Positive wisdom tooth extraction stories?

[Moonpie07]

Have had toothache for a week. Saw dentist yesterday and she says it's my upper wisdom tooth and wants to take it out on Friday. This will just be with local anaesthetic at the dental surgery. I am terrified! The only people I know who have had wisdom teeth removed have had GA in hospital. Anyone got any positive stories please to get me through this? Dentist was very busy yesterday and didn't give me any chance to ask questions plus I was in shock. Have of course Googled and that's not helping...

Is there a reason you're not having a sedative? I've had all 4 out over the last several years in two separate procedures. For the first one I was knocked out and for the second I was given a sedative. No memory of any of it and no pain after the first day. You can (and should) insist on having a sedative if you're nervous. Wonder why she's in such a hurry to remove it?

I had mine out last year, it was absolutely fine!! It had been playing up on and off for a few years and finally I decided to get rid.

I had it done at the dentist under local. He injected me with the anaesthetic and then sent me out to the waiting room to give it time to work, I went back in after about 10 mins and he checked I couldn't feel anything. Mine was only partially erupted so presume he had to cut the gum, then it took a bit of pulling and wriggling around, nothing hideous at all though and out it came. He put in a couple of stitches and I think a pad on top for a bit.

It was a bit sore but nothing a bit of paracetamol and nurofen couldn't help. I did go back for a check up as it was a bit 'tight' but that was just where he'd put the stitches a tiny bit high up towards my cheek. I just basically left it alone for a couple of days. Don't think you're allowed anything too cold or too hot. It was a tiny bit smelly whilst it healed (although I think I was super conscious of this and it probably wasn't as bad as I felt it was) so I very gently swilled with warm salt water a few times a day. It was pretty much fine within about a week or so. Good luck, I was very nervous like you but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I'd feared!

I second a sedative. I felt fine after in terms of recovery from the sedative, no real memory of the procedure. Was bruised and swollen from the extraction but good recovery from that too.

I had local anaesthetic for a particularly nasty WT extraction. You honestly don't feel a thing!! Ask
Your dentist to put plenty in just in case, and you feel a gentle tug as they pull the tooth - no pain whatsoever.

The relief of not having awful wisdom tooth pain is well worth it.

For context, mine was one where they had to get the pliers out and steady themselves one a chair to pull it was so difficult!!

The risks of a general anaesthetic are much higher, a local is fine.

Tell your dentist you're a bit anxious and they'll talk you through it :)

I've had all four removed recently, including an inclusive one. All under local anaesthetic. All were fine. Some swelling and no pain to speak of.

I had both my uppers out when I was a student, under local. Both were ordinary extractions with no special care required.

If you've never had an extraction before, don't worry about pain. You won't feel pain but you will feel a pushing sensation.

Have painkillers handy for the rest of the day and don't sook out the clot.

I literally didn’t feel a thing. Dentist did the local (I did feel that but nothing to worry about), put his extractor thingy in my mouth and then took it out again. I thought he was just checking he had the right size extractor or something and was amazed when he said: “All done, you can rinse now” and showed me a massive blood-covered tooth.

Don’t get me started on root canal treatment though. That felt like having 6 inch nails hammered up through the roof of my mouth and out through the top of my skull.

I've had both top ones out at the dentist with just local, was absolutely fine. Didn't need the painkillers I was sent home with. The worse bit was the tugging for one of them because it's roots were weird.

Thanks everyone. Want the pain gone and need to be brave! The tooth is very high up at the back and at an angle. Actually worried won't be able to open my mouth wide enough. Struggled yesterday when she was doing an x-ray.

I had both uppers out when I was 21, it was absolutely fine and according to the dentist the roots were huge.

Ask for as much local as they can give you and stop her if you feel anything resembling pain (obviously you'll feel pulling) but any pains and they can add a bit more local.

Closely follow the aftercare instructions they give you as dry-socket is apparently worse than toothache.

You'll be absolutely fine, tell her you're anxious and maybe take a friend if you think that would help.

if she offers you the chance to take it home say yes, I said NO WAY but later wished I had

Oh, ignore Google. It's fine. I had two out at once under local. I was going on holiday and I didn't want the bother, so I agreed to have both out at once.

The troublesome one - it was growing sideways against the neighbouring tooth or something - took less than ten minutes. The other one less than that. I didn't feel a thing and was in and out in 40 minutes. The dentist was a wine buff so we had a nice chat throughout about South African wines. (Well, he chatted, I largely made appreciative gurgling noises.)

I was terrified beforehand too but I'd go back now if I needed the other ones doing, no drama.

Thank you all. This is helping. Taking DH with me (mainly to stop me running away ).

Two top ones out at the dentist, on different days. Local anaesthetic, give it time to work, remove tooth. No problems afterwards, no painkillers required either time.

In fact, the last time, my dentist just numbed the tooth, nothing else, so I didn't even dribble.

You'll be fine.

You will be fine. I had all 4 of mine out in the dentist's chair under local anaesthetic, one session per side. I'd heard all the horror stories, and work allowed me 3 sick days per session to recover. They were like any straightforward tooth extraction. Couple of painkillers once home, avoid chewing on the affected side for a day or two, that was it. I could easily have gone back to work the same day, but am a lazy sod, so thoroughly enjoyed my ill gotten extra 6 days holiday that year!

Sorry, hit post too soon. If you dentist is going to do them in her surgery, she'll be confident it'll be straightforward, with nice straight tooth roots. Hospital is for tricky cases. Honestly, you'll be fine. Get Netflix lined up!

I had the upper left one done around this time last year. I’d had infection in the gum round it, went in for the follow up, and the dentist said, I think we should just take this out. I said to do it there and then because otherwise I would have got myself into a tizz! My appointment was the last of the day, at 5.15, she did the local then actually let the dental nurse go, and like previous posters, it was over in seconds - it was like taking the lid off a jar. I was out by 5.30, and eating normally as soon as the anaesthetic wore off.

I did take ibuprofen for the first 12 hours or so, but was at work the next day and absolutely fine. Apparently the top ones have short, cone-shaped roots, so are easy to extract if they are erupted, but the lower ones can be a bit trickier in some people.

Thank you for all the positive stories. So much better than all the Google horror stories I couldnt help reading! Just want it over now. Have ibuprofen at the ready...

Make sure you eat properly beforehand.
Try not to worry OP -Upper Wisdoms are usually really straightforward to remove.
(Am a dentist & have also been the patient in this exact situation. Both of mine were fine & one of them was partially erupted. That one needed a suture but both popped out really easily).
Hope you a better weekend without toothache.

Hi Moonpie, I was absolutely terrified about having my upper wisdom tooth out. It was in a really awkward position to one side (like you I was worried I wouldn’t be able to open my mouth wide enough) and to make matters worse it was only partly erupted. I spent a couple of weeks beforehand googling and scaring the bejesus out of myself. The morning of my appointment I was a wreck.

And you know what? It was honestly fine! Just a slightly odd sensation of tugging and twisting in my mouth (but no pain) and then it was all over. From anaesthetic to out was less than 15 mins. And the recovery was fine - didn’t take painkillers after the first day, though I did feel absolutely wiped out for a couple of days afterwards. And it’s so much better now it’s gone. So please try not to worry!