Question:
I am scheduled to have all four wisdom teeth removed in about 3 weeks from
now. I am kinda scared about the whole thing - not so much the procedure
itself - but the horrible side effects I read about afterwards - extreme
pain, swelling, bruising, dry sockets etc.
My regular dentist is removing all four - he has lots of experience. Two
of the four are impacted (bottom two) but he says they are not difficult
extractions (I assume based on the xrays - I kind of assumed all impacted
teeth are difficult extractions).
Does everyone experience extreme pain afterwards - and do the pain meds
they usually perscribe after deal with it effectively or even with them is
there a great deal of pain.
As to dry sockets - I have heard that about 1 in 4 gets a dry socket in the
lower wisdom teeth extractions - is it really that high?
Answer:
I've just removed my two lower wisdom teeth (the first one the 25th of may,
the second one the 30th of may); I totally spent 5 days in hospital; not all
that people told you is real; I'm going to explain:
- extreme pain: I had no pain during the extraction; also afterwards, after
the effect of the anaesthesia, the pain is not so extreme: on the contrary,
after the first extraction I had no pain at all;
- swelling: this is obvious; my two teeh were absolutely impacted, and the
doctors had to work on the bone. A livid will also appear, but everything
will last less than a week;
- bruising: it's true, for the same reason as above;
- dry sockets: thie is the worst part of the extraction: after almost one
month, I still have deep sockets which do not allow me to eat regularly (I'm
still having yogurth, creams, in general, I cannot chew, because I fear that
something could 'fill' the sockets). For this reason, I hardly suggest you
to wait more than a month after each extraction: I've lost 4 kilos in one
month, and I'm getting crazy...
I do not feel really good yet, but it is not so terrible as they described
you!
Could anyone tell me how will my dry sockets take to heal?
First of all, dry socket is not the "hole" which is there after the tooth is
removed. Dry socket is a very painful condition when the bone of the alveole
dries out and healing stops. It is so painful that you would not want to eat
at all. (They are also a bit smelly) Dry socket is NOT the swelling that
you probably had after the removal of your teeth. Though limited by the fact
that I cannot see your teeth (or lack thereof), I don't think that you have
dry sockets! (correct me if your dentist tells you otherwise)
Another thing is that it sounds to me like you had your wisdom teeth removed
surgically, an extraction does not require hospital stay, just a few minutes
at the dentist's office.
Healing time depends widely on your age, the older we get the slower we
heal. You should be able to eat normal food now if the swelling has
subsided, I know it is unpleasant when food goes "down there" but it will be
okay, just remember not to disturb the healing areas too much with your
tongue. A bit of carrot or whatever falling down there will find its way out
okay as long as the healing process is underway.
