[Fairygdmther]

Supposedly we are at an evolutionary stage where our mouths are getting smaller, but our teeth haven't caught up yet. Sooner or later, most people will have problems with their wisdom teeth for this reason. They may break through the gums okay, but there still may not be room for them along the jaw.

Lynsie

[natalia]

Originally Posted by Erwin_Br

So why do they need to be pulled now? Are they rotting? Or have they started to hurt?

--Erwin

Well, I did do some research to see if I could avoid it. But one wisdom tooth is slightly impacted (tipped towards my other teeth). If it pushes through the gums it could damage my other teeth and lead to infection and other yucky things. Most dentists recommend having them taken out early, because of what fairygodmother said, our jaws are smaller then they used to be and these teeth, when they grow in can become impacted and tipped towards the other teeth. The older you get, the more chances for complications, and the slower your healing time is, I think.

[Starflux]

Teeth ought to just get with the program and quit being such arses.

[Jeysie]

Ahhh, yes, dry sockets and blood clots, *that* was all the stuff the dentist told me!. Thanks, Fov!

Originally Posted by Fairygdmther

Perhaps they can't give anesthesia in their offices. Dentists here go through an anesthesia residency rotation so they learn the basics. Local anesthesia may not be adequate for 4 wisdom teeth, all in different quadrants of your mouth.

I dunno about where Flux is located, but when I had my four teeth pulled they just did it in the dentist's office with plain ol' injections of Novocaine. I was fully conscious the whole time, just with a numbed mouth.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Fairygdmther]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

Ahhh, yes, dry sockets and blood clots, *that* was all the stuff the dentist told me!. Thanks, Fov!



I dunno about where Flux is located, but when I had my four teeth pulled they just did it in the dentist's office with plain ol' injections of Novocaine. I was fully conscious the whole time, just with a numbed mouth.

Peace & Luv, Liz

Jeysie - yours must not have been impacted, because those are very difficult to get out and often need a general anesthetic.

Lynsie

[Jeysie]

Originally Posted by Fairygdmther

Jeysie - yours must not have been impacted, because those are very difficult to get out and often need a general anesthetic.

Yeah, I was lucky... I had one that was kind of crooked and one that was slightly impacted and needed a little cutting, but that was it. I've always had good teeth... only part of my body I can't complain about.

My poor roommate's wisdom teeth were pretty bad though... he had to have a lot of cutting and stitches and stuff when he had them all out. He still only had local anesthesia (Novocaine shots), though, mostly because he just couldn't afford the costs of general anesthesia + hospital stay + the actual pulling. Long live the USA's horrendous health insurance system.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[fov]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

Long live the USA's horrendous health insurance system.

My insurance tried to insist they only had to pay for half of the procedure because my dentist referred me to the oral surgeon, who found that two were not impacted and two were partially impacted. According to my insurance, since partially impacted teeth are a medical problem, not a dental problem, the referral had to have come from my primary care doctor. In other words, they weren't going to pay for it because it wasn't my gynecologist who sent me to the oral surgeon.

It got straightened out, but bah. I hate insurance companies.

[RLacey]

I have weird teeth that enjoyed coming through very late (I didn't lose any of my milk teeth until I was eight), and though I've had teeth removed (milk teeth so that the new ones could come through) I've been lucky on the wisdom teeth front.

Long live weird mouths! And egocentric posts like this one!

[Quadriflax]

I just had my two wisdom teeth pulled last Friday (Dec. 16th). I didn't feel a thing. My wife and friends all were getting ready to poke fun at my misery, and nothing. I was eating fine in a few hours after the novocaine wore off. In fact, that was the worst part of the whole thing. Those shots in the palate hurt like hell. But the surgery itself was less than 60 seconds long after the stuff finally kicked in. I was out the door in 15 minutes. I took a few advil when I got home just in case for when the novocaine wore off, but nothing. Nothing the whole thing through.

But these were the top teeth. I've been told it's the bottom teeth that cause the problems and need all the care afterwards. With luck I'll never know. My friends and wife hate me now (friend had the "largest teeth" his guy had ever seen in 22 years and had to have all four cracked into pieces) but I'm okay with it.

Take care of yourself...

[Bastich]

I had four impacted wisdom teeth. Apparently I've got an Anime mouth or something. There were all removed at once.

Because I fell asleep after the surgery without taking any painkillers and the anaesthesia wore off, it was one of the most painful experiences in my life.

[Kolzig]

Originally Posted by VoodooFX

I don't have any wisdom teeth, because I'm not wise

Yeah, it's the same with me, no wisdom teeth here.

Though I do have a dentist appointment in January, both my front teeth are chipped and need to be repaired with cosmetic filling or something like that, they were both repaired like that about four or five years ago, but now both teeth are again chipped, this time from the left side.

I have no idea how both of them got chipped, I think it's only the filling section that is chipped and not the real teeth.