Wisdom Teeth

I have a high pain threshold. Always have. But. . .my wisdom teeth are killing me and I can't get into the dentist for TWO weeks!!!

I have an upper and lower on the left side that are compacted - my mouth is way too small for the teeth I have now, add those two, and let's just say this is rather excruciating.

I delivered four children with less pain than this - anybody got any "tolerance" techniques until I can get in there and get them extracted?? A half a bottle of Anbesol and 15 asprin over night didn't even come close to cutting it. . .:( ouch.

Yes, get some pain pills from the dentist! But they might be so strong that they will interfere with your work.

Why do you have to wait for two weeks to get them out? Is it because the oral surgeon is all booked up? Your situation sounds like an emergency; perhaps they could get you in sooner.

I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed when I was 34. They weren't bothering me, but they were impacted and the dentist said that wisdom-teeth extraction has a greater incidence of complications the older you are, so I had it done before I got too "old." My recovery was uneventful, but I did swell up like a chipmunk.

I live in the middle of nowhere - an appointment to any dentist or doctor takes several weeks unless you're bleeding, and then they make you wait a couple of hours in the ER. . .:rolleyes:

The pain drugs are a good idea, though. . .codiene. . .STRONG codiene. . . :D Although, the whiskey sounds like a tempting idea at this point!

Originally posted by molly
I live in the middle of nowhere - an appointment to any dentist or doctor takes several weeks unless you're bleeding, and then they make you wait a couple of hours in the ER. . .:rolleyes:
Do you have a regular dentist? I suggest you call his/her office, tell the receptionist that you can't stand the pain any longer, and BEG her to call you if they get a cancellation. You might try calling several times, e.g. every day, so she won't forget about you.

If she isn't sympathetic, then I suggest calling all the other dentists in town and within a 30-45-minute drive and trying the same thing. Do you have a relative in a nearby city whose dentist has more openings?

I pretty much tried that route yesterday with no success, unfortunately, but thanks for the suggestion! lol And no, my closest relative is in Ohio - quite a jaunt from North Dakota.

I had my dentist's office call in some codiene, that should at least help with the pain!!!

I hope you feel better very soon!

Make sure your boss knows you are taking pain medicine; it might interfere with your ability to work at full efficiency.

Be careful when driving, too.

And good luck! Keep calling that dentist begging to be notified of a cancellation. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Toothache is one of the worse pains you can have. I suggest you be careful with codeine, since it has strong side effects and may intoxicate you. It's a powerful drug.

I had my wisdom tooth come out horizontally, it had to be surgically removed. My dentists have always told me wisdom teeth often are affected by caries even before they are completely out, and that the best thing is to always have them removed. Some will never come out, but they may push the other teeth. Problems of our evolution, some parts of us are obsolete... ;)

It's terrible that this kind of pain is not an emergency where you live, the first commandment of any health professional is to help people get rid of pain.

I hope you'll feel better. :(

Molly I empathize with you. I don't have pain from wisdom teeth, but just had an abscessed tooth!! My tooth hurt for 2 months off and on and then one night I woke up nearly screaming, and next day went to the dentist and found out I had a massive abscess underneath it. It was excruciating. Got rid of the abscess and just started a root canal last week. For the first time in 2 months, I have no pain. What I took was alternating prescription strength Tylenol and Advil (1200 Tylenol, 800 to 1000 Advil) BUT I have a very high pain tolerance and did not take it sometimes. I can handle pain well, so I would say if you can get a prescription, have the doctor call you in one.

I will tell you a funny story about having a wisdom tooth pulled. about 25 years ago, I was 23 and had an impacted wisdom tooth in the upper back right side, it was lying on its side too !!

I went to an oral surgeon. I told him that I dont do shots well, that they don't numb me well, I usually have to have a bunch. lol Anyway, it was like something on SNL. He ended up in the chair with me, sweating profusely under the light. My head was smashed against the chair and he was bearing down hard on my jaw. He had his knee on one arm of the chair and the other knee beside me for support so he could reach the tooth and get this machine on it that pushed it upwards. It took forever cause he had to keep numbing it and it was in a terrible position.

Now days, he would have put me to sleep, but anyway, after he got it out, my whole face swelled too (and it was just one tooth) and my neck and side of my face turned black, then purple, then green. I looked hideous. LOL I worked as a dental assistant and when I came back to work that Monday, my dentist nearly fainted. He said IT WAS ONLY ONE TOOTH, what did he do to you?

Funny thing is, my mouth only opened about 1/2 inch, but I never missed a meal, could still fit a sub sandwich through it:p

ANyway, hope I didnt scare you. It is much more advanced now days. You will have no problem. People were telling me how awful root canals were and I was hearing horror stories, and I didnt think it was that big of a deal last week.

Originally posted by WiserNotSadder

I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed when I was 34. They weren't bothering me, but they were impacted and the dentist said that wisdom-teeth extraction has a greater incidence of complications the older you are, so I had it done before I got too "old."

Was there any other complications that you had to have them removed? I ask because neither my mother nor I have had our wisdom teeth removed. They just don't bother us and they never have. Ours appeared to be growing in impacted whenever we had dental X-rays done, but they just stopped growing once they crowned and never bothered either of us since.

I was seeing a dentist for something else entirely (I think it was when I chipped a tooth but I can't remember) and after he saw my X-rays he declared that I had to have my wisdom teeth out right away, or I would regret it. I was 32 at the time and they weren't bothering me at all, neither had they grown one millimetre since they crowned. So I'm afraid I wasn't all that impressed with his pronouncement. I just said, "No thanks, they don't hurt and I don't see the point in having unnecessary surgery." He actually turned red with annoyance. I thought he was going to throw a fit right there in the office.

I kind of question the assumption that everyone has to have their wisdom teeth pulled. If they aren't hurting and they stopped growing, what's the point? My mother is over 60 and she still has all of hers. She's had other dental problems over the years, but not one has had a thing to do with her wisdom teeth.

I tend to agree, Scarlet. The only compelling reason my dentist gave me was that they were crowding my other teeth. Big deal. I have a few crooked teeth. Mine are not painful. So, in the 4 years since he encouraged me to have them excised, I have not pursued that. I figure that if they are not causing me pain or other problems, then I'd rather die with them since they were apparently given to me for a reason. ;)