There are two things that you must do the day before and the day of the operation. One is you can’t eat or drink anything 8-10 hours before your surgery. The other thing is they will prescribe an antibiotic that kills all bacteria in your system the morning of your operation.
A couple optional but recommended things to do pre operation are to schedule basically a week of recovery time. You never know how long it will take. For me (Erik), it took about a week and a half before I started eating normally and participating in sports.You will also need someone to drive you home and take care of you because the first few hours you will not be able to do much especially if you chose to use general anesthesia. When you go to get the operation wear loose clothing so that they can insert the IV easier and you will be comfortable since the surgery lasts for about 45-2 hours.
These are the basic things you will need to do to prep for your wisdom teeth removal!
-Amanda and Erik
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Wisdom Teeth Part 1: Consulting the Doctor
Wisdom teeth are well known for the orthodontic and dental problems they can cause, and a high percentage of people end up getting theirs removed. Generally it is smart to get them removed at an early age because of the fact that they have not yet erupted and started causing problems. It is also a good idea because the younger you are, the faster you will recuperate from surgery.
The very first thing that will probably happen in the whole process is your orthodontist taking an x-ray of your mouth. He/she will then take a look at your wisdom teeth and let you know how they are forming. He/she will either inform you that your wisdom are growing straight upward and will erupt into a healthy position, or that they are impacted. Impaction basically means they are growing in any other way but upwards. The teeth may be growing away from your back molars, parallel to the gum line, or angled inward towards your molars. In all these cases you have two choices, the first one being removal and the second being just letting them grow out and facing the potential consequences.
In my case (Erik), I had the teeth growing at an angle into my back molars. This is called a mesioangular position. Because of this, my orthodontist sent an x-ray to my dentist suggesting I get them removed. I then set up an appointment with her to have her take a look. She gave me a letter of recommendation to an oral surgeon since I consented to getting them removed.
The removal of your wisdom teeth comes in two stages. First is the meeting with your oral surgeon. The point of this is generally to give you all of the information that you need to plan around the surgery and to set up the date of the surgery. Second is the day of the actual removal.
When I got into the surgeon’s office on the day of my dental exam, a nurse led me to a room in the back and played about a 7 minute video about the logistics of wisdom teeth removal and gave me a pamphlet that listed essentially the same information. The sections that are relevant to this post were as follows,
1. The dental anatomy and development of wisdom teeth: This section basically had a diagram of the mouth and nasal area, and had information about how long it takes for wisdom teeth to develop and the age stages in which they grow.
2. Problems with impacted wisdom teeth: First the obvious crowding of the mouth (which is the main reason why I decided to get mine removed) when the wisdom teeth come in sideways, resulting in the forcing of other teeth out of their aligned position. Other problems included gum infection and disease, tooth decay, and cysts/tumors.
In the next part, we will discuss the prep time before the operation and the removal of the wisdom teeth itself.
-Erik and Amanda
The very first thing that will probably happen in the whole process is your orthodontist taking an x-ray of your mouth. He/she will then take a look at your wisdom teeth and let you know how they are forming. He/she will either inform you that your wisdom are growing straight upward and will erupt into a healthy position, or that they are impacted. Impaction basically means they are growing in any other way but upwards. The teeth may be growing away from your back molars, parallel to the gum line, or angled inward towards your molars. In all these cases you have two choices, the first one being removal and the second being just letting them grow out and facing the potential consequences.
In my case (Erik), I had the teeth growing at an angle into my back molars. This is called a mesioangular position. Because of this, my orthodontist sent an x-ray to my dentist suggesting I get them removed. I then set up an appointment with her to have her take a look. She gave me a letter of recommendation to an oral surgeon since I consented to getting them removed.
The removal of your wisdom teeth comes in two stages. First is the meeting with your oral surgeon. The point of this is generally to give you all of the information that you need to plan around the surgery and to set up the date of the surgery. Second is the day of the actual removal.
When I got into the surgeon’s office on the day of my dental exam, a nurse led me to a room in the back and played about a 7 minute video about the logistics of wisdom teeth removal and gave me a pamphlet that listed essentially the same information. The sections that are relevant to this post were as follows,
1. The dental anatomy and development of wisdom teeth: This section basically had a diagram of the mouth and nasal area, and had information about how long it takes for wisdom teeth to develop and the age stages in which they grow.
2. Problems with impacted wisdom teeth: First the obvious crowding of the mouth (which is the main reason why I decided to get mine removed) when the wisdom teeth come in sideways, resulting in the forcing of other teeth out of their aligned position. Other problems included gum infection and disease, tooth decay, and cysts/tumors.
In the next part, we will discuss the prep time before the operation and the removal of the wisdom teeth itself.
-Erik and Amanda
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Fillings
When you have a cavity (with or without braces) you will need to get a filling. This is where your dentist fills in the rotten part of the tooth. In this post, we will describe Amanda’s experience of this process to give you an idea of how it will go.
The first thing your dentist will do is give you a shot of Novocain in your cheek and gum area around the specific tooth. Depending on where the tooth is, they might have to give you a second shot to numb your chin and lip.
Once they have administered the local anesthesia and made sure you are completely numb, your dentist will start the process. First, he/she will scrape away at the rotted part of the tooth. Sometimes the cavity is really deep and they will need to drill into your tooth to get to the actual cavity. When this is the case, your dentist will use what looks like a miniature jackhammer, called a dental hand piece, to chip away the tooth.
After they have cleared the path to the cavity, they will fill it in with a dental amalgam or resin that is the same color as your tooth. Also note that they will probably allow you to listen to your own music during the operation if you request it! The only pain you should feel throughout the procedure is the shot, so if you start to feel pain during the operation you should immediately let your dentist know.
Planning your day around a filling: Typically the whole process will take upwards of an hour to complete. The Novocain usually takes around three hours to wear off, although you can still eat while it’s numb. The tooth you got filled will be sensitive to hot and cold foods so be careful when you are eating after your appointment. Other than that you can basically follow your normal schedule after getting your filling.
-Erik and Amanda
The first thing your dentist will do is give you a shot of Novocain in your cheek and gum area around the specific tooth. Depending on where the tooth is, they might have to give you a second shot to numb your chin and lip.
Once they have administered the local anesthesia and made sure you are completely numb, your dentist will start the process. First, he/she will scrape away at the rotted part of the tooth. Sometimes the cavity is really deep and they will need to drill into your tooth to get to the actual cavity. When this is the case, your dentist will use what looks like a miniature jackhammer, called a dental hand piece, to chip away the tooth.
After they have cleared the path to the cavity, they will fill it in with a dental amalgam or resin that is the same color as your tooth. Also note that they will probably allow you to listen to your own music during the operation if you request it! The only pain you should feel throughout the procedure is the shot, so if you start to feel pain during the operation you should immediately let your dentist know.
Planning your day around a filling: Typically the whole process will take upwards of an hour to complete. The Novocain usually takes around three hours to wear off, although you can still eat while it’s numb. The tooth you got filled will be sensitive to hot and cold foods so be careful when you are eating after your appointment. Other than that you can basically follow your normal schedule after getting your filling.
-Erik and Amanda
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Orthodontics in Sports
In this post we will address an important issue for teens who play sports, should you wear your orthodontic materials? Well although your orthodontist might say differently here are our recommendations for which you should wear for some common sports.
Gymnastics: Although this is not exactly a common sport, both of us do gymnastics. We would say stay away from wearing your retainers because they might fall out or you might bite on them and break the plastic. Bands are okay, although you need to watch out for them snapping. Definitely do not wear head gear!
Swimming: Talking with people we know who swim, they say that wearing retainers and bands are fine because worst case is that they fall out and are at the bottom of the pool. In this case they are relatively easy to retrieve but watch out for the bottom pool filters. While swimming in the ocean or a lake do NOT wear retainers or anything because if you lose them there is almost no way to get them back.
Baseball: Bands or retainers are probably fine but watch out if they fall out because they might get stepped on!
Football: Chances are you will be wearing a mouth guard so it probably isn’t even an option.
Cheerleading: Same as gymnastics.
Soccer: Basically retainers and bands and such are going to be okay with soccer as well but similar to with baseball watch out for dropping them!
When I (Erik) had my clear retainers for the first time I wore them to gym. But after I did a skill and the bottom one came flying out I decided to stop. Head gear is basically not an option with any sport. Basically it all depends on you personally. For some people their retainers come out easily or they tend to snap bands so you need to figure out what works for you. Just use your common sense and decide whether you are going to wear them or not. And more importantly don't let fixing your retainers, bands, etc get in the way of you having fun playing whatever sport you enjoy!
-Amanda and Erik
Gymnastics: Although this is not exactly a common sport, both of us do gymnastics. We would say stay away from wearing your retainers because they might fall out or you might bite on them and break the plastic. Bands are okay, although you need to watch out for them snapping. Definitely do not wear head gear!
Swimming: Talking with people we know who swim, they say that wearing retainers and bands are fine because worst case is that they fall out and are at the bottom of the pool. In this case they are relatively easy to retrieve but watch out for the bottom pool filters. While swimming in the ocean or a lake do NOT wear retainers or anything because if you lose them there is almost no way to get them back.
Baseball: Bands or retainers are probably fine but watch out if they fall out because they might get stepped on!
Football: Chances are you will be wearing a mouth guard so it probably isn’t even an option.
Cheerleading: Same as gymnastics.
Soccer: Basically retainers and bands and such are going to be okay with soccer as well but similar to with baseball watch out for dropping them!
When I (Erik) had my clear retainers for the first time I wore them to gym. But after I did a skill and the bottom one came flying out I decided to stop. Head gear is basically not an option with any sport. Basically it all depends on you personally. For some people their retainers come out easily or they tend to snap bands so you need to figure out what works for you. Just use your common sense and decide whether you are going to wear them or not. And more importantly don't let fixing your retainers, bands, etc get in the way of you having fun playing whatever sport you enjoy!
-Amanda and Erik
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