h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm asking for some advice here, well in advance. I don't really know how much in advance, either, as I've know for three years that I need this done, and haven't yet, for various reasons. So it may well be a year or more before I get around to this.

But anyway. Sometime in the not too distant future, I am going to need to have four impacted wisdom teeth extracted. I'll most likely have general anesthesia; if I see an oral surgeon as opposed to a regular dentist, it counts as surgery and my medical insurance covers it. My dental insurance has a $1K per year cap. My medical insurance has a $1M per year cap after a $500 deductible. As the procedure's likely to cost at least $3K without counting anesthesia, I'm better off going the surgical route- and then I get the added bonus of sleeping through the worst of it.

I *know* it's going to hurt. The teeth hurt now, in varying degrees, almost all the time. I appreicate that after extraction, they will hurt worse, but presumably only for a few weeks. And then I won't have to deal with a toothache every month, any more.

While I'm resigning myself to all this, I might as well get a good idea of what to expect. I've heard of a complication called dry socket. I have a pretty low pain threshold and would like to avoid this if at all possible. Most information I've seen states that it's best avoiding by biting down on gauze rolls, but I can't do this. Gauze itches the inside of my mouth and hurts my teeth. I read somewhere that biting down on used tea bags can help- has anyone tried that? Apparently having a stitch put it can help, too, so maybe I can just ask for that.

Vicodin makes me barf but if I'm lucky, maybe I can get some Tylenol 3 prescribed instead.

And then it sounds like I won't be eating at all for a few days afterward, and not much for at least a week. All of the information I've obtained thus far indicates liquids only (not hot, not cold, no carbonation) for three days and soft food only for 7-10 at the very least.

I can do tepid coffee and tea for a few days, and can live without my La Croix water during that time. I understand that I'll want to avoid nuts and seeds for a few weeks or so. I imagine I'll want to avoid spicy things for a bit, too. But what sorts of things should I avoid? What sorts of things aggravate the least? No worries about recommending meat/egg/dairy-free stuff. I know how to substitute or where to get non-dairy yogurts, etc.

It sounds like you have pretty good advice already. The oral surgeon will give you a list of foods and a detail of post-op care. I ate baby food, yogurt, smoothies, and oatmeal at room temperature.

I used herb tea packets which I dunked it boiled water and let cool down. Maybe it helped, maybe it just tasted better than gauze. I did not develop dry sockets.

Don't wait too long before having the procedure.

My wisdom teeth came out when I was 20; my husband had his out when he was in his 40s. The procedure was a lot harder on my husband than it was on me. In time, the teeth bond to the surrounding bone. So Mr. Nerd's oral surgeon had to use a lot more force to extract his wisdom teeth than did my oral surgeon.

More force, more damage to the surrounding tissue, more pain. Not trying to scare you, just saying, don't put it off too long.

Well, I'm already 38 so I expect it to be more difficult than for people who areable to do it when they are quite a bit younger. Unfortunately, only two of mine have even gotten to the point where they have broken through the skin. The other two are WAY down below the gum still. I fully expect they will need to be cut out, like my father experienced before me. I hope I won't need bone grafts afterward like he did. So yes, I expect more effort, more resultant damage and more pain than some people. I anticipate taking a full week off work afterward instead of one or two days, but we'll see.

I figured I'd do some mashed potato and soy or coconut milk based yogurts. Hadn't thought of baby food- though I could probably just as easily puree whatever in the food processor.

I don't expect to do this till after the first of the year- I have another procedure scheduled for January that will meet my deductible so no point paying it twice inside of four months, if I can avoid it. Of course, I also need to find a good, in-network oral surgeon before I can do anything, anyway.

Sorry, I don't actually have wisdom teeth at all...which is meant less smugly than it may sound.

Have had several surgeries with full anaesthesia, so am more knowledgeable about those.

Campbell's canned soups, diluted with double cream

I had two wisdom teeth extracted some years ago - and I'm lucky enough to be quick at healing.

In both cases (yes, they had to extract both the bottom wisdom teeth) I was given a vile tasting liquid to flush my mouth with after each time I had brushed my teeth. It was supposed to prevent infection of the wounds, and it certainly seemed to work for me. Made my tongue go numb though...

Just focus on the 'heal-heal-heal' thing and all will be fine.

I'd thought about making up some nice soups in advance. (Canned has too much sodium for me, though I may be able to find something low sodium at our grocery store) Obviously without the cream, but it'd certainly be something to get down without chewing.

Vile tasting things I can handle, as long as I don't have to swallow them.

Of course whenever I get to it I will come here and moan for sympathy.

I had all of my wisdom teeth out when I was, um, not sure how old. (When were the Rodney King riots? That's what was on the news the evening after and it made surreal viewing with an anaesthesia hangover.) I went for a general anaesthetic and a hospital stay on account of being a wimp.

There was discomfort for a couple of days afterwards, but no actual pain, at least not as I understand it. I got rid of the gauze rolls as soon as I was sure there was no bleeding and had no problems as a result.

As for food... The very first thing the hospital fed me once the teeth were out was a cheese sandwich. They didn't even cut the crust off. I managed. I'd recommend eating whatever you feel like eating. Pasta's good; it's not challenging, but it requires a little bit of chewing and the sooner you get back into normal eating the easier it will be.

I've had three of mine removed. The forth will stay until it's unavoidable. The upper jaw ones weren't that bad. The one in my lower jaw was awful - ended up with a dry socket which was very painful and took time to heal.

Painkillers and liquid food are probably needed.

What is dry socket?

I had mine out in various different ways including a horribly painful and gory, knee on the chest yanking out the bits (it broke) which lasted nearly 3 hours in the surgery and wasn't made any easier by overhearing the dentist, halfway through, saying to his nurse that he'd been a bit ambitious with this one and should have referred me to the dental hospital

So sorry, no help at all. I can't remember any gauze pads or teabags (and I hate things like that in my mouth so I'd probably remember) but I looked like a hamster each time for about 5 days afterwards.

No swelling, no bruising, and I only needed painkillers for the second removal, and only during the day they took it out. Feel free to hate me for healing so easily!

Dry socket or alveolar osteitis is a kind of bone infection that occasionally occurs after a tooth extraction.

Since there are no entry in the Guide I enclose another link http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dry-socket/DS00778

Don't poke the socket with your tongue!

That's almost impossible!

Several years ago- I think it might have been 1999 or so- I was eating some tortilla chips and split a molar on the bottom left completely in half, all the way down to the root. That HURT. My dentist at the time said a root canal would be a waste of money and pulled it out. It was so infected, the whole thing turned red and soft. The assistant, when it came out, fainted. Afterward I literally couldn't keep my tongue out of the socket. If getting a stitch in each will keep the clots in place and stave off dry socket, I'll ask for one. If not, I won't bother with the added expense.

Titania, I don't hate you, but I admit I am a bit jealous. I expect my experience to be more like Sho's.

And I like Ivan's advice to eat whatever but when I had the molar pulled I couldn't move my jaw more than a couple of inches for days.

If I remember it correctly, I only had stitches on the second removal because of the size of the wound due to problems I might tell *after* you've had yours removed.

The removal of the first tooth though was over in seconds, just one good pull.

The main problem with removing wisdom teeth is that they're set so far back into your mouth that most people can't open their mouth wide enough to create a comfortable angle for the dentist/doctor.

Yes, and mine aren't even in all the way or even halfway, they've just got cavities in them because they've been taking so long and I can't really clean them when they're mostly covered with the gum. It's the cavities that hurt now, that and when the stupid teeth move again, which they do in tandem with my monthly cycle. Ugh.

Must remember to use lots and lots of lip balm for weeks before. Last time I had a deep root cleaning the dentist split my lip opening my mouth.

Ooohh, clever - I wish I had thought of making my lips smooth and stretchy...