Upper wisdom teeth removal

[ShesTheAlbatross]

Ok - I admit I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to dental stuff, mainly because I have quite a strong gag reflex.

I’d never needed any dental work before but last year I had a half-erupted lower wisdom tooth out under local anaesthetic. And now I need both my upper ones out. They aren’t impacted but are hard to clean and showing signs of a bit of decay as there isn’t really space, plus one has come down longer than any of my other molars so actually make it really hard to chew as my upper and lower molars don’t touch apart from one point of my upper wisdom.

Sedation is not an option as I need to drive home.

Honestly I nearly cried when she told me even though rationally, having the lower one out was fine. And two non-impacted upper teeth won’t be any more of an issue than an impacted/half erupted lower tooth, right?? How do you eat after having one taken out on each side - I chewed on just one half of my mouth for about a week after having the lower one out. I also found the numb sensation really unpleasant and it made me a bit panicky, so worried that will be worse if both sides are done. But it would be silly to have them out separately I think? Or is that sensible?

Are upper ones worse for gagging?

I think maybe I’m overthinking what is basically a non-issue?

Can you have them done separately, so you have one side of your mouth to chew on?

Upper ones are usually easier to pull out

I could. But I wasn’t sure if that was a bit silly. Two appointments to stress about etc. Although maybe I wouldn’t stress about the second once I had the first (that’s probably over optimistic).

I had 2 upper and 1 lower wisdom taken out on the same day. I had sedation and don't remember any of the actual extraction. I wouldn't want to be driving home afterwards - can you not arrange a lift or taxi so you can have a sedation? I just took paracetamol for a few days afterwards and ate soup for a while. After a week I was back to normal. I think I wouldn't want the hassle of separate appointments for each tooth but I had to arrange childcare for mine, if you have the time for it then I don't see why not.

Thanks. I was totally fine driving after my lower partially erupted one was taken out. It’s not far, and I was still numb, so it wasn’t a problem.
DH can’t drive due to a disability so it’s harder to get a lift.

My bigger concern is my general patheticness around dental work/gag reflex, and recovering with both sides of my mouth being affected.
But I’ve read that upper wisdom teeth can heal quicker so maybe it won’t be that bad.

I used to work on a day case unit, where one day a week we did dentals. Just to reassure you, the upper wisdom teeth come out more easily than the lower ones. As they aren’t impacted, you’ll be fine.

I've had both my upper ones out and it was absolutely fine both times - no sedation, just local anaesthetic.

I have had one upper and one lower one out, years apart. The upper one was easy, it came out instantly with just local anaesthetic. The lower one was a bit more of an issue and took much longer, though it was also fine. The lower one took longer to heal.