A Quest for Wisdom

Yesterday I had the much fun experience of getting my wisdom teeth out. I've been dreading getting this done for months and months. I was extremely nervous and almost backed out a few times. I called HayLee the night before to get some reassurance that everything would be okay. And it was. It really wasn't that bad. I got up yesterday morning, ate breakfast (on Hay's recommendation), and drove to the dentist. I picked the movie Hitch to watch, and they got me set up on the nitrous oxide (a.k.a. laughing gas). The gas really helped to calm down my racing heart. Dr. Pincock came in and swabbed me with the bubblegum-ish numbifier stuff. I then got several shots, which frankly were probably the worst part of the whole thing. I got good and numb and then Dr. Pincock yanked out my three wisdom teeth (two on bottom, one on the top left). It was over before I knew it. I couldn't believe it was so fast. After going through it, I don't know why people would want to be put under. It really wasn't that bad. I felt a little pressure, but no pain (besides a little pinch from the shots). The worst part was getting numbed up.

Afterward my mouth was completely numb and full of gauze. Austin picked me up and I tried to communicate with him. I couldn't talk yet as my mouth (and tongue) were still numb. So I tried to use sign to communicate with him. But Austin doesn't know that much. It was pretty funny (and frustrating). Once home Austin made me some jello and went back to work for a while. I myself worked for a few hours until Austin came home with my percosets. I took half of one and stopped working when I started feeling dizzy and nauseous. Fortunately, the jello was done by this time so I swallowed it down and lay on the couch, which helped with the nausea. Austin then stayed home from work so he could take care of me. We watched Friends season 10 all night, only stopping so Austin could pick me up some soup from Zupa's for dinner and of course my all-cherised FroYo.

This morning I'm feeling pretty good. I just rinsed with some salt water (absolutely disgusting) and took another half of a percoset. There is almost no swelling in my cheeks (no chipmunk for me!) as I took the dentist's recommendation to apply hot and cold compresses on and off last night. Now my only concern is avoiding dry socket. It's almost impossible to not do some sort of spitting or sucking motion. So this weekend Austin and I are taking it easy as I recover and await the time that I can once again eat solids.

Comments

Jessica said…
I remember getting mine out last november. Not Fun. At least you get to eat a bunch of good treats! Although, you seem to have it better than I did.
9/6/08, 1:55 PM
Heidi @ Honeybear Lane said…
Thats good that the thing went better than you expected. And you never have to do it again! Yay. Have fun this weekend eating mushy food and liquids and watching a lot of movies. That's the best part of having wisdom teeth out so enjoy it.
9/6/08, 2:04 PM
lynette said…
i had my wisdom teeth pulled in high school, but they were impacted (under the skin). they put me out because the procedure is more difficult, breaking the tooth through the gum, and then removing the pieces. i didn't have any swelling or dry sockets either. i think i was eating cheetos that afternoon!
happy recovery!
9/6/08, 2:12 PM
Unknown said…
So glad everything went well. Makes me feel a little bit better about doing it some day. Glad you're ok :)
9/6/08, 5:24 PM
Heather Mae the DIY Gal said…
ugh! So glad I don't have wisdom teeth.

But not to say that I haven't experienced teeth pain!
I was in intense pain 3 years ago, and found out I had to have 700 dollar root canal therapy, followed by 1200 dollar procelain crown treatments.

Just had another one put in this past spring.

I know what you mean with gagging, spitting, and unable to eat anything.

The important part is that Austin is taking such good care of you!
9/8/08, 10:23 PM
HayLee said…
Oh good. Trust HayLee. By the way the bubblegum numbing stuff is called topical anesthetic. Glad that you are having a good recovery. Dr. P. is really good at taking out wisdom teeth. Thats why you don't have the swelling. He tries to be careful. Don't worry too much about dry sockets. As long as you do or don't do what they told you, you will be fine. The biggest reason why people get dry sockets is smoking, which you don't do, plus if is is going to happen it ususally take s place 3 to four days after the procedure. So you are probably just fine.
9/9/08, 11:29 AM
Kris said…
Glad that you had a good experience with the wisdom teeth. I remember getting the dry socket and that was very painful. The dentist stuffed the socket with this foul tasting gauze. I didn't want to eat because everything tasted like the gauze. Sounds like you are doing just fine. I really like Dr. P.
9/9/08, 12:08 PM
BrItTneEanN said…
Sounds horrible I hope your feeling better. Lets do something soon!

P.S. You can now check out my blog. I finally posted something.
9/13/08, 6:37 PM
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