Wisdom Teeth Amanda: Recovery

For the next 3 days, I was basically fine to move around unlike Erik who has basically bed ridden for a week. My jaw and mouth were still sore but I took my 600mg ibuprofen every six hours so they weren’t very painful. Over all I was pretty much back to normal. I just ate jello (lots of jello), eggs, ice cream, milkshakes. Anything such as milkshakes and smoothies I had to eat with a spoon because you are not supposed to suck and spit until the sockets are healed.

Compared to Erik’s surgery, mine had a very quick recovery period.

-Amanda and Erik

Wisdom Teeth Removal: Amanda Part Two

So the other Tuesday, after not eating before midnight the night before, I went to the orthodontist office dressed in comfortable clothing and got ready for the procedure. I went into the office then took a mix of Versed and Tylenol that is used to calm down the patient before the procedure. The assistant had me sit in the chair for 10 minutes to let it kick in. By the end of the 10 minutes I was a little bit worried because I didn’t feel any different! She led me into the chair that they were going to do the procedure in. I was still pretty with it. But I must have been slowly drifting off because although I vaguely remember the oral surgeon strapping on the tourniquet to give me the I.V. the next thing I know I am on my couch at home!

Almost immediately after waking up (although apparently I had woken up before…I just don’t remember it!), my dad had to clean my mouth because I had drooled blood all over myself. But this was normal. And then after that, the pain set in IMMEDIATELY. It hurt a lot! But I just iced for a while and took some ibuprofen and slept. And that was day one of my procedure!


-Amanda and Erik

Facts about Clindamycin

We talked about this drug last post. It is commonly offered to be taken before your wisdom teeth get removed. The reason they give it to you is because it is an antibiotic and is supposed to prevent infection from your teeth being removed. But there are some serious side effects. One side effect that is almost guaranteed is diarrhea. Almost everyone who has used this has experienced that. Some people also have very negative reactions to it. And it is not always offered just for wisdom teeth. We suggest that if you are offered it you read up on some of these articles before deciding to take it. Erik and our dad both went through the procedure without problems and did not take it.

Basic information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clindamycin

http://www.livestrong.com/article/93028-clindamycin-side-effects/


People’s experience

http://www.topix.com/forum/drug/clindamycin/T7D1VG2KK8GUQ4M7S

-Amanda and Erik

Wisdom Teeth-Amanda: Preliminary Visit

Around a year ago, Erik got his wisdom teeth out. Now it is time for Amanda to get hers out.

I went to my first appointment at the oral surgeon’s office. I am going to the same doctor as Erik went to and am getting the same procedure: all four wisdom teeth out. When I got there, first I went into a room and watched an informative video on the procedure and different levels of anesthesia.

General: This choice is where you get put totally under.

Local: This is similar to Novocain for fillings. This is for the more stoic patients!

Light Sedation: In this choice, you receive a “happy juice” (usually midazolam, a light hypnotic) to calm you down and so you are barely aware, although not totally under. Then you receive local anesthesia. This is the option both Erik and I chose.


After my video, I talked to my doctor about the procedure briefly and we looked at my X-rays. It appears that my wisdom teeth aren’t deeply rooted which means they will be easier to get out! Then my mom made an appointment for the procedure.


Another thing that happened in this preliminary visit, is I got my prescription. The usual medicines you will get are ibuprofen (usually a high dose). I also got a prescription for Clindamycin, which I was told to take the day before the procedure. There are some serious side effects with this drug though, so we recommend doing some research before you decide to take this as it is not required.


So now all I have to do it wait till my appointment! We will keep you updated on the days before the procedure and the post-procedure.

-Amanda and Erik

Wisdom Teeth Round Two

Last time we made a post on wisdom teeth removal, Erik was getting his removed. Today, I (Amanda) went to the dentist. As we were looking at my x-rays, it was obvious that all four of my wisdom teeth were growing in at an almost 90 degree angle to my back teeth. They obviously need to be removed. As you can see from the picture in the link below, this is called impacted wisdom teeth, which all four of mine are.

http://freecosmeticdentistry.net/wisdom-teeth-symptoms-problems-removal-and-recovery/

Although one sign of your wisdom teeth needing to be removed is pain, I have not felt any discomfort at all proving that you should always check to see if they will be growing in early that way you can catch them before they start to hit your teeth and cause you lots of pain. Other signs of wisdom teeth impaction include bad breath, a swelling of the mouth around those teeth, and pain when opening your mouth. Check out this article on symptoms.

http://dental-care.speakasp.net/index.php/tooth-extraction/wisdom-teeth-symptoms/

This article has a lot of good information on symptoms, the pros and cons of getting your teeth removed, and potential risks involved.

http://www.cincinnati-oralsurgery.com/wisdom.htm

We will keep you posted on my procedure and any differences between mine and Erik's removal which was done last year.

-Amanda and Erik

Wisdom Teeth: Deciding to Take Them Out

Now although most teenagers know that around the ages of 15 to 16 they might get their wisdom teeth out. In fact most do. But here is why you, your parents, and your orthodontist would decide to take them out. You should probably ask some questions if your orthodontist/dentist are just telling you to take your wisdom teeth out without any reason.

Reason 1: Your wisdom teeth grow in between the ages 14 – 17 (approximately) and when they do, they can grow in perpendicular, sideways and every which way (described in post Wisdom Teeth Part 1 in more detail). This is especially true if you have had orthodontic work done. After braces, headgear, bands and the whole shebang, your teeth are probably in totally different places then their “natural” places. Since your wisdom teeth don't know that the rest of your teeth moved, they start coming into the place they would have fit into. Usually right into their neighbor teeth.

Reason 2: Sometimes even if your wisdom teeth are coming in straight or only a little bit crooked, they can hurt excruciatingly. This is caused by the fact that when the top of the wisdom tooth comes in it exposes sensitive nerves in your mouth. These are very sensitive. This is a big reason why kids get their wisdom teeth out.

Reason 3: Another issue for wisdom teeth is having them grow in infected. This is caused by unhealthy gums that lift away from the tooth enough to let bacteria in and thus you get decay on your new teeth. This is called pericorontis. See this link for more information http://www.animated-teeth.com/wisdom_teeth/t2-wisdom-tooth-infections.htm.
This can also cause reason 2.

Well hopefully this helps you and clues you in on some reasons you could be getting your wisdom teeth removed. This came up because one of our friends got her wisdom teeth out and the orthodontist looked at her x-rays after wards and pointed out it wasn’t really necessary.

-Amanda and Erik

Wisdom Teeth Part 4: The Last Week

For the first two days after your operation you will need to not eat any hard food. This is very important if you had multiple wisdom teeth removed because the more teeth the more chances of your stitches coming loose. If you eat hard food you will need to chew and since those areas are still sensitive it might keep them from healing when being continually opened up.

So we recommend just eating jello, pudding, mashed potatoes, soup, ice cream, smoothies etc anything that is basically liquid and doesn’t require chewing. Doesn’t sound that bad what with most liquids being desserts!

Also if you keep up the icing 20 minutes on and off for a bit each day, you will probably avoid the chipmunk cheeks that go along with getting your wisdom teeth removed.

After about a week you will be able to eat and you can probably get off the pain medication you are on. But everyone is different so play it by ear.

-Amanda and Erik

Wisdom Teeth Part 3: Day of the Operation

The day of you go into the surgeons office and depending on how nervous you are they might give you a hypnotic or happy juice. Then they will take you back and inject the anesthesia.


Then you will wake up and your teeth will be removed! There are some slight side affects such as fatigue and slight amnesia. When Erik got his removed, he woke up and was really groggy. He kept asking the same questions over and over! And on the way back he was talking a lot but didn’t remember it later that day.

Also he could barely walk and basically fell asleep when he got home. But you need to ice for the first day 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off. So we kept him awake with music!For the rest of the day he just sipped cold water and iced his cheeks and relaxed. The amnesia fully wore off about 4 hours later.

That is basically what is to expected the day of the operation

-Amanda and Erik

Wisdom Teeth Part 2: Pre Operation

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

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