wisdom teeth
My sister had her wisdom teeth out today. Actually, she just had a wisdom tooth out. She’s very lucky – she only had one small wisdom tooth. At one time, I had four large and very annoying wisdom teeth. I had my wisdom teeth out shortly before my 20th birthday. Here’s my advice to anyone facing the removal of their wisdom teeth:
1) Get a general anesthetic for the surgery. Some doctors want to only give you a local anesthetic, but you will enjoy the surgery much more if you have a general anesthetic. On the day I had my wisdom teeth out, I went to the doctor’s office and sat in their chair-thingy. (It was really like a dentist’s chair on steroids!) The doctor was joking with me – I don’t remember what he was saying, but I know I was smiling and laughing – while he put a tourniquet on my arm and put in an IV. An hour later, I woke up with a mouthful of gauze. I remember none of it, and I’m very happy with that. It was a lovely nap.
2) Whether you have one or four, go ahead and get all your wisdom teeth out at once. Get it over with.
3) Especially if you will be getting more than one tooth removed, get a painkiller with codeine. Yes, it will knock you out – but you will probably be uncomfortable enough that you won’t mind.
4) This should go without saying, but unless you are facing dire circumstances, take some time off of work to recover!
5) Throw your diet to the wind for a week. Unless you stick to soft foods like pudding and yogurt, you will be in extreme pain and quite unhappy.
6) Popsicles are cold and wonderful for numbing the pain. However, especially in the beginning, the sucking action can be painful.
Random: They are called “wisdom teeth” because they appear so late – much later than the other teeth, at an age when people are (theoretically) wiser than when they were children. In Turkish, they are called the “20th year tooth”. In Korean, they are “love teeth”. In Japanese, they are “unknown to the parents”, from the idea that they erupt after a child has moved away.
1) Get a general anesthetic for the surgery. Some doctors want to only give you a local anesthetic, but you will enjoy the surgery much more if you have a general anesthetic. On the day I had my wisdom teeth out, I went to the doctor’s office and sat in their chair-thingy. (It was really like a dentist’s chair on steroids!) The doctor was joking with me – I don’t remember what he was saying, but I know I was smiling and laughing – while he put a tourniquet on my arm and put in an IV. An hour later, I woke up with a mouthful of gauze. I remember none of it, and I’m very happy with that. It was a lovely nap.
2) Whether you have one or four, go ahead and get all your wisdom teeth out at once. Get it over with.
3) Especially if you will be getting more than one tooth removed, get a painkiller with codeine. Yes, it will knock you out – but you will probably be uncomfortable enough that you won’t mind.
4) This should go without saying, but unless you are facing dire circumstances, take some time off of work to recover!
5) Throw your diet to the wind for a week. Unless you stick to soft foods like pudding and yogurt, you will be in extreme pain and quite unhappy.
6) Popsicles are cold and wonderful for numbing the pain. However, especially in the beginning, the sucking action can be painful.
Random: They are called “wisdom teeth” because they appear so late – much later than the other teeth, at an age when people are (theoretically) wiser than when they were children. In Turkish, they are called the “20th year tooth”. In Korean, they are “love teeth”. In Japanese, they are “unknown to the parents”, from the idea that they erupt after a child has moved away.
posted by Tidy Bowl at
4:54 PM
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