Wisdom Teeth - Detroit,MI

Everyone seems to have a different experience with wisdom teeth. A friend was in pain when she had all 4 pulled at once. I had 2 pulled at one time and had no problem except canker sores from the shot. Yes, I ate soft food at first but no problems with anything else. I firmly believe that if you set yourself up for the worst, then you might just get it. As suggested, he could take some music. When I had one taken out, they put a blindfold/face mask on me, I felt a little tugging but that was it. And then the dentist decided to be funny and told me "Okay, let's get started". Ha ha.

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Having all of them on both sides can be difficult since it does not leave you with a "good" side but the advantage is that it's all over at once.
My biggest suggestion would be that you keep on top of the pain medications and not let any time lapse between dosages for the first few days.
He may not want to eat much and may feel queasy from any drainage of blood that he may have experienced while extracting them. The first day he might be in bit of a fog and not be interested in much including any food but keep fluids coming probably something not acidic or any soda.
I'd get some jello and some pop sickles for the first day and maybe some bland soup. Might be a good idea to stock up on some favorite movies for some entertainment too.
Though it sticks having it done it will be past him soon.
Best wishes,
C.

1 mom found this helpful

The anticipation will be worse than the event. Let him know that his mouth will be sore for a few days, but it WILL heal. Tell him that he just needs to relax, sleep, and let his body recover. Tell him that losing wisdom teeth doesn't mean that he should lose his wisdom and take it out on his mama! :^)

Everyone is different, especially with anesthesia. No straws, lots of rinsing and lots of rest. He is young and will bounce back quickly. Having wisdom teeth removed can be miserable, but a positive attitude can be very helpful!

My middle daughter has a severe needle phobia, so she was a WRECK when they took her wisdom teeth out! She was 19 at the time. As much for the oral surgeon's comfort as for hers, they completely anesthetized her. There were FAR fewer risks in general anesthesia than in letting her thrash and panic and cry in the chair.

As far as recovery, don't feel bad if he doesn't eat any of the food you made. For the first day at least, he'll be lucky to feel like having a smoothie. Some people - my daughter included - have virtually no swelling and are out of pain and functioning and eating normally the next day. Others, like me, take a week or more to heal up and for the chipmunk cheeks to go away.

Good luck! Let him know it's likely not going to be as bad as he imagines!

I had my impacted wisdom teeth removed. I had to rest, take pain meds and eat carefully (or maybe shakes =). You're doing the right thing. Make sure he doesn't lose the blood clots in his mouth because I hear that is very painful. Just being careful and taking it easy for a few days is best. I was up and about in no time.

Milkshakes are a real treat too, loved by kids I've cared for in this situation. Ice packs are needed too. They'll give you a small one before he goes home (ask if they forget). He'll probably sleep a lot. Vicodin may make him sick so be careful with it. Also, it's full of Tylenol so don't add any more tylenol to the mix. He will only need the xanax before, not after.

ok well he needs to stay on the pain meds for the first 48 hrs every four to six hrs whichever time limit they say. NO STRAWS NO BOTTLE SUCKING FOR ONE WEEK SO NO 20 OZ POP. NO CRINCHY FOOD for the first 48 hrs i would let him eat what he wants which may not be much like soups noodles bananas apple sauce yougart anything soft or soupy. After the second day on the third day he could try to decline the meds and start eating a little more solids. But nothing hard and cruncky and he needs to rinse after he eats and not get anything impacted in the holes. He will have a hole in the back where his wisdoms where it will be soft at first and than become a true hole and in about 4 to 8 weeks it will fill in. The mouth is one part of the body that heals farely quick. Your gums grow back. He will be fine as long as no sucking on anything cuz if he does he will get dry socket and thats worse pain than what he will have now. Good luck!

Updated

ok well he needs to stay on the pain meds for the first 48 hrs every four to six hrs whichever time limit they say. NO STRAWS NO BOTTLE SUCKING FOR ONE WEEK SO NO 20 OZ POP. NO CRINCHY FOOD for the first 48 hrs i would let him eat what he wants which may not be much like soups noodles bananas apple sauce yougart anything soft or soupy. After the second day on the third day he could try to decline the meds and start eating a little more solids. But nothing hard and cruncky and he needs to rinse after he eats and not get anything impacted in the holes. He will have a hole in the back where his wisdoms where it will be soft at first and than become a true hole and in about 4 to 8 weeks it will fill in. The mouth is one part of the body that heals farely quick. Your gums grow back. He will be fine as long as no sucking on anything cuz if he does he will get dry socket and thats worse pain than what he will have now. Good luck!

I had my bottom wisdom teeth taken out less than a month ago. I was nervous too but honestly it's not as bad as some people make it out to be! Is he getting knocked out? I wasn't, but my friends who were had swelling and bad pain.

I had no swelling, very annoying small dull throbbing pain though. It's not bad at all! Honestly the worst part about the whole thing is not being able to eat regular food.

Be sure to follow the dentist's orders! No drinking from straws, lightly swish warm salt water after eating. Those type of things.

Good luck!

Will he be awake or knocked out for it? I imagine since they're impacted he'll be knocked out. I was. I would far prefer to be knocked out. I did smoke when I wasn't supposed to and got a dry socket which is the WORST pain that I have ever felt. Don't let him drink from a straw or smoke or drink soda.
As far as getting a tooth pulled without being put to sleep, I SO wish they had given me xanax!! I freaked out. It didn't hurt, but the idea and the noise freaked me out and I hyperventilated.
All I wanted was to eat, but it was hard, so clear soups like "soup on hand" was great.
All in all, it was just a couple of days of recovery for the surgery and no days for the extraction where they didn't put me to sleep. I didn't need any pain killers for that one.

I had mine out when I was 16 and it wasn't too bad. Just make sure you have the pain meds ready for when the anesthesia wears off. If you do this, he shouldn't really have much problem with pain. If he takes the pain meds, he'll just be more uncomfortable than anything else. He should probably be propped up with pillows too; keep his head higher, as that will help with any swelling.

Things that I ate in the few days afterwards: frozen yogurt (the cold is good too), jello, ice cream... I can't remember what else. But I do remember eating the whole container of frozen yogurt and I remember the jello because my little brother is the one who made it for me!

What I remember as the worst thing was when I first came out from the anesthesia. I was a bit groggy and out of it. I couldn't talk very well and the gauze they had in there was bothering me. The only other bad thing was when the anesthesia wore off and my mom wasn't back with the pain meds. That was a rough hour. But other than that, I wasn't too bothered and was up and about a few days later.

Good luck!

I had all 4 of mine out a couple of years ago, they were not impacted though. It went really well and I actually did not need any of the pain meds they sent home. I was pretty out of it the first day and slept most of the day from the anesthesia. I quickly learned to crawl for the first couple of hours home, since I wasn't too steady on my feet, lol. I had to keep getting up to go to the bathroom though since I had been on fluids during the procedure. I remember getting an iv, but not really much after that. I know my husband called my parents to let them know I was done, but other than a word or two of that I couldn't tell you anything about the ride home.

The worst part for me for the guaze you have to keep in to soak up anything for the first day, I hated the feeling of it. I had no swelling and did eat soft foods for the first couple of days- mac and cheese, ice cream, yogurt, smooties, apple sauce, etc. I was a little worried about it, but it was easy. I had them out on a Friday and was back at work on Monday. I did have antibiotics and also a mouth wash to use daily. The stitches were a little strange, since you can feel them, and I had to make sure to clean around them with a syringe and the mouth wash from the oral surgeon to keep food from getting trapped.

I also know many people that had them out in high school and I would 90% of them were back in class the next day, some had impacted ones too. A few had some swelling in their cheeks, but not bad. Most people I know have not needed the pain meds at all or have only used them for a day. My brother had his out several years ago I remember he pretty much just hung out on the couch for a day or two too.

Have a good place on the couch and the remote or a movie ready for him when you come home so he can just hang out, relax and sleep. He will probably mainly just sleep it off the first day. Some cold soft foods are nice to eat and will help keep the area numb if he likes smoothies or milkshakes for the first day. Good luck to you both and hope it goes easy and he has a quick and easy recovery.

I had an extraction (molar) yesterday. Local anesthetic. The needle hurt, nothing else did. It was a little sore after (nothing tylenol couldn't handle). I am back to work today. DH had all 4 of his wisdom teeth done at age 23 - again - not nearly as big a deal as he was all worked up about. For soft food - soup, squash, ice cream, pudding. Good luck, I suspect it will be way easier than you think.

Ooooh i had to have that done when i was around 19 (15 yrs ago) ...ouch... All 4 done at the same time and all 4 were "boney impacted" ... What you're making for him sounds right and the Doctor told my mom to put bags of frozen peas on each cheek for the swelling... He will look like a chipmunk the next day and after the swelling goes down he may have bruises down his jaw line.. I did, thats how I had to go back to work, lol..
Oh and something else that happened to me was i ended up puking up what looked like coffee grounds the next morning...My mom called the Doctor and said that it was from swallowing so much blood (eww)..Try to keep him propped up as much as possible the first night he sleeps.
Good Luck to him (and you)

My son had his out a few years ago. My advice is to stay ahead of the pain the first few days. If you consistently give pain meeds those first few days, it will make it much easier on him (and you!!); then you can begin to wean back on them. Frosty's from Wendys are great as are the foods you have listed. My son also loved some kind of mashed potato bowl from Kentucky Fried Chicken and Slurpees from 7-11, though there is no straw drinking for a while so he had to use a spoon.
You may be surprised, because once the teeth are out, his anxiety will be gone and he may feel 100% better.
My son was loopy when he came out of the office and that took the ride home for him to fully awake.
Have him lay low and do nothing! You're a good mom.

Have him sleep in a reclining chair or upright as much as possible. That will
get the swelling down very quickly. Just a couple of nights and he will
be fine.

Just went through this with my 17 year old so its fresh in my mind.
here are the few things I learned.

1. its almost impossible for these kids to swallow a pill! i put the pill in some saran wrap, and crushed it to a powder, then mixed the powder with a tablespoon of applesauce, and had him eat it.

2. STAY ON TOP OF THE PAIN MEDS! Mine got through with only 2 vicodin out of the whole 3 days...but I literally set the alarm so that the ibuprofin was given to him every 5 hours. It is much easier to stay on top of the pain, then to get the pain to go away if it arises.

3. we cut a wide section of tee shirt, and held two bags of frozen peas on his cheeks, put the tee shirt under his chin, over the peas and tied it on the top of his head! looked funny....but the best way to ice.

4. If the bleeding doesn't stop when it should, wet 2 tea bags, and have him bite on them, works ssssooooooo much better than the stupid guaze!

5. its best for them to stay as upright as possible, don't have him lay flat if you can get away with it. Mine slept in the reclining section of the couch, and I slept on the other couch incase he needed anything.

6. our doctor recommended him eating real food if at all possible by day 2 or 3. Just cut it up tiny like the same way you would for a baby or a toddler. They said that they need to move their jaw so that it doesn't stiffen up and cause pain that way too.

7. make sure he does some salt water rinses...but no swishing or spitting...just put the water in, tilt head side to side, and then let it fall out of his mouth.

hope this helps! I wish someone would've told me all this stuff!

I had 3 wisdom teeth removed and it was a piece of cake! The actual extraction took like 5 minutes, they just pulled right out. I definitely suggest he take earphones and music he finds relaxing and comforting, I like to listen and close my eyes and try to zone out. He's probably not going to be in that much pain after, especially if he's on painkillers. The key thing is following instructions to avoid dry sockets, but other than that he'll be fine. The fear is probably much worse than the actual thing!

I had all mine out at the same time when I was 16. I was eating pizza 2 days later. Healing time varies depending on the patient.
When I had mine out (this was years ago), I arrived at the doctors office with my Mom and the Dr was just finished with his prior patient. He came in and talked with my Mom and me - he was wearing a very bloody butcher's apron. 10 min into the conversation he asks if the sight of blood bothers me. Fortunately it didn't. He was such a nice guy but his concern and timing and appearance were so out of whack it just made me laugh.
He had to pull very hard on one side to get out a big tooth fragment (my wisdom teeth shattered during removal - I was told later since I was unconscious at the time) and I had a bruise from his thumb on my jaw for a few days. I remember it being an easier recovery than when I had my tonsils out. Your son will be fine!

I had mine removed about 4 years ago. They were all impacted and one was really hard to get out--the nerve was wrapped around my jaw.

The first day is pretty painful but after that I didn't even take any pain meds. Just be careful of the straw thing and make sure he rinses even though it hurts. I think I was down around two days but really I felt fine as long as I wasn't trying to eat.

I remember they told me to go home and eat something soft right away like scrambled eggs. So I came home and made myself some and then grabbed a book and rested.

He's doing the right thing because if you leave them impacted they will eventually cause a problem as mine and my mother's did ( she had her's removed in her late 50's). Best of luck to him!