I was just told by my dentist this morning that I need to get an infected tooth surgically removed. Big day is tommorrow. Any great advice or words of wisdom? Never did this before, need someone to blow smoke up my a$$ and tell me it isn’t very painful. Thanks.
Greg
Replies
I had to have that done, the tooth was so twisted into the jaw that to get it out the standard way (with pliers) would have taken forever and been very painful (trust me, I've had them done that way and it's owie!).
The surgeon gave me a topical anesthetic, a shot of freezing, and was in and out in under two minutes - just cut the gum, popped the tooth out of there and sewed it up with about three stitches. No swelling, no bleeding, no bruising, no pain. If I ever need more extractions done, I'd go to a dental surgeon, not my regular dentist. So, be comforted. :)
On the topic of dentists, however - my guy is supercool; he used to be the keyboard player in "Men Without Hats" in the 80s. Pop goes the world, baby!
Thanks, thats what I needed. I've never went under the knife for any reason and I wasn't sure what to think.Greg
If the dentist is competent, it shouldn't be very painful. But tell him you're very sensitive to pain and get a prescription for as many large caliber pain pills as you can talk him into. It always pays to have some narcotics lying around the house, and dental surgery seems to be the only way to get any. Half a Lorcet has saved me from a midnight trip to the emergency room more than once. You may have to promise the dentist you won't operate any power tools while you're taking the pills. On second thought, maybe you shouldn't mention power tools at all.
My SO recently had 6 removed followed by some bone grafting, all done by a dental surgeon in one session under a local. Although she said it was painful keeping her mouth open for that long (they did stop for frequent breaks); overall, it wasn't nearly as bad as she had thought it would be.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Of course it won't hurt, during the procedure. Look out afterwards. get a good prescriprion for some Tylenol with codine or 800mg of Ibuprofin. Come on be a man, bite on a bullet and suck it up!
"get a good prescriprion for some Tylenol with codine "
No doubt codiene is good stuff - But many are alergic to it also. If your face breaks out in hives after taking it, talk to the guy and get something else.
Hope it goes well for ya............Is it possible to be a closet claustrophobic?
If you can, get sodium penathol--man, I love coming out of that stuff! Also, heard that eating lots of pineapple promotes healing of the mouth, but ya gotta do it ahead of time. Good luck.
As long as you're having the anesthetic, have them do everything you need in that one day. Do all your hurting and down time at once, rather than doing one tooth at a time.
-- J.S.
My dentist gave me a script for Tylenol w codiene but I haven't needed any yet.( only seems to hurt when I'm tryin to sleep) Thanks for all the smoke blowin. I knew somebody on this site went thru this before. Thanks again.Greg
Had one removed a few years back. That same night I was cheering on the girls basketball team at UCONN. Now that I think about it, however, I can't remember a whole lot about that game. That night, in fact. Gotta love them narcotics!
Thought you might like to hear from one who knows.
I'm a retired Dentist-did a million of those surgical things in my day.
1. Don't smoke or suck on anything. Your biggest threat is having the clot break down in the socket after a few days. Smoking is the biggest cause of that.
2. Ask for either Vicodin, or Demerol. The latter is the best, but the DEA loves to #### on dentists who get frisky with it.
3. Take the next day off, even if you feel great. Remember that clot? you don't want to knock it loose by jumping off some scaffolding.
Any questions?
Stef
Gross story of the night. Had 4 wisdom teeth removed w/ help of sodium pentathol. Got home ok feeling reeeeeaaaaallllll good. Got tired. Took nap. Had dream I was eating raw steak. Woke up chewing on the bloody gauze used to stop bleeding from the sockets. Yuck.
The roots on my teeth go twisty-turny, every which way. (And the uppers, actualy grow right through into my sinuses.) They cannot be pulled out the conventional way.
The last time I went to a dental surgeon, they had to use a chisel and break the tooth into 4 pieces, then extract the 4 pieces separately. They still had problems with the pieces, and ended up having to chisel parts of the jawbone away, to get them out.
It did NOT take just a few minutes. And it was NOT painless.
Even though it was repeatedly told me, that I was lucky to be going to a dental surgeon, because it would be so.
You may have a lot of pain, or you may have no pain at all. It would be cruel to tell you that it will be totaly painless, regardless of the circumstances. Your chances of pain/no pain, are dependant on your dental surgeon, and the complexity of your problem. You have to decide whether you want the tooth gone badly enough to endure the pain, if need be.
For me... the pain afterward, was nothing, compared to the pain of the tooth before that. And of course, once it healed....
I have found that the key is to relax. It IS possible to do so, even in the dentist chair. I relaxed myself so much, the last time I had a root canal, that I actualy fell asleep in the chair, shortly after he started. I woke up just as he was finishing. Without gas or any other help.
I remember the clamps and such to hold my mouth open, and then I drifted off. Don't remember a thing after that. I was told that I snored. ROFLOL Maybe it annoyed them that I was not only not tortured, but I actualy snored in their faces. LOL (I am convinced that it takes a person with at least a bit of a sadistic personality, to become a dentist. he he he)
Quittin' Time
Edited 3/25/2003 7:33:29 PM ET by Luka
and keep your legs crossed.........
don't worry I will.Greg
Just went thru withit. Doc said he had to take it in pieces, but I didn't care, I was out cold. Just got something to eat so I could take my pain killers( vicadin ). So far so good. Just can't smoke until tommorrow. Thanks for all the help y'all.Greg
Drink a lot of water with that Vicodin or it can stop you up, and I don't mean your sinuses!.
Excellence is its own reward!
Take advantage of the situation as a prompt to quit smoking. :)
Also, warm salt-water rinses (1 tbsp salt/ 8oz water) after every meal and before bedtime will help keep things clean and promote healing. Also dulls the pain.
I shouldn't have to worry too much about pain while I'm in the hot seat cause my dentist puts you completely out cold before he operates. I still hope its easier than yours.
I'm goin through with it no matter what cause I haven't slept since Thurs night. The pain is always worse at night it seems.
Thanks for not sugar-coating it for me.Greg
A competent dentist will do this relatively pain free.
But you should ask for a prescription for an antibiotic. I had a wisdom tooth removed years ago and the socket got infected. You don't even want to think about going there. Take the antibiotic for the fully prescribed duration and you'll be fine.
John