Impacted Wisdom Teeth

[rawbutterfly]

Okay, so I have 4 impacted wisdom teeth that I have been told for many years should be removed "because they may cause problems in the future". Well, I am now in the future and they are killing me. Jaw pain, ear ache, causing other teeth to hurt-basically I'm hurting. Anyway, I guess I need them removed. I have not had any form of medication in more than 5 years, not even an asprin and I am almost 100% raw. My question is, has anyone had this done without using pain meds? What about general anesthesia? I was told because of how mine are (4 of them and very deep), I have to be completely under for the procedure. I know anesthesia is not good, but does it affect the body like meds? I think I am okay with the anesthesia, but how can I handle the pain after? HELP!

[CrazyDelicious]

I got 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed about 4 years ago. I was not allowed to be awake for the procedure - but they put me under concious sedation. Apparently you are "semi-awake" for this - as in you can follow directions, but have no recollection of the procedure and no pain. There is no way I could have done the few days after without painkillers - but I really hate codeine, so I took extra-strength advil. The doc prescribed toradol, but it is a strong anti-inflammatory with crazy side-effects - so in the end I got the X-strength advil and it worked out ok. The pain is bad, but I was got the procedure done on friday and went to work on monday - so only had to take 1 day off. It would have been worse sitting around the house thinking about it. And the biggest help was definately the heating "bean bag" - wouldn't have survived without it! Get one of these for when you are sleeping (though I don't think you can use heat in the first 8 hours - can't remember exactly)

It is hard though - people have such different experiences regarding wisdom tooth removal - I know someone who took 2 weeks off work!!!! And everyone will tell you their horror stories. It's not so bad though - the pain really lessens after a few days and then you just have giant holes in your mouth!! For me though, it would have been hard with no medication at all. And maybe it was the anti-inflammatory, but I didn't have any bruising and not much swelling - so all in all it worked out well. And when it's over you will never have wisdom tooth pain again! :)

[Revvell]

I've had all my impacted wisdom teeth out... local anesthesia. No meds after. It can be done. I've not done any drugs other than stuff for dental surgery and nothing after.

Not saying everyone can do it yet, I've never had much pain after unless I do some movement where my head goes lower than the rest of me.. then it'll start throbbing. Otherwise, nothing.

Remember after, lemon juice in warm water to flush out the system. You wont need as much/many drugs as most will (probably).

I've been getting quite a bit of work done and my dentist is using 1/3 of what he uses on others. I recover w/in 24 hours. The one time he used what he'd normally use, it took 72 hours before I could function again.

Revvell

[Judy]

sometimes you just need to do what needs to be done!
i've had my 4 wisdom teeth removed a couple of years ago,
and also never used aspirin etc in my life before (have been sedated before though),
but really, you don't want to go through this (and probably aren't even allowed to do this) without being sedated.
i had to go to the hospital for mine (it wasn't something my dentist could or would do, they were to deep), by a surgeon. so this gives a clue of what this is: a surgery.
two of mine were deep, and one had to be even cut out and then the gums stitched. no way that i'd ever go through that without sedation!
the procedure in general: they pull your teeth out with a (don't know what you'd call it), just with a tool you use for fixing things in the house, for pulling out nails and such. well, that's in general what surgery is, right... people tooling around at ya...
however, it happened under local sedation, beforehand you also get aspirins or painkillers of somekind for extra sedation, and it happens quickly, it really is done in a second - the teeth just pop out (unless they are somewhat deeper, like some of mine then it takes 10 seconds...), you feel nothing, and the only weird part is you hear some big cracks when they pull them out.
afterwards, i didn't use any aspirins or anything, i know many people do, it was uncomfortable yes, but very doable and healed rather quickly.
i'm not pro anestethics, surgery etc, but in some cases, really, just do it, especially in this case. you also will be bleeding after the surgery (not much and not for long, but still), and your body needs time to heal. it isn't something to be taken lightly like getting a tooth filled or something. again: this is surgery.
your body can handle the anesthesia perfectly and will get rid of the toxins quickly, and if you're healthy, you will probably even heal quicker than most people.

added: o, damnit, now i see you aren't necessarily against anesthesia, you even have to go totally down under. eh, about the pain, you can probably handle it, although it's different for everyone. i did it without the painkillers, even if one of my teeth was really deep and therefore gave me a lot of discomfort when removed, just see how you feel. keeping your calm also helps, visualization or meditation. icepacks on your jaw. if you're really in a lot of pain, you can always decide to use (some) aspirins, and since you won't be a longterm user, it will probably don't do you real harm - your body will flush the toxins out, as it does with the anesthesia. don't fret about it, just focus on healing.

[Judy]

Oh, wanted to add: I believe there are also herbal/homeopathic pain killers, but can't remember the name. Dr. Vogel (a Swiss homeopathic brand) used to have some in his product range. Maybe you can google it (or something likewise) up, just a thought.

Good luck with everything!