This one´s for all those who haven´t yet gotten those wisdoms taken out and need just a bit more information from someone who just recently got theirs done.
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My experience:
So before my procedure, I watched a ton of videos on wisdom teeth removal surgeries and what the operation is all about, because I´m the kinda person who needs to know exactly what was going to be done. The unknown of the procedure was scarier than knowing exactly what was going to be done, no matter how gory that was...
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I decided to get mine done at my dentist, because I didn´t feel like the hassle of going to a hospital and in all honesty my childhood dentist is the only person I trusted enough to do the procedure. So, unlike most people who get theirs done at the hospital and who get put out for the procedure, I was completely awake for mine. Yes, I was awake, with just some anesthetic obviously, but I could hear all of the drilling and scraping...which I could defs have done without.
I also got mine pulled out in sets of two, on two separate days as well. I first did the left side (top and bottom) and went back a month later to do the right side.
Now for what I learnt:
1. Your wisdoms need to come out if they´re impacted… impacted wisdoms are when your mouth is too small to accommodate your wisdoms growing out fully. This means that they will be bashing against your other teeth, causing other problems e.g. ulcers, skewing the teeth around them, etc.
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2. There are a few ways to get them done:
- at the hospital where you´ll be put out.
- or in the dentist´s chair where you´ll be under local anesthesia or under a ´sleepy option´ as my dentist called it, where you´re slightly out of it, but not fully asleep.
3. If you get yours done at the dentist you can get them all done in one go, but my dentist suggested that I do them separately because it´s more comfortable being able to eat on at least one side...and trust | was actually sooo grateful I did it this way.
4. The drilling I heard during my procedure was the dentist drilling into my bone. This sounds so damn gruesome, but the only reason this was done was because my bottom set of wisdoms (left and right) were so impacted, they hadn´t even broken through the gum yet. The dentist consequently then had to cut open and fold back the gum to expose the bone and drill the bone to expose the tooth beneath. After this the dentist simply pulled the tooth out. (You can see this in the two right hand pics in the diagram below).
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5. Pulling the teeth will make the teeth and jaw bone around it sore for the next week or so. Because I was awake for the procedure, I felt all the tugging and pulling and yanking on the tooth. This was obviously without pain (although at some points, it was almost as if it was bordering on pain, but in fact was more discomfort than pain). My teeth around the extracted tooth area were sensitive for about a week and a half, due to the pressure exerted on them during extraction of my wisdoms. This goes away after a week though.
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6. Try not to stick your tongue into the holes left by your removed tooth. This is tempting and I did this a lot to see how the healing process was coming along (because you can´t really see your top set too well in the mirror). But this can cause infection they say, so try resist the temptation to do this.
7. Eating will be hella uncomfortable...because the bone around my bottom set of wisdoms was drilled, the cheek and gum were kind of swollen into one. This made eating very uncomfortable, because it felt as if I was biting on the swollen cheek/gum all the time. Your jaw bone will also be a bit tender if you got any drilling done, which makes even opening your mouth to take spoonfuls of food a struggle.
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8. You will also look like a chipmunk due to the swelling, but keep gargling with salt water and ice your cheek and this will go down soon enough. Also, don't use a warm compress for the swelling...ice works best.
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9. Bruising may occur. For my first set I had this small slightly green bruise on my cheek, but this went away fairly quickly.
10. Your stitches may come out..don´t stress!: my stitches on my bottom right hand set came out on the 4th day after my surgery, which actually forced my gum to heal faster. For my first procedure, I had to get my stitches removed. I just did this at the dentist a week later, with no anesthetic as the procedure only takes a few seconds, but I won´t lie, getting the stitches taken out was painful. After they came out my gum healed faster so it was worth it though.
11. Salt water is your new best friend! You will need to gargle with salt water after every meal and regularly throughout the day. Salt is such an amazing remedy for easing swelling, cleaning the wound and preventing infection.
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12. Don't overdo it on the painkillers: my painkillers had a small dose of codeine in them (#Postmalone Beerbongs and Bentleys…) so I had to really not overdo it with them haha.
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Use your meds as per your doctor's prescription.
I really hope this post was helpful and didn't scare you or anything, it's really not as bad as it sounds...I did mine a week and a half ago and I have no pain and my gums have almost healed completely. If I can do it, then so can you! Goodluck!
Jess xoxo
P.S:
If you'd like some professional advice or information check out these helpful links (or check with your dentist):
https://www.northtexasdentalsurgery.com/wisdom-teeth-removal/
https://rozenbergdentalnyc.com/wisdom-teeth-removal-facts-need-know-extraction-recovery/
https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/w/wisdom-teeth
a helpful video: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=wi%3dsdoms+teeth&&view=detail&mid=2A7E6EAED0B62C848B602A7E6EAED0B62C848B60&&FORM=VRDGAR