Wisdom teeth - older teen/young adult????

[Wishing on a star]

We are getting ready to schedule my son's eval for the surgery. He does have wisdom teeth that are horizontal, and not verticle. Some crowding in the front lower teeth.

We are going to try to find out if that position qualifies as 'impacted' and can qualify for some insurance coverage. We don't have the additional dental... Darn!

Anyhow, my good friend's daughter just went thru this, at age 18, and had a really rough recovery... Pain, bleeding, nausea maybe from meds, etc. I think she had a prescription strength Ibuprofen pain med?

He will def. be put under for this.

Can anybody give me any insight and tips as we go thru this?

How long was the recovery?
What meds and pain meds were given? And were most helpful?
Good liquids and soft foods.
etc....

I would def. consider breaking out my real pain meds from when I had surgery!
I did give them to my son once, and he was like, WOW....
I told him, "Yes, they are my 'magic pills'... But you can't have any more!!!" Hahaha!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

My son's lower wisdom teeth were horizontal. I think they called them partially impacted. Sorry, that probably doesn't help.

My son had a difficult recovery. I think it was the anesthesia. 2 suggestions:

1) If the doctor is giving narcotics, you might have to pick up the Rx in person. I would suggest doing that in advance so you have it filled already when you get home.
2) I think my son's issue was a reaction to the anesthesia. He was vomiting withing an hour of getting home (about half an hour after taking the pain meds, so we had no idea how much got in his system and when we could dose again). We had to call the surgeon and have nausea medication phoned in, then go back out to get it. I will ask for that ahead of time when my daughter goes to have hers out.

My son only took a few of the Percocet. Mostly it was about keeping on top of the max dosage of ibuprofen and keeping ice on it.

Just be aware of what is in the pain medicine he's taking. If he's taking Percocet, he's already getting Tylenol but can take ibuprofen if needed.

Less is more with prescription pain meds since they can cause nausea. But you also need to be out in front of the pain instead of waiting for it to get really bad.

 

[mjkacmom]

Dd20 had them all outzvoupkr of years ago, in office, Valium drip. Recovery took about a week, she refused anything except Tylenol or Motrin for the most part, but even after taking Percocet, couldn't understand the draw (makes me feel sick, too). Dd14 got one out a couple of years ago, just Novocain. Hers was preventing an adult tooth from dropping, but wasn't covered under medical. The oral surgeons will always try to say they are impacted, but it is rarely covered, unfortunately.

 

[wilkeliza]

Had my bottom two out with out going under. Hardly any pain and only took one day of the pain meds. A couple days later and I was on my way to Disney World to start my college program. Mine were horizontal but had broken through the gum sideways so they considered them partially impacted. I let mine go as far as possible before having them pulled (doing the same with tops so I still have them) so that could be a reason why it was easier.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

If they are horizontal then they'd be considered impacted.
Mine were all impacted.
I had my surgery a couple months shy of my 18th birthday.
I had it done a few days before Easter.
The first day I had liquids. Mostly chocolate milk.
The following day I was eating soft foods. A couple days later was Easter and I was eating normally.
I was given 1 hydro pill. Nothing else for pain was given.
Generally you're not given meds like ibuprofen as they can thin the blood and cause more bleeding.
It hurt for a couple days but I was fine after that.
It took a couple weeks for the stitches to really start to dissolve and a few little pieces of thread did come loose and I spit them out.
It really wasn't a big deal.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks you all....
I was wondering about the Ibuprofen, and the nausea and any bleeding.
I am going to try to be 'out in front' of this and be prepared, with the best meds, approach, expectations....
NOT looking forward to this...
I haven't talked to DS yet, but I am sure that he is going to be anxious.

While it is not good seeing this girl have a rough recovery, it is also not good to have false 'easy' expectations!

 

[tzolkin]

Had my bottom two out with out going under. Hardly any pain and only took one day of the pain meds. A couple days later and I was on my way to Disney World to start my college program. Mine were horizontal but had broken through the gum sideways so they considered them partially impacted. I let mine go as far as possible before having them pulled (doing the same with tops so I still have them) so that could be a reason why it was easier.

Definitely a big difference between having them pulled and really being impacted. DH and I both had ours removed around the same time in college. He had two done at a time. They were just pulled and he even went to work the same day (second shift at the hospital) both times. I had issues with the anesthesia, reactions to pain medications, and have very low platelets so it was several days of sleeping/being miserable/bleeding and my face and neck were still bruised a month later.

My daughter just had hers removed last summer. I think she had the surgery on Friday, but still called into work on Monday. She was up and about, but didn't think she could work for 8 hours. She did have some major emotional issues with the anesthesia (lots of delusional stuff for several hours afterwards) so there was lots of crying, bleeding, vomiting, but by that evening she was her normal self, just a little tired and uncomfortable.

She did not eat "regular" food for more than a week, so do have some things on hand that he likes. She was prescribed oxycodone (which I was hesitant to give her but decided to anyway) and was told to take either ibuprofen or acetaminophen (can't remember which) as well. She really seemed fine other than being uncomfortable to eat.

One recommendation I would make would be to have some rags/paper towels and a plastic bag or trash can in the car. We always have these items because my other two children have severe motion sickness, but I know most people do not. I anticipated some bleeding (due to my own wisdom tooth experience), so I put a large towel and the trash can on DD's lap when I put her into the car. She wound up crying/spraying blood and snot the whole way home and then wound up vomiting blood right before we pulled into the driveway.

 

[stsomewhere]

My daughter 16 had hers out on a Thursday and we left for vacation on Saturday for Disney World. ( Not orginal plan but it was rescheduled for that date due to power outage on scheduled day) She was put out during procedure- 2 impacted and particle impacted. SHe was out of it for Thursday and Friday, even on the drive on Saturday. Sunday night we were at MK. She was given Tylenol 3 and 800 ibprophen to rotate.

 

[Wishing on a star]

OMG.... tzolkin, that ride home sounds bad!!!!!
But, I am glad for your heads-up.
Thanks again.

 

[tzolkin]

OMG.... tzolkin, that ride home sounds bad!!!!!
But, I am glad for your heads-up.
Thanks again.

Yes, some bleeding is normal and vomiting is normal so it's always good to be prepared.

I do realize that DD was a bit extreme. When she was ready to leave, I pulled the car up to the side door of the office, she walked out just fine with the nurse and even smiled, but as soon as the nurse walked away while I was buckling her in she started crying hysterically and trying to talk to me (with a mouth stuffed with gauze). She was completely convinced that they were some sort of sadistic monsters who never actually did the surgery to remove the teeth but instead had cut out her tongue. I had to inspect her mouth and reassure her that she did, in fact, have a tongue. But I guess she kept forgetting this throughout the ride, so we repeated this emotional breakdown several times. Apparently she was also freaking out/trying to rip out the IV/etc while she was in the office and the nurse told her that she needed to calm down before she could go home (which of course to her delusional mind was much more sinister-- that they had mutilated her and were then holding her hostage).

I would say that was a freak thing, but I have several anesthesiologist friends who have told me that many people (especially adolescents) have similar responses to anesthesia (boys are sometimes violent, and girls are usually more emotional)

 

[MamaLema]

Oldest DS was 17. All 4 impacted. It was not a fun week but he didn't develop any problems. We followed all post-op care instructions .

Middle DS was 18 and we're into week 2 of recovery. He had 6 wisdom teeth! Never knew it was possible but my son is living proof. If it wasn't for those extra 2 teeth he would be doing much better by now but he is recovering well considering

One more DS to go

 

[cabanafrau]

DD was 18. All four impacted. She was out of her mind when it was over and getting her into the house was no picnic, but I gave her some pudding and a pain pill as they recommended and she conked out for an hour or two. When she woke up she was a bit sore and had no memory of coming home, but was basically fine. She never took another pain pill and probably didn't take any Motrin either, but that's just how she is about meds in general.

Dreading my youngest, she's a trip about this type of thing.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

DD had hers out at 18 that were impacted. Just two. If I recall they only gave her a prescription for six narcotic pills as they've found that many young adults who became addicted to narcotics did so after using prescription medicine, so it's a big thing now that they only give a few and stress that they should only take it if they need it, etc. (And they recommend throwing out any old narcotics in the house when not in use today.) I thnk my DD took one or two but after that she moved to tylenol. Recovery for her was a couple of days.

 

[cabanafrau]

I believe strenuous physical activity and heavy lifting is to be avoided for a week, even if recovery is going wonderfully. I know within two days my daughter was feeling just fine with only slight soreness, yet I believe she was not supposed to do anything extremely strenuous for a week.

 

[wgeo]

I had mine out at 22, the initial recovery was fine but I pushed it/or didn't pay attention to the post op instructions and like a week later I had a dry socket which hurt a lot. So if they say don't drink from a straw or whatever, I recommend listening to the instructions.

My son had oral surgery to have a tooth removed (just one - not wisdom but it was impacted) so they put him out completely. He seemed fine, but was also a little "loopy" on the drive home. And then 30 minutes after we got home he was in crazy bad pain, so then I had to go back out to get him meds. and I didn't want to leave him alone so the poor guy had to come to the pharmacy with me. My recommendation is try and do all that ahead of time, or have an extra adult around to help - after the first day though he got better fast. Ate tons of mac n cheese and mashed potatoes, didn't really want the cold stuff like popsicles.

 

[Poohforyou]

My 17 yo daughter is getting all 4 out next week. None are impacted. She's off to college in august and I don't want her to have issues away from home.

I had a bad experience with one coming in out of nowhere and it was so painful.

I'll let you know how my daughter makes out. I want to avoid pain killers so we'll see how ibuprofen works out.

 

[mom2rtk]

DD was 18. All four impacted. She was out of her mind when it was over and getting her into the house was no picnic, but I gave her some pudding and a pain pill as they recommended and she conked out for an hour or two. When she woke up she was a bit sore and had no memory of coming home, but was basically fine. She never took another pain pill and probably didn't take any Motrin either, but that's just how she is about meds in general.

Dreading my youngest, she's a trip about this type of thing.

Too bad you couldn't wipe the drive home from your memory too!

 

[leebee]

ICE is your best friend. Fill a ziplock with ice, put it in a sock, and tie it around the jaw where the teeth were extracted. It'll keep down the swelling, which will keep the worst of the pain at bay. (or invest in multiple bags of frozen peas, corn, or mixed veggies to use instead of an ice pack)

If your kid has motion sickness issues and is having anesthesia, tell the dentist. They can give them something (usually meclizine) to keep them from becoming nauseous after the surgery.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Like any other medical procedure, I think everyone responds differently. No experience as a parent, but I had all four of mine removed at once, many years ago, when I was 25. Had it done on a Friday; was expecting to stay in all weekend resting with pain meds, but felt fine by Sunday. You do need to drink/eat only liquids and soft food for a few days, but I remember being told not to use a straw because the sucking action could disturb the sutures and blood clotting.

Btw, mine was covered partially under dental and partially under medical insurance because it was done by an oral surgeon rather than a dentist. Definitely check with your provider; you never know.

 

[cabanafrau]

Too bad you couldn't wipe the drive home from your memory too!

What was super annoying is when they took me back to her in recovery and she was aware I was there she had something she was determined to tell me -- over, and over and over again, with a mouth packed with gauze. She continued to tell me all about it on the way home and when I tried to get the pudding and the medicine into her at home. She clearly was frustrated I was too dumb to understand her urgent message. By the time she woke up she had no clue what was so important to tell me.