Wisdom Teeth

**mercian billman** · 07-06-2006, 05:19

I was just wondering if any members of the org would like to share the experience they had with getting their teeth removed. I've had mine removed twice, the first time was at boot camp and I had three teeth removed with local anesthesia. I wasn't put asleep and there really wasn't all that much pain but it did feel kind of morbid. I had a surgery this morning to remove the final tooth and had anesthesia and all that.

Anyways I have two questions:

1. Does the no smoking rule really matter? The recovery sheet I was given says no smoking or tobacco for 72 hours, the doctor says 48 hours is fine and a fine website claims that 12 hours is good. It's all just so confusing, it seems like the dental community is conspiring to keep me away from tobacco.

2. What do you think people did before advanced oral surgery? I'm guessing they would have removed the second molars to make room, that's only a guess though.

**Oaty** · 07-06-2006, 06:51

Originally Posted by mercian billman

Does the no smoking rule really matter? The recovery sheet I was given says no smoking or tobacco for 72 hours, the doctor says 48 hours is fine and a fine website claims that 12 hours is good.

It's the sucking that's bad on the surgical area that's of most concern. Your also not suppose to drink through a straw for the same amount of time your not suppose to smoke.

Anyways the main reason behind it so that the wound closes up and stays closed

Everytime you do an activity that opens the wound back up the more you risk an infection.

It's really your call and how well the wound is healing.

**Lehesu** · 07-06-2006, 07:24

Don't get the wound infected. Big pain in the ass.

**Ice** · 07-06-2006, 07:28

Originally Posted by mercian billman

I was just wondering if any members of the org would like to share the experience they had with getting their teeth removed. I've had mine removed twice, the first time was at boot camp and I had three teeth removed with local anesthesia. I wasn't put asleep and there really wasn't all that much pain but it did feel kind of morbid. I had a surgery this morning to remove the final tooth and had anesthesia and all that.

Anyways I have two questions:

1. Does the no smoking rule really matter? The recovery sheet I was given says no smoking or tobacco for 72 hours, the doctor says 48 hours is fine and a fine website claims that 12 hours is good. It's all just so confusing, it seems like the dental community is conspiring to keep me away from tobacco.

2. What do you think people did before advanced oral surgery? I'm guessing they would have removed the second molars to make room, that's only a guess though.

1. I'd play it safe and no smoke for 72 hours. Never can be to careful. I'm sure you can handle it.

2. I assume before surgery people just let them grow in and ruin their teeth.

On a related note, I had mine out a little over 2 years ago. They had to cut and pull mine out. It wasn't to bad. Being drugged was actually kind of cool.

**Quid** · 07-06-2006, 07:34

Had mine out a few years back (first the two on the right, then the two on the left two weeks later). Went to a Mexican restaurant the same day after having slurped soup for lunch. Decided that that was not the way to go about it (soup). Had no problems whatsoever. Apart from the 'hospital breath' no one could have guessed I just had my teeth pulled...

Quid

**Sigurd** · 07-06-2006, 09:01

1. ??
2. I have had regulation (is this the right term), hence many teeth was removed when I was a kid. At the end of the day there was plenty room for my wisdom teeth. I have all of mine.
I think if I get a cavity in them they will be pulled out. At least that is what I have heard.
*goes to the bathroom an brushes teeth*

**caravel** · 07-06-2006, 09:31

Mine are still there and doing fine. My sister had to have hers out though when she was 19 (16 years ago), I remember seeing the stitches.

In the past they had to pluck them out with a big rusty pair of pliers and no anaesthetic.

**Ironside** · 07-06-2006, 09:42

Can't answer any of your questions, but I have pulled the wisdom teeths in my lower jaw.

One of them was extremely painful to pull out, as the tranquillazer didn't numb a nerve that was right under it. And it was growing so wierd that the needed to drill the tooth until it shattered and then pull out the pieces. Every time the dentist drilled, I suffered massive pain.

One week later I was back for the other tooth...

And as that one wasn't the troublesome one, it went quite fine.

**ajaxfetish** · 07-07-2006, 03:45

I had mine out a while back (I think when I was 16) as part of a pharmaceutical study, so I got paid for it

. I had general anesthesia, so it was more fun than pain until that wore off, but I did have aching and swollen cheeks for the next while, and thank God for applesauce.

The worst part for me was that for some time after the procedure, even after the incisions had healed over, there were still recesses in my gums where the teeth had been, and food would get stuck in there. Some of it I could get out with my tongue, but some was more resistant, and the taste of meat decaying in the back of your mouth is no good. I didn't want to use a toothpick for fear of reopening the cuts, but a waterpik did the trick.

Best luck

Ajax

**mercian billman** · 07-07-2006, 07:28

Thanks for sharing all your wisdom

Anyways a nice side of affect of percoset is that it causes you to be very drowsy, unfortunately you cannot sleep for more than 2-3 hours at a time. Also the whole no smoking part hasn't been to bad, besides one or two really huge cravings but I think I'm over it now.

Heres an interesting little tidbit from http://www.pacpubserver.com/new/health/d-e/hm1025.html

Our Neanderthal ancestors had very little brain space and a large, powerful jaw. Over tens of thousands of years, the cranial proportions changed. The growing human brain needed more space, so the brain cavity expanded while the jaws diminished accordingly. But in all this time, the number of teeth in the normal human jaw has remained the same: 32.

**Fragony** · 07-07-2006, 13:22

'Wisdom teeth' has to be a sloppy translation from dutch. We call it 'verstandkiezen', which means roughly the same as 'wisdom teeth', but it is really 'verrestand' which means the position in the mouth.

by the way, we have different words for the biters and the crunchers, biters are 'tanden' and crunchers are 'kiezen', any of this in english?

About smoking, once the bleeding has stopped, go ahead.

**Sigurd** · 07-07-2006, 14:08

Originally Posted by Fragony

'Wisdom teeth' has to be a sloppy translation from dutch. We call it 'verstandkiezen', which means roughly the same as 'wisdom teeth', but it is really 'verrestand' which means the position in the mouth.

by the way, we have different words for the biters and the crunchers, biters are 'tanden' and crunchers are 'kiezen', any of this in english?

About smoking, once the bleeding has stopped, go ahead.

It is 'Visdomstenner' in Norwegian but should be 'Visdomsjeksler'.
It does not signify position but a tooth of wisdom as in the latest teeth to appear.
I guess tann, tanden, tooth is the same and jeksel, kiezen, grinding tooth is the same.

**yesdachi** · 07-07-2006, 16:57

I still have mine; doc said my mouth was big enough that they would fit no problem.

My wife got hers out on my 18th birthday, not much of a party.

**Uesugi Kenshin** · 07-07-2006, 17:29

English does have different words for the "biters and crunchers,"in normal speech they are incisors and molars (I think) and there are also more technical terms like bicuspids iirc, but I don't remember them all at the moment.

More on topic I only have two of my wisdom teeth and won't need them out for a while.