Wisdom tooth out - under local anesthetic??

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I've been waiting for a year to see someone about have g my constantly infected partially erupted compacted lower wisdom teeth out. I finally saw the consultant who talked me through the gruesome process before casually mentiioning that it would be done under LA

I questioned this, having known a number of people who've had them out under GA and who've said it was pretty grim. he said that 'we don't do GA here'. Here is a nbs treatment centre, kind of like the mcdonalds of medicine from what I can gather. He also said they'd do them one at a time necessitating two ops two recovery periods two sick leaves two sorting out care for ds etc

Can anyone shed some light before I make a fuss and ask to see someone else and possibly have to wait another year with ghastly painful teeth. Is it common to have them out this way. Or have you all had a GA?

I had all mine out (separately) under LA - was fine.

I had mine out all at once under GA (was about 10 years ago though). Iirc they would usually just have used a local but they were worried two of mine would totally crumble when they pulled them and I might need my gums sliced open so they used a GA just in case. As it happens they came out fine.

I had mine out under LA and was fine. I work in dentistry and personally wouldn't take the risk of a GA if a professional told me I didn't need one.

I think a lot depends on how impacted they are, in terms of one/two ops. Mine were severely impacted, which necessitated drilling into the bone, and the pain on recovery really was excruiating. Hence the 2 ops - they leave you one side to eat and talk with!

The procedure itself was done with IV sedation and local anaesthetic, and this part was entirely painless. Only the recovery period was horrible.

Hiya i had my wisdom tooth out last year under just an LA and it was fine. didn't feel a single thing after the injections. i was lucky though as my tooth came out whole

Gosh thanks all. I feel 1 million times better about it. What freaked me out was the 'we'll slice open the gum, peel it back, drill the bone and extract the tooth'. Eeeek but if it's usual To not be put to sleep I'll give it a whirl. Thanks. Oh and soz for crap spelling etc posting from teeny tiny pjone

had mine out under local- it was impacted and he had to saw it out of my jaw bone. had 6 stitches taken out a week later.
I drove myself home and was back at work teaching the next day .
Fine.

Don't let scare stories frighten you.

I had one pulled out with a local anaesthetic. I went back to work straight after.

I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth out under a local. No problems.

The first consultant I saw wanted to give me a GA but I then saw one closer to where my parents lived (I was living away from home at the time) who agreed that a GA is an unnecessary risk if not required.

They can always sedate you if it's going to freak you out a bit.

They let me keep my teeth too

Wow v brave. Ok perhaps I'm thinking it's a bigger deal than it is. Thanks for the reassurance

well i've just been referred by my dentist to have my severely impacted lower wisdom tooth out under GA. He did my other 3 under local at his surgery but said he thought this last one is more complex and very close to a nerve. It will have to be done at the dental hospital as that's the only place to have GA for dentistry

Have you got a local dental hospital and could you ask for a referral there instead?

I had an impacted, upper one out under LA and it was fine.

I had two, lower ones that grew in straight.

Had them both out under GA.

When one came out, the oral surgeon said there were bone spurs on my jaw and he shaved them off under LA as well.

Went fine.

Have had 3 out of 4 removed under LA, all at different times. One wasn't impacted, was no bother. Other two were mildly impacted but it wasn't a problem.

TBH, having a root canal redone recently was more of an issue, and that was only because the work was done over 3 appts each lasting an hour. By the end of the hour, my chin was shaking with the fatigue of keeping my mouth open!

The only horrible bit about the whole thing was the noises.

Mine were removed in hosp,ital by a maxillofacial surgeon. Not sure if this versus a dentist makes a difference.

I ate normal foods straight away too, a bit disappointing, I was hoping total fabulously thin after days of restricted eating

To be not total!

Have had both GA and LA for wisdom teeth! 2 upper were severely impacted so had them out under GA- and agree with whoever said recovery is hard! That was a week of recovery.

Lower one not so badly impacted, did it under LA and they were really good- gave me injection about 1/2 hr before and didn't feel a thing. Sore but not too bad, def not as bad as 2 at once!

Have had 3 wisdom teeth out, all under local anaesthetic at different times. Two of the teeth were not problematic to remove, although I definitely found removal of the bottom ones more unpleasant than the top one, which came out quite easily, albeit it was growing out sideways. One of my teeth was very close to a nerve and impacted, so the dentist sent me to the maxillofacial unit at our local hospital to have it removed. It turned out the root also had a little kink in it and it was pretty unpleasant hearing the drilling into the bone and having someone's hand constantly so close to my eyes and jaw - I was worried her hand would slip and break my jaw or give me a black eye! I have always favoured being conscious, so that I know what they are up to, though...

It was extremely uncomfortable, bruised and swollen for at least 10 days afterwards - I could hardly open my mouth to fit any food in (fitting in cutlery, even a teaspoon, wasn't an option for at least a week as my jaw just wouldn't open wide enough...). With the other wisdom teeth, however, it was just a bit sore, but I was back to eating normal food, albeit very tentatively, straight away.