AIBU to go to work after wisdom tooth removal?

[Covidwoes]

Getting a wisdom tooth removed under local anaesthetic tomorrow. Dentist said it 'should be' straightforward. I'm a teacher and have work afterwards. People who have had this done under local, will I be ok do you think? I've never even had a filling before, so this is my first experience of 'invasive' dental work. I have just had Covid too and am now out of isolation, but still getting hit by waves of tiredness, which may possibly be exacerbated by the wisdom tooth removal. I'm just not sure if I'm being unrealistic trying to go to work afterwards, or if it'll actually be fine! Stories of removal under local welcome! Thank you!

And I was working the whole time I had the dry socket, but it wasn't fun as the pain was distracting.

I had all 4 out in December under GA. The first few days I wasn't supposed to eat solid food, then day 5 I had dry socket. I didn't make it back to work for a week and a half. (op on a Wednesday, returned to work the 2nd Monday post op).
And I'm health care so I get the guilt.

If it's a simple elevation you'll be fine if it involves bone removal I wouldn't bother you'll feel rough and swollen.

If you feel OK, by all means go to work - but I wouldn’t bank on it. I would tell your colleagues you’ll try and make it in, but not to rely on your presence because you won’t really know until the day.

I’ve had two wisdom teeth removed, one under a local, and one that was meant to be under a local but which was unsuccessful, so they had to stitch my mouth back up and send me home, with an appointment to go back to have it done under a general in a few months’ time.

On all three occasions, including the time when they didn’t even get the blasted thing out, my face was severely swollen and I had very bad sinus pain in addition to the soreness in my jaw. On one occasion I also had a lot of facial bruising. For some people it’s an absolute doddle and it sounds like your dentist is pretty confident yours will be too - so you may well be fine. But even then you might be quite swollen and dribbly! So while your extraction is unlikely to be the full horror show that mine turned out to be, I think you’d be better off playing it by ear!

I had to have 2 taken out under general. Told the pre op nurse I'd be going back to work the next day and she laughed in my face (good naturedly!) I ended up being off for a week partly because of the pain, partly because I am so shit under GA but I've never even had a filling, so going from zero to 100mph (2 sideways growing impacted teeth) I politely declined the local anaesthetic option.

If your dentist thinks it's a straightforward extraction then I would at least take the rest of the day off. Partly to give your mouth a rest as talking/teaching may aggravate any pain you experience, and you may find that you bleed a bit.

I think it depends a lot on which tooth and how straightforward the extraction is.

Upper teeth have shorter roots and tend to come out fairly easily - mine did and I was fine to go to work the same day. It really did sort of "pop out" really swiftly and cleanly.

By contrast DH had upper removal but it was a very difficult extraction due to the position of the tooth and how it had erupted sideways from the gum. It was also not in the best condition and broke during the procedure. He was in severe pain for 3 days and needed time off work (and he's someone that rarely takes time off ill).

Friends who've had lower extractions seem to have also found it much harder (to be clear I've not experienced that as I only needed one upper removed as the bottom ones grew in fine and the other upper has never erupted).

I think it depends on the person and also the tooth - I was fine after a root canal but felt awful after an extraction. All I could do that afternoon was sit on the sofa with a bag of frozen peas near my face.

24h near horizontal to reduce side effects or complications but felt fine

I wouldn't count on it. I had a lower wisdom tooth out and wouldn't have been able to return to work that day due to pain and bleeding.

Then I also got a 'dry socket', which was agonising, and I was off work for a further week.

I was fine and went to work as long as your not expected to communicate too much due to cotton balls in mouth. The local will not wear off to late afternoon so eat something before you go. The next day you will have more discomfort but nothing some nurofen won't fix

Thanks so much again for your experiences. All done now, and it was more difficult than anticipated. The tooth had to be broken into bits to be removed. Needless to say, I am not in work this afternoon!

Great! Now don't swish liquid round your mouth and RESIST, RESIST the temptation to explore the crater with your tongue, and you'll be fine.

They vary massively.

My "done at the dentist, shouldn't be a big issue" one had me looking so bad afterwards that the dentist gave me a lift home. I felt better in the evening, so went out - and then fainted.
So I would not plan on going back to school afterwards. Much easier for the school to get supply in for the day than to have you ringing up after the appointment to say you're not going to make it in after all, or fainting in the classroom.

My next two came out together at the dentist (same side) - I knew that time not to attempt anything afterwards.

The fourth was impacted, and a general anaesthetic job. I was told a week off, had it done the Monday before half-term and would not have been back until at least the Thursday if it had been a school week. (I once saw a thread from a teacher whose idiot school had told them the medics were wrong and they didn't need a week - presumably thinking all wisdom teeth are the same. The teacher naively believed the school, who were wrong; they then complained that she hadn't left enough cover work for the week they told her she didn't need.

@Covidwoes

Thanks so much again for your experiences. All done now, and it was more difficult than anticipated. The tooth had to be broken into bits to be removed. Needless to say, I am not in work this afternoon!

That had to be done with my lowers. If the roots curve in towards each other they have to section the tooth to extract it. That's really not fun.

I hope you feel better soon.

I was ok after but then I got a dry socket a few days later and wasn't ok at all!

You should be fine. Just take an hour off until the bleeding stops and most of the numbness has gone. Good luck

We are all different I suppose, but I was rough for a good day afterwards. I am not one to miss work easily, but I would have been a liability had I turned up. IMO, I would not plan to be working immediately afterwards.

@Covidwoes

Thanks so much again for your experiences. All done now, and it was more difficult than anticipated. The tooth had to be broken into bits to be removed. Needless to say, I am not in work this afternoon!

Oof, that happened with me. There's actually still a bit of tooth left in my jaw because the dental surgeon couldn't get it out.

You def made the right choice on not going to work. Hope you feel better soon :)

Not sure why so many people fell asleep after a local anaesthetic unless you were also sedated? LA doesn’t cause drowsiness at all. I’ve had a few fillings and also a tooth extracted with LA and I felt completely normal after all aside from the numb mouth. It’s hard to speak and swallow properly until the feeling comes back. It will be sore for a few days but not massively.

I'm in a lot of pain today. Cheek is very swollen. I have a feeling I may be getting dry socket, even though I'm strictly following the rules. My jaw bone is so so sore.

I had 2 out on the same day, both under local. I was in no fit state to work afterwards for a good few days! I felt tired, under the weather and needed lots of painkillers and mushy food. I was in my twenties and fit and healthy too. Not trying to scare-monger, just trying to warn you.

P.s. I hope u feel better soon

Sorry in advance for jumping on old thread.

I'm getting all 4 of mine out - the top ones are fine, but the bottom ones have come in very sideways so look like they'll be tricky to get out (the dentist actually laughed in disbelief when he saw my scans), and I'm having it done under sedation/GA (terrible phobia of dentists, but that's another story!).

I'm a teacher, so looking to get it done on a Friday afternoon, then I've got the weekend to recover from the anaesthetic before coming in on Monday; do you think I'm likely to need more time off? Online estimates for recovery run from 2 days to 2 weeks(!).

@Covidwoes did you struggle with talking/teaching immediately afterwards?

My lowers were very difficult too. The roots curved in towards each other, so the teeth had to be cut into sections to be removed.

If you have yours out on a Friday, I think you'll be able to function on Monday. Ibuprophen helps a lot.

Thanks! I'm a dab hand with ice packs, so we're well-stocked on those and ibuprofen. I'm a bit worried about going in looking like a hamster and frightening the kids, though!