I guess you can say that is is somewhat along the lines of being beauty related! Well, it has to do with your teeth and smile! For me, I am on a mission to improve my smile and one of the first things, which I have to admit that I've been putting off, is getting the rest of my wisdom teeth removed. Well, that day has come and gone and I'm ready to share what I've experienced.
First off, I'm scared of dentists, and I haven't met anyone who's said they ACTUALLY liked their dentists or have had good dental experiences. Luckily, I have a friend who I've known since high school, that works as an office manager at a dental office. She highly recommended the dentist she currently works for. His name is Dr. Miller. At first, I'm very apprehensive in having her convince me why I should go to this guy. But the factors of my decision to choose this dentist goes as such:
1. He's the same age as me. (Bravo! Young dentist = learned new techniques to make the patients more comfortable along with quicker recovery from procedures.)
2. He graduated from the same college as me! (UTSA Alumni!!! Go Runners!)
3. He doesn't pressure you on your treatment plan and doesn't over-treat you! (I freaking love this guy, not in that way, but in an awesome way.)
After the first 2 cleanings and cavity fillings with this new dentist, I'm convinced he will be my dentist for life!!! Compared to my last dentist who told me I had 20 cavities and needed a root canal (c'mon my teeth are not that bad!). This dentist gave me a deep cleaning, regular cleaning and filled 3 cavities that I had in total. Gee, where did the rest of those 17 cavities go???
During my last routine cleaning (gotta love insurance that pays for your free cleaning twice a year), Dr. Miller discovered that I had a cavity. Guess where it was located??? On my WISDOM TOOTH!!! WOMP WOMP. I wasn't thrilled to hear the news but the time had come for the tooth to come out. Except he broke the news to me that the rest of my wisdom teeth will need to go as well!!! DAMN!!! He referred me to an oral surgeon who will do the deed. Of course, my office manager friend and dentist are trying to convince me that I would be fine! Of course, my dentist explained his wisdom teeth were worst than mine (his came out sideways), but he was able to recover quickly and come back to work. Here's what my friend said "Get them pulled on Friday and you will back to work on Monday." WHAT?????? Now, here is where I start to have a mini panic attack on my last experience of getting a wisdom tooth pulled, the first wisdom tooth.
It was years ago when I had no insurance and working a part-time job when I started having a toothache on the bottom part of my teeth. When I went to my former dentist, he took x-rays and discovered that I had an infection which spread from my wisdom tooth towards the front of my mouth, causing the toothache. It needed to come out. Of course, he was pressuring me to get all my wisdom teeth out, but I only had enough money to get one tooth pulled, plus the others weren't causing me issues, so there was no need for that. At that time, I was fully awake and very numb during the procedure. Went in at 8:00am, left the office at 12:00pm. You are probably wondering why it took so long! Well, aside from preparation for the procedure (Valium to keep me calm, and waiting for injections to kick in so I would be completely numb) the dentist went to work. I didn't feel the pain but I felt the pressure and the strength of the dentist trying to get my tooth out. Yes, it took him 3 hours to pull my tooth!!! When I came home, I was in so much pain and so swollen. I was on a liquid diet for 2 weeks, soft solid foods for another 2 weeks. The swelling in my face resided after a month!!! Yeah, that was an experience that I DID NOT want to go through again...
Well, I met the oral surgeon in his awesome office, Dr. Hernandez. He's an older man with a great set of teeth (I noticed these types of things). He explained that I would be under general anesthesia through IV for 45 minutes and that all teeth will be out by the time I wake up!!! It's very hard to believe that but I trusted him and didn't feel so scared as before. After the usual paperwork, xrays, and payment plan, I went ahead and scheduled for the procedure a week later. I scheduled for it to be done on Wednesday so I would have 5 days to recover (Wed-Sun) before going back to work.
My mom went with me to drive me back after the procedure (I was given a list of pre-op items to follow, which I followed to the T!). Another set of xrays were done. I was given a mouthwash to swish and spit before getting settled in the chair. The IV went in on one arm. The other arm was set up to measure my blood pressure, heartbeat, etc. The medicine went into the IV and I started to feel itchy! Dr. Hernandez noticed and pointed out it was supposed to do that. The last thing I remember was a patch going on my chest.
From there, it felt like I blinked!!! Next thing I know, I have a mouth full of gauze with a nurse waking me up. My mom checked on me. She said I looked good. Next thing I know, I've been put into a wheelchair, then sitting in the car going home, and I was finally home, resting on the couch.
I honestly wasn't in pain, even though I was given Vicodin and another medication if I became nauseous. The only time I felt pain was changing the gauze out for a new one, but it was tolerable. I had to sleep sitting up the first night, to help the bleeding stop faster. My brother-in-law slept on the other couch, keeping watch on me all night. The second night, I slept in my room, propped up with pillows, with my dog, Bam, sleeping next to me and keeping guard. I felt stronger and stronger every day. All I did was rest and moved when I could. I was driven to CVS to walk around on Saturday. Yes, by Saturday, I was feeling much better. On Sunday, I went to the groceries with my Mom to get out of the house again, in preparation for work the next day. I felt ok. I was back to work on Monday, with Tylenol on hand, getting back into the groove of things.
Then I had my follow up appointment schedule on Thursday. The oral surgeon check and said I'm making very good progress in healing. He needed to check the bottom part of the gum line since he told me the wisdom tooth there was tougher to remove and he had to cut into the bone to get it out (no wonder that side of my face felt like crap!) Then he gave me this plastic syringe that had a curved hook for me to fill up with water and irrigate the surgery areas to remove any food bits that have gotten caught in there.
As of today, I have absolutely no pain. I do have that hole on my bottom jaw (much smaller now) where my wisdom tooth once was that I still need to irrigate and get the food pieces out, but it will close up eventually. My facial muscles don't feel sore anymore and I can open my jaw. I'm eating regular food now. It was an experience and I highly recommend my dentist and oral surgeon (if you happen to live in the San Antonio, TX area). I do have a few tips if you plan to have your wisdom teeth removed.
1. Have a consultation with an oral surgeon to get the wisdom teeth out. Yes, the dentist can extract teeth as well, but an oral surgeon has more advance training when it comes to extractions.
2. It's up to you if you choose to be awake while the wisdom teeth are extracted, but because of my age and that one of the wisdom teeth was "impacted", meaning it wasn't fully out yet, the best route was general anesthesia (aka put to sleep) during the procedure. I was afraid of being put to sleep because it's considered "surgery" and it was my first time, but it's also a first time for other patients. You are not alone!!!
3. Be sure to follow the pre-op instructions. For pre-op instructions in my case, no NSAID medicines a week before (Advil, Aleve). Stock up on pudding, jello, cream soups, applesauce, breakfast drinks, cream of wheat, as many soft foods as you can. ABSOLUTELY NO FOOD OR WATER 8 HOURS BEFORE PROCEDURE. I thought I would be hungry the day of the procedure but I was too nervous to think about food. Also, bring a family member or friend to drive you back home when it's done, but they need to monitor you for the first 24 hours. This isn't all the instructions but that is what I remember, and you will be given a sheet with guidelines.
4. For post-op instructions, change out your gauze until the bleeding stops (mine took 48 hours). Ice down your face to reduce swelling. If you plan to take pain meds, be sure to have food in your stomach or you will get nauseous and throw up! REST, REST, REST!!! Move around when you feel up to it, but slowly. Again, not all the instructions since I'm going from memory, but you will be given a sheet with the guidelines.
I won't guarantee you that you will have a similar experience as I did. But you might recover faster than me, who knows? Everyone is different. Some people get wisdom teeth out in the morning but able to eat pizza for dinner! Others take longer than normal due to complications. As for me, I felt 95% myself by the time I had my follow up appointment, which was a week later from my procedure.
I felt the need to share my story and I'm hoping this will ease your jitters if you have been told that you need to get your wisdom teeth removed.
Hope this helps!!!! :)
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