Wisdom teeth

[Mr Awe]

^^ For a lot of people, it comes down to whether it's a normal tooth extraction that a regular dentist could do, versus a more complicated oral surgery type thing.

I had both. 2 done by my dentist where there was no question that it would just be local anesthetic, novocaine shots. But, the other 2 were much more complicated based on the way they were growing in. That's where the oral surgeon wanted to knock me out with an IV. I still think that's overkill because you can't feel the pain but lots of people like that approach.

Mr Awe

 

[Omnius]

I had two wisdom teeth pulled last year, but I still have four left. But thats just me.

 

[kitsune]

My top wisdom teeth erupted normally, but the bottom two were completely horizontal under the skin. I was going to have all four taken out ten years ago, but then I found out I needed surgery on my left kidney. I finally got them removed two years ago. I was insanely lucky; not a drop of blood, and everything felt completely normal within a day or two.

 

[Vulcan Princess]

I had to have my bottom ones out when I was 15 because they were impacted. I got them out under a local anesthetic, which was, in retrospect, the wrong way to go. I could still feel it, but because of my low body weight, I couldn't have any more novocaine. Then the dentist's tool broke off during the extraction and he had to fish it out. I swelled like a balloon, and I ended up getting an infection. I was on antibiotics for 2 weeks.

My top ones didn't really need to come out, but I was heading off to be a missionary, and I had to get them out before my medical papers would be approved. I got them out when I was 21. I went to an oral surgeon this time, and I was on some almost general type anesthesia. (They called it conscious sedation. Basically, I was still sort of awake, but one of the drugs induced temporary amnesia, so I have no memory of the event.) I had no swelling and no complications. I felt well enough to go to opera practice that afternoon.

 

[Holdfast]

I have all four. But I'm sure only because I had 4 healthy teeth taken out in my teens to relieve dental overcrowding prior to orthodontic work. If I hadn't had the orthodontic work done, I'm sure all the overcrowding would have resulted in impaction and removal of the wisdom teeth. I really was lucky my parents insisted I got braces, because it saved me a lot of long-term pain (as well as giving me an even smile).

 

[DonIago]

^Heh, when I was 11-12 I had to get 7 teeth pulled just so I could get braces put on (4 one week, 3 the next). Talk about adding injury to insult...

Though it did lead to one of the only moments in my life that I've both laughed and cried at the same time. The Novacaine needle and the (dulled?) pain of my first tooth getting yanked out got me crying (hey, I was a kid), but I saw the tooth go flying into the corner of the room (seriously, they had to look for it afterwards), and that was pretty f'ing funny.

The other time I laughed/cried was during the final episode of Six Feet Under, but I won't spoil that.

 

[Mary Ann]

My wisdom teeth began to grow when I was 19 and because I'd had surgery for open bite seven years earlier I had to have them removed. I was knocked out for the procedure and spent the rest of the week high as a kite on codiene. It wasn't a bad ordeal but the surgeon accidentally stitched my cheek to gum. I didn't have anything done about it because they were dissolving stitches but that was uncomfortable.

 

[Cali]

Bottom two wisdom teeth are definitely there, and I think my top right one is. No sign of the top left. All appear to be normal, probably thanks to having seven teeth out before orthodontic work when I was younger.

 

[Mallory]

Mine came in when I was in my late teens and never gave me any problems. Unfortunately, I had to have all four (plus three molars) removed for my transplant in 2007.

 

[propita]

I was born with the potential for 3 wisdom teeth. They all came in, but my jaw didn't really have room for them. They were really short, and I have short teeth, and the roots were almost sideways. So the dentist pulled one on one day, and pulled the other two another day. No problems.

Now Hubby had a huge filling in a wisdom tooth and was sent to a specialist, who removed the filling, broke the damn tooth, and ended up with his knee on Hubby's chest using a hammer and chisel to remove the rest of it. VERY painful. Not what Hubby's regular dentist intended when he sent Hubby to the specialist.

 

[Udat]

I had all four extracted back in 2003. I was 24.

One of the wisdom-teeth had abcessed and was causing an extraordinary amount of pain in my jaw. Sensodyne, ibuprofen, nothing over-the-counter would temper it. So I went in and had the four teeth yanked out.

They say you're either a sweller or a bleeder. I was a bleeder. Oh how much blood there was ... yuck. I had to flush the spaces in my gums with water for about a month to keep them clear as they healed... and was relegated to soup, ice cream, and other soft foods for a while. Gauze tastes awful, by the way.

Seven years later, I still have some issues with my teeth -- some which I really should get addressed ASAP -- but the wisdom teeth have not been an issue since.

Same, however I had braces when I was 28, and now my teeth are nice and straight and white, result I hate the dentist!