon wrote:

undergunfire wrote:

I am just really scared because I get panic attacks. I am not sure they can drug me up whilst I am in a panic??

I definitely am familiar with panic attacks and anxiety. I don't know how your dentist will deal with your situation. I imagine he or she will just give you a bigger dose of the medicine.

Good..I don't want to know what is going on or I will probably continue to panic.

I mean, I had a panic attack before I went in for my cleaning.....so you can only imagine what I am feeling towards my wisdom teeth :nerves1.

The worst part of it ,will be in the waiting room. I've never visited a doctor or dentist who makes me feel warm and fuzzy, lol.

 

[Little Bay Poo]

undergunfire wrote:

For those who had their teeth pulled....was it really painful? No pain during the procedure. The pain occurred after the novocaine wore off, but went away completely with the 600 mg of Motrin I was prescribed.

What did it feel like? They put me on laughing gas so I felt high the whole time. I didn't know what was going on and had to keep reminding myself that I was at the dentist.

Could you hear it coming out? All of the sounds were delayed by two seconds because of the laughing gas. I probably heard the sounds of the instruments against my teeth, but I don't remember.


And for those who have had their wisdom teeth taken out, how was it? Were you scared? I am always scared

Are you totally knocked out through the procedure and can't tell what is going on? I had the option of being put under general anesthesia but I chose to take the laughing gas instead. With the laughing gas I had only a vague sense of what was going on.

How was the healing? I was completely healed up after one week. There was no pain if I took the Motrin. There was oozing, and I couldn't sleep more than a few hours the first night. After the oozing stopped it was easy.

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

I had a IV in my arm I had them pulled at 12 or 13 I was very young.

I was not asleep I remember what happened but the dotor brought is portable dvd player in and I watch a movie with headphones. It hurt the first day I had myne done at 8 am by 7 pm the pain meds kicked in and I was ready to go to school the next day. I had them done on a thursday and was back in school on monday.

I remeber the pain being from the swelling not the teeth being pulled them selves. It hurt along the side of my jaw but only for one day.

Icecream shakes for 3 days was nice though.

I had a panic attatck when I first came in they put me on the laughing gas I was fine

 

[Happi Bun]

When I had all my wisdom teeth pulled they completely put me under. It was quite an interesting experience, which is saying a lot since I have anxiety problems as well. I could see my heart rate on the monitor, they put an IV in my arm then injected that with the general anesthetic. I was strapped down for safety reasons, probably so I cant move while I was under. I was asked to count down from a certain number (I forget) and that's all I remember.

Next thing I knew the nurse was softly speaking my name as I slowly woke up. I was very out of it so I felt no pain, I had to be helped to the car. I was prescribed Vicodin for the pain, it did a great job. The only time I was in pain was when it was wearing off and time to take more.

I remember I looked like a big hamster with stuffed cheeks since I was required to keep gauze where the teeth where removed due to the bleeding. They had to be periodically changed. The Vicodin made me very drowsy so I all I could really do was lay in bed or be on the computer.

Just a heads up if they do put you on Vicodin; I had a milkshake when I was taking it. Some people cannot handle dairy products when taking the pain reliever. Needless to say I threw it all up.:twitch:

Honestly, the worst part of the whole procedure was the time I lost when I was under. I'm just the type of person that doesn't like being so totally helpless in the hands of strangers and not remembering what happened. If you are having a really hard time keeping calm I'm sure they can give you something to relax. I'm positive they've experienced people having panic attacks before. Just be honest and let them know. Good luck! It really isn't that bad.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I had 4 wisdom teeth removed, as I remember...

I had general anesthetic, and my experience in surgery was essentially the same as Erika's.
I prefer the general anesthetic over being awake/alert any day.
I remember being high as a kite for about a week. I actually gave a presentation in College to the administration while super high... good times

You can manage this, Amy. Don't overthink it... this has to be done anyway, so you might as well put your faith in your dentist, and stop thinking about it.:hug:

 

[undergunfire]

Thanks, guys! I guess I needed to know others have survived this procedure :laughsmiley:. You guys make it seem like it is no biggie! I did a search on "wisdom teeth" on the forum and found Jen's thread that I hadn't seen before..and hers seemed painful!

I hope they do a general anesthetic....but do I get to chose?

 

[Little Bay Poo]

undergunfire wrote:

I hope they do a general anesthetic....but do I get to chose?

Based on my experience, yes, you get to choose.

My wisdom teeth had all broken through the gums, were coming in straight, and were super easy to extract. I feel that I could have done it with just the Novocaine. Even though the procedure was simple, I was still given the choice of going under general anesthetic (and it seemed like the surgeon really wanted to put me under!)

 

[kirsterz09]

I don't know if this is any help but when I was 12 I had a operation to remove a lot of baby teeth and to pull down a tooth that was positioned at a funny angle in my mouth. I was put under full anaesthetic and as it was my first operation was very nervous too! But the procedure was fine and when I came round my mouth was very sore (I hardly had any teeth lol!) but the best bit was that I got to eat jelly and icecream a lot because it was easier to eat with such a sore mouth lol!
You'll be fine and I'll be thinking of you on that date. Just remember to buy a load of icecream lol! It makes for a good reason to eat lots of it!

 

[degrassi]

undergunfire wrote:

Thanks, guys! I guess I needed to know others have survived this procedure :laughsmiley:. You guys make it seem like it is no biggie! I did a search on "wisdom teeth" on the forum and found Jen's thread that I hadn't seen before..and hers seemed painful!

I hope they do a general anesthetic....but do I get to chose?

Her's were painful because something went wrong. Didn't she get an infection or something afterwards? If everything goes well (no infection, no dry sockets) then you should be fine. It will hurt a bit and you'll probably swell but its nothing to major. just tell them ahead of time at the consultation that you have high anxiety and panic attacks.

Almost everyone has to eventually get them out. Its really not that big a deal.

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

I had 2 taken out about 2 weeks apart. I just had freezing done. It wasn't that bad. I was given 2 prescriptions, 1 for Tylenol 3, which didn't work at all so I took Motrin instead and the other was antibiotic to stop any infection that I might get. Mine healed put pretty good.

I wasn't given a choice as to how I wanted them removed.

 

[undergunfire]

You guys are making me feel better about getting them removed, but I am (of course) still very scared. Hopefully the surgeons (is that what you'd call them?) are nice and work with me through my panicking.

I am worried about having to miss work. I can miss as many days as I want, but I get paid hourly. I hope they can take them out on a Friday and I can be back in work by Tuesday...that is already missing 2 days!

I can totally live off of ice cream shakes, apple sauce, and mashed potatoes. I had to live off of that for a few days after getting my tongue pierced .

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

Mine were pulled by the Dentist who was also an Orthodontist.

 

[missyscove]

We have another thread about this somewhere. I remember when I had mine out so did several other people on the forum.