Anyone had “complicated extractions” of wisdom teeth?

[ineedhelp37]

I’m highly anxious about this procedure so wanted some insight please.

Context is Im 37, have very impacted and only partially erupted wisdom teeth which cause very very frequent pericoronitis infections.

My own dentist can’t remove them so I’ve had scans/ X-rays etc and been seen privately by a lovely maxfax surgeon. In short he said they need to come out under GA.

I know he has to talk about risks and that all procedures carry risks but I can’t unhear the list he gave me and I’m now terrified beyond belief to book in (even though I’m currently on my second infection within four weeks).

Biggest concern:
Nerve damage - he said “common” to have post op numbness but “some” people have more permanent loss of sensation in tongue and lips. I can’t even tolerate the sensation after a dental local so I know that’ll really panic me.

other concerns:
Dry socket - I have an exceptionally low pain threshold and I’ll be terrified to eat or anything post op incase this happens.

Bleeding - I asked and he said was a non issue but still a worry of mine.

Bruising / swelling - He said “you’ll be sore for a few days” and I know in doctor speak that means “it’ll be fracking horrendous”.

As you can see, anxiety is raging so if anyone has had the same procedure, please tell me how it went honestly but gently.

The procedure was fine but I developed dry socket and I can’t put it gently, it was excruciating. I walked/crawled to A&E utterly delirious - they kept an eye on me because they were worried I’d overdosed on painkillers and couldn’t help me as couldn’t give any more pain relief so the next day I got an emergency appointment at a local hospital and problem was sorted.

If I needed another tooth removed I would just make sure it was a mid week appointment- this happened over the weekend so there were no dentists open.

Interesting and valid point. That sounds dreadful. This surgeon operates on Fridays (private) annoyingly but I’m guessing there will be an emergency contact for the weekend.

Me

all mine were complex.
no nerve damage. No dry socket.

stopped bleeding pretty quickly and they give you dental pad things that absorb it anyway. I took the pads out within hours, very little blood on them.

pain wasn’t fun. Stock up on paracetamol and ibuprofen.

I ate liquid things for a couple of days.

ice cream, yoghurt, that sort of stuff. Get drinks in. Scrambled eggs also good.

Yes, I've been off work for the past 6 weeks after the (very young and inexperienced) dentist couldn't take my whole wisdom tooth out. I developed dry socket too. Been in pain ever since. I've been referred to the dental hospital but there's a 3 year wait. I'm going back to work on Monday because I can't afford to take anymore time off. Still in loads of pain though.

MaxFax took mine out without any issues. The only negative was the painkillers he prescribed me made me feel really nauseous. Felt much better as soon as I stopped taking them!

@KarenWheeleryikes sorry to hear that. Mine would be under an experienced consultant maxfax surgeon thankfully

@MooseBeTimeForSnowdo you recall what pain meds were prescribed please?

How many are you getting out in one go?

I had 2 out (one top one bottom) under local anaesthetic because I was scared of general/sedation and my kids are young and I don't have much family help if I'm out of action. One was apparently very complex - the bottom one.

No issues with ongoing numbness for me, or bleeding. I had a gauze thing to bite on which I took out by the time I got home from the dental hospital.

Healing wasn't a problem either - I followed the instructions to the letter regarding what to eat and avoid (no straws/super hot drinks/wait 24 hours before salt rinses etc) and was fortunate enough to avoid dry socket. I used an ice pack which minimised swelling and the pain was totally manageable with ibuprofen - a bit achy at times but I was still out and about and doing stuff with the kids. It was summer holidays so I was off work anyway but I don't think I would have needed more than a day or so.

@YControl local anaesthetic isnt an option unfortunately due to their positions. The maxfax said may as well get all four out in one but I’m tempted to just do bottom two as they are the ones that cause issues.

I've had dry socket. It's painful, but I'm my experience, not more painful than some infections I've had with my teeth. When they redressed the dry socket the relief was instantaneous.

I had a fully impacted tooth in my jaw removed under GA. It was obviously not as straightforward as an extraction under sedation or local, but in the case of a complicated removal it's probably better to go with the GA than have a failed removal under sedation/local.

Just schedule it in, your future self will thank you. And remember, delaying the procedure also has risks.

All four of mine came out under GA 25 years ago (bloody things came through sideways with weirdly curved roots). I was sent home with 4 days worth of soluble codeine tablets, soluble stitches that would break down on their own, and instructions to gently rinse with salt water regularly once the clots had had time to settle (24 hours I think). They usually give you all the info on a sheet that you can refer back to.

If they don't prescribe pain meds (they're more cautious about this than they were 20 years ago!) you can get ibuprofen with codeine over the counter at pharmacies which is brilliant short term for pain and inflamation. Obviously you can also use ordinary ibuprofen and paracetamol.

Don't drink anything through a straw or do anything else that involves sucking, including smoking/vaping - you're more likely to dislodge a clot and end up with dry socket. Don't do anything physically demanding for a few days afterwards, and don't use anything hot for pain relief (hot water bottle, wheat bag), use cold packs.

Do expect some bruising and swelling a few days later, and do stock up on soup/broth that you can have warm (not hot), protein or meal replacement shakes, yoghurt, and smoothies.

I had all 4 removed under GA. The roots were crossed under my jaw, so GA was the only way to take them out.

No dry socket, but quite a lot of swelling. According to my family I looked like Bugs Bunny. However, the pain was controlled with painkillers and it is all now just a distant memory.

i would definitely do all 4 at once. Get it over and done with.

I had two lower impacted wisdom teeth extracted with an added complication of a cyst within mm’s of the main nerve so I was very nervous. It was during Covid and I was treated appallingly (more due to covid protocols and fuck ups) but all feeling returned and I didn’t get dry socket. I was black and blue though from nose to chest so be prepared to look a bit of a state. Mine were really tricky though- I was several hours under GA.

The impacted one I had removed was actually no trouble. I mean it wasn't pleasant (and no GA, just local even though they were cutting into my gum) but no complications.
The other two wisdom teeth were supposed to be simple but one wouldn't come out no matter how hard the dentist tugged so he had to break it up inside my jaw and remove it piece by piece. Surprisingly though the recovery from that one was alright. In was the one that was easier to take out that ended up with an infection but quick visit back to the dentist and I got antibiotics and strong painkillers and I was ok.

With all of them it was painful for at least a week afterwards but apart from the infected one, not unmanageable with decent painkillers (codeine).

If I could have got them all out at once with a GA I'd have definitely gone for that, but instead it was one at a time with local anaesthetic only.

I had two and a half out under GA, (the dentist got one and then snapped a bit off one.)

It was painful for a few days after and I had really low bp after the op so had to stay overnight in hospital but generally it was fine and no long term effects.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond. I know longterm it’s the right thing to do. I’ll have to dig deep to build courage though. The surgeon said should be approx 40mins under GA but well aware that could be more

I had 2 taken out under GA in 2007. No dry socket, numbness or other issues at all. No pain at first but had a nap and woke up feeling like I had been kicked in the face by a horse. Took some co-codamol and all good.

I had 4 removed when I was 17 under GA. Looked like a hamster and ate mushy food for a week, but honestly, it wasn’t bad at all.

I had 8 teeth out including 3 wisdom teeth under GA, 2 of the wisdom teeth were impacted, I was warned I may need bone scraping and stitches, warned about losing sensation in my lip and tongue. I went ahead, the surgery itself wasn’t too bad. Recovery was less painful than the constant infections and jaw pain before surgery. I think I took paracetamol for a few days. I was eating soft food later that evening. It did take a while to get full feeling back in my mouth and my mouth and gums felt very different for a while. I had some facial bruising and had to do the school run with a scarf covering my lower jaw.

It wasn’t as bad as I expected, I have had far worse surgeries. I didn’t get dry socket as I had stitches.

Ineedhelp37 I had a tooth surgically removed from under my chin. I had suffered a bad infection in one of my wisdom teeth that had failed to be cured after several courses of antibiotics and which had reached the stage where I couldn’t open my mouth.
So off I went to the nearest general hospital 70 miles away as
an emergency patient in the max fax dept. The following day the surgery went very smoothly (I was very thankful to be out of it)!
I don’t remember a great deal of pain post op (on pain relief) but I could only consume things like yogurt and ice cream. Was in hospital for 5 days and had to deal with horrible constipation afterwards probably because of the restricted diet.
Soft food was the order of the day for a few weeks. No other problems.

I had two complex lower extractions and a smooth recovery. The magic combo of medication should be antibiotics, a single dose of corticosteroid and painkillers. All three combined will significantly reduce the risk of infection, pain and dry socket.

Ask the dentist if they can prescribe you corticosteroid or just give you a tablet after the procedure. It reduces swelling in the first 24hours and also gives you a boost of energy which helps the body when just having gone through surgery. Buy a mouthwash containing chlorhexidine and carefully rinse it around the mouth to disinfect the surgical sites a few times a day.

Be prepared for a fully liquid/soft diet the first two weeks. It needs to be high in fibre as well otherwise you'll end up with awful constipation on top of everything else (ie. not just jelly and ice cream). Vegetable soup, fruit smoothies, mashed potatoes and baked beans are good options. Use a small spoon to get it in your mouth, avoid straws because the suction effect might loosen the blood clots.

Another tip is to time your painkillers with meals & medicine. Take them just before eating (or drinking soup) and make sure you get enough food inside to take your antibiotics. Eating will be painful the first few days but you need to see it as a necessary chore for recovering without complications. You need some food in your stomach to minimise side effects of the antibiotics.

Dentists will always warn you about nerve damage to cover their bases but in the vast majority of cases, any numbness clears up by itself after a few weeks. avoid it.

I’ve had it done twice (one per side, but twenty years apart). I had no complications, surgery was fine, recovery was fine, but due to their tricky location I am permanently numb on one side.

Mine was complex, my dentist refused and said I needed sedation at a minimum, curved roots, generally awkward
i went privately to another dentist who has an oral surgeon, she spent 25 minutes numbing me and approximately 2 minutes removing it!

Have you and a 3d scan to see exactly how close the root goes to the nerve? I have a complex removal due and because of the root being so close to the nerve they’ve recommended not removing the whole thing (because of small risk of permanent numbness that I’m not ok with) and instead do a separate procedure where they remove half and the roots may naturally come to the surface in 10yrs or so. If very concerned about the impact on nerves ask for more detail to establish how close nerve is to it…. Good luck. Still haven’t booked mine in as after a typical wisdom removal last year was brutal I’m not brave enough for this one yet!