My oldest daughter needs to have her wisdom teeth removed. We have heard from many in the medical field that she will be "out of activities" for three days and then should be back to normal. However, she has talked to some of her friends, and said that it was much longer for many of them. She is auditioning in August for a place in the university band/orchestra is very concerned about how long it will take to recover so she can play her flute.
Her surgery is scheduled for this week, but now we are re-thinking this and wondering if we should wait until Christmas.
Does anyone have any advice about this?
Thanks in advance.
It really depends on whether or not the teeth are impacted, how many are being removed, and complications that my result. I had four impacted wisdom teeth removed when I was about 22 and ended up with dry sockets. Recovery lasted about a week to two weeks. My friend had hers removed two weeks ago and came back to work a few days later but with very swollen and bruised cheeks.
I had my wisdom teeth removed when I was 18. I had to have two pulled and 2 where cut out as they were still under the surface. I was fine after a couple of days but my face was swollen and bruised for about a week after. I think it really depends on the person. Some are fine and some run into some problems.
If I were you just to be safe I would see if I could reschedule it until after she auditions.
I had mine removed when I was 18. I was up and about after a couple of days. My friends had hers done around the same time and she had problems with dry sockets for weeks. I guess if it were me, I would maybe put it off til Christmas. Every person is different so you just never know.
Hey Linda,
I had mine out the beginning of my freshman year at college. It was during thanksgiving break... I remember not being able to eat all that yummy food!
The first 3 days I just laid around and took drugs, I was in a lot of pain (even moving was painful). I had all 4 of mine surgically removed. I also played the flute at the time and it took about 2 weeks before I could play or even start to practice again. As others said the checks and jaw are sore, bruised, swollen from the process and obviously not ideal for playing the flute during the time of recovery.
It depends on when she is auditioning, if it is at the end of August she should be fine. If the audition is at the beginning or the middle of August I would say wait if possible.
All in all if the docs say it is ok to wait then wait BUT if they say it is better to do it now rather then later I would do as the doc says. I got horrible headaches/migraines from my wisdom teeth as well as pain when eating so I had my out ASAP, I would not have wanted to wait 4 months to get that taken care of. If your daughter is not bothered by them and waiting till Christmas or a sooner break is ok with the docs then go ahead and change the appointment/surgery.
Best Wishes to you and your daughter!
Being a band geek myself... I would honestly wait. She has enough time during christmas break to heal enough to play when she gets back to school for spring semester. Those auditions are crucial if she is first chair quality and get last because of her teeth she won't be happy for the whole year. Not to mention it can affect next years audition. If the doc says you can wait do it!! Good luck!!
I had two of my wisdom teeth cut out at 14. It was much longer than 3 days to recover, more like 10 days to two weeks.
You don't mention what instruments she plays...if it's a woodwind (that's what I played) then if the audition is within two weeks of the extraction I would reschedule.
It's likely not only to affect her playing, but the act of playing can interfere in the healing process and extend it or cause damage to the sockets.
On a side note - I hope she does well! :-) Ahhh...those were the days.
A lot of her recovery time might depend on how she repsonds to the anesthetic. I had mine out on a friday and was back to work monday. my only issue was that the pain killers they gave me made me sick.
I know of another person who had a bit more of a reaction to the anesthetic and it took her closer to a week to recover. I wouldn't worry too much about it ... if she's had anesthetic before then that will be a good judge, if not ... you won't really know exactly how she'll be - could be two days, coudl be a week or more.
I would wait. You never know how she'll react. I had mine out and could only open my mouth half way for a month. It was like my jaw locked. I was 18 and missed school for 2 weeks.
This was a long time ago, but I had mine removed at about high school/college age. I swelled up quite a bit and was out of commission for about a week. Even if she feels better for the actual audition will a week of missing practice affect her audition? Are the wisdom teeth really bothering her? If having them removed soon isn't a medical requirement and she has another time when she can get it done I might be tempted to wait.
The decision should be based on when is the audition. Is it in a couple of weeks after the surgery? Can you do it between the audition and when she starts school? Are they impacted? Then the surgery will be more difficult. As a dental professional I tell my patients that just like any other surgery there can be complications from bruising: where your cheeks can swell up like chipmunks, to temporary numbness: the nerve that goes to the lip, tongue, and chin runs directly below the lower wisdom teeth and can be bruised in the removal process (The numbness is not common but I have seen it happen), to an opening in the sinus cavity: the upper teeth are just below the sinus cavity and might even form part of the floor of the sinus, if that is the case removing the wisdom teeth will cause an opening from the oral cavity to the sinus cavity which will require antibiotics and stitches. Again this is not common but does happen and recovery will take longer. If you have any other questions you can email me at a [email protected].
Hi,
I am actually a mom myself and just had my 4 wisdom teeth removed last month (I should have had it done years ago! :-)
Anyway, I did it over a long weekend so my husband could help with our 2 young boys, so I had 3 days "off". On the 4th day I returned to "normal" activites of taking care of my boys (I stay at home full time), but my mouth was far from "normal". I didn't eat any real food until over a week after the surgery and it took 2 weeks until I could really open my mouth normally. It has been 3 weeks now and I still have some restriction of opening my mouth. The recovery has been smooth, just slow I guess. It has just taken more time than I thought it would. (Could be the age-factor too, I guess! 33 vs. 18) Anyway, one of the things that surprised me most was the inability to do things like put on chapstick and rub my lips together simply because I couldn't move my mouth yet in that way. I don't know how it might affect your daughter especially with the way she would have to form her mouth in order to play the flute. She might be much quicker in healing because she is young?
I didn't have any problems with dry sockets or anything like that which was good. I did come home with several prescriptions for anti-swelling, prescription pain meds, and anitibiotics, all of which I made a point to take faithfully in hopes to keep my recovery time as short as possible. I hope this helps some and hope that your daughter has a smooth surgery and quick recovery- good for you for getting it done now rather than later in her life! :-)
If they can wait, WAIT! She might be okay, but there are too many unknowns as to what can happen after surgury. I was back to school right away, but i could not open my mouth for 2 weeks. The muscles are so stretched that they lock up once released after the surgury. If this audition means that much to her, wait till Christmas for the surgury. Get antibiotics right away to combat any potential infection that might happen. Everybody;s body responds differntly to invasive trauma like this surgury. Physically the rest of my body was fine except for my mouth. LOts of soup/broth after the surgury, that is all you will be able to eat for at least 3 days. You won;t be able to open your mouth more than that for a straw.
Good luck.
My 2 cents for what it is worth: wisdom teeth are very, very serious and nothting to mess with. I would postpone it. What can it hurt? In the scheme of seriousness just wait...I won't tell you my scary story but just believe how serious this can be.
Thanks!! :)
My 18 year old son just had his wisdom teeth removed Thurs afternoon and he is fine! They were, according to our dentist, really impacted and very, very difficult to remove. My son was on the couch Thursday and Friday and then I gently encouraged him to get up to his room Saturday and we went on a few errands and Sunday, he was nearly 100%. Monday, he worked five hours at Valleyfair. He was tired, but good. I wouldn't wait.
From one flute player to another, I would wait on the teeth...unless the doctor has a really good reason for doing it right now. I had mine out after high school and I had a bad case. I had one tooth on a nerve and another on a sinus cavity...they never gave me a bit of trouble. She should be fine in a week or so, but if she gets dry sockets...or infection it could me a month before things are back to normal. The swelling could be a problem while playing, and she wont be able to eat as much, so she could have a stomach ache for a while. Years ago we wouldn't have done anything for a tooth unless it hurt. Good luck on her audition!!
Angela
I would wait!!! I am a band teacher and a flute player. Although your daughter may be feeling better quite quickly after the surgery, odds are her mouth will not be back to "normal" for quite some time. Playing an instrument requires a variety of muscles not used for eating and such. Give her mouth a significant amount of time for healing before trying an audition! If her teeth can wait, then wait! The audition can't.
Good luck to you and her on the audition. Hope all goes well!!!
I have had all 4 teeth removed over three sessions. The top two were removed early in right after HS graduation (too many years ago to mention) and the recovery was about 4 days, I was given gas and novacaine. One bottom one was removed in college, again with gas and novacaine and the recovery was about three days (less violent extrection). (It took longer to recover from the pain meds they gave me that I ended up being allergic too.) The last one was removed about 6 years ago. I was given an IV, some novacaine and a shot to take down the sweling. The procedure was done in the morning, I think I was home by noon. That night we went out for fish fry. No one could even tell that I had a tooth removed. It was fantastic. It was slightly uncomfortable but nothing like the previous times. I handled the discomfort with Ibuprofen. I had no pain or discomfort the next day.
Maybe it is more how it is done and the meds they give. The first two I had removed were set in sideways and had to be broken to get them out, my whole face was sore. I eally think the IV I got at the last extraction and the anti-inflamatory helped ALOT. I was still told a couple days recovery and to be careful to not suck on anything so as not to get dry sockets.
Good luck to your daughter. I hope it all goes smoothly.
Rachel
I think it depemds if they need to cut the gums or not. I was in my early 20's when I had mine removed. I think it took me about a week to feel comfortable eating normal foods again. I think I took pain killers as needed for several weeks. I would think as long as she can eat hard foods she can play but may need painkillers.
I knew people who were eating cheesebergers the next day and running around outside the same day. These people had local anestetic maybe that makes a difference.
I had my wisdom teeth removed my freshman year of college. My bottom wisdom teeth were impacted, so my recovery was a week of pain meds then at least another month of slight swelling. The top ones were not impacted and they felt fine within a couple of days.
FYI, just in case, impacted wisdom teeth require major oral surgery where they cut into the gums. Non-impacted are like any other teeth you have pulled.