Wisdom Teeth

I was older (30) when I got mine out, they never bothered me until this year. They shifted my teeth, and now I have braces again. I don't remember much from the actual procedure, unfortunately.

I had my wisdom teeth out after my senior year of high school. It was a pretty basic surgery, but I still think about it.

My wisdom teeth story is probably unique. My uppers came in fine causing no problems whatsoever. My lowers were a real pain, however. They never erupted fully through the gum and were always sore, if not painful and sometimes infected. My dentist said they had to come out. I was referred to an oral surgeon in my city who said he could easily remove my top two wisdom teeth in his office, but he would not even attempt to remove the bottom two EXCEPT under GENERAL ANATHESIA in the hospital across the street from his office. These bottom teeth were so impacted with their roots literally wrapped around my lower jawbone. It was 1968 at the time and I was 20 years old, home from college for the summer. I had a good paying summer job and wanted to get this done in such a way that I would not miss too much work. You know, money is very important to a college kid! An appointment to have me admitted to the hospital was made so I would go in on a Thursday evening and have the surgery done on Friday. This way, I would only miss one day of work having the weekend to "recover". The appointed day came and I showed up at the hospital's admitting office late Thursday afternoon after working all day only to find they had NO BEDS AVAILABLE....even though I had a pre-arranged appointment. I was told I could reschedule the surgery which did not sit well with me. The summer was growing short and I WANTED TO GET THESE TEETH PULLED BEFORE heading back to college. Suddenly, one of the clerks in the office said they could offer me another option where I could still have my surgery done on-time....but that I would have to take a bed in the hospital's 6-bed PRISON WARD where local prisoners with medical issues were admitted for treatment. I really wanted to get this over with, so I quickly signed the papers and was wisked off to the PRISON WARD where there were five "gentlemen" shackled or handcuffed to their beds. There was an armed cop stationed right at the doorway to the ward! Whenever one of the prisoners needed to use the bathroom, the guard unlocked them and escorted them to the toilet. It was very interesting watching all this going on. Luckily, I had "roaming" privileges and could come and go as I pleased. From the time I was admitted, I was given shots in my butt every four hours. They told me that they expected A LOT of swelling from my surgery and these shots would (hopefully) keep the swelling to a minimum. It was annoying being awakened during the night just to get my butt punctured with a needle. On Friday morning, the hospital attendants came and wheeled me down to surgery where I met with my oral surgeon (who WAS a nice guy) before being put to sleep. He explained all the gory details of cutting my lower jaws to get those teeth out. While he had me "under", he said he would take the top two out as well, which was fine with me. Taking these two out turned out to be a really smart thing to do because, once removed, I had plenty of room on my upper jaw for extensive orthodontic work 22 years later where I had full braces and headgear to pull ALL my upper teeth back about 3/4 of an inch thus fixing my deep overbite which had been giving me trouble due to TMJ. I stayed in the Prison Ward until Sunday morning, continuing to get the butt shots every four hours until released. I had very little swelling as a result and went back to work Monday morning at 7 AM!

I still have all four of mine and fortunately never had a single problem with any of them, including not one ever having a cavity. The last time a dentist recommended removing them, I was in my early twenties. Since they weren't bothering me a bit, I casually asked him if he still had all of his wisdom teeth and he replied, 'Yes.' Then I asked him, 'So why do you recommend having mine removed?' He gave me a few lame reasons of future problem possibilities that I didn't think were good enough replies and to this day, I've never had another dentist recommending to remove my wisdom teeth.

My first one was removed because it was infected and in pain but the dentist left the other 3. Thank God she did because I found two naughty dentists to give me a naughty exam and extracted them.

Had to remove 4 wt

I was 13 or something

went to hospital, shower, lay on bed, bed to block around 10:00, then they put gas mask on my noze/mouth, then "breath heavily", 1, 2 ddddd everything turns then I wake up 1h30 later for 5s then I wake 5 min later again and definitly

I exit hospital at 18, and halfway to home I vomited while waiting outside for meds

I've been getting recommended I get them out for several years now but they are not bothering me at all and not harming my other teeth.

I have been to the oral surgeon a few times for consult and they agree no complications are being caused but still want to remove them to prevent future problems. I love dental and oral surgery but am honestly a little scared of getting them removed oddly enough.

Maybe someday...

I correspond with an oral surgeon's dental nurse - she's on Zity, btw. She readily admits that she loves the sight of an open mouth. So do l! Hmm. The question asked by the present thread includes the age at which you had your wisdom teeth out. My dental nurse informant tells me that most (but not all) of their patients are aged 15-22, and extraction of wisdom teeth is a common procedure. In answer to a question from me, she estimated that 55% of the patients are male, 45% are female. (Maybe girls marginally take better care of their teeth than boys? Or maybe females are slightly less susceptible to impacted wisdom teeth than males? I had mine out, btw. I don't remember how old l was, though.)

- Ken

I'm 67 and still have mine. My dentist referred me to an oral surgeon about 15 years ago to have them removed, but the surgeon said "No."

If you can keep them clean and have no problems, keep them!

I'm 67 and still have mine. My dentist referred me to an oral surgeon about 15 years ago to have them removed, but the surgeon said "No."

If you can keep them clean and have no problems, keep them!

Well said, intruder! I suspect that it's like what I've often noted here - that in the past it was the done thing for middle-class kids (like me) to have their tonsils whipped out in childhood. Probably needlessly. But it was a handy little earner for GPs at the time. And parents just gave in. 'Whatever you say Dr Shannon. Of course little Kenneth's tonsils should come out. Whatever you say, Dr Shannon.'

- Ken

I had them all out at the same time in my early twenties. The oral surgeon's name was doctor payne (really). I was out of it, but once I came too, not all that uncomfortable until night time with a lot of bleeding. Took about 3 days to fully recover.

When I was a teen my dentist wanted to take out a wisdom tooth. He said it would probably become a problem when I got older. I said I'll wait till it becomes a problem since perhaps I'll get killed in a car crash, or die from a disease before it does. He looked at me like I was crazy. So I kept the tooth and it's never been a problem, and even better, it serves me well to use for chewing. (I in my mid-70's now).

I have not had my wisdom teeth out yet, surprisingly. However, they’ve shifted my teeth after I had braces as a teenager, and I’m considering adult braces, so I may have my wisdom teeth removed too.

I had my wisdom teeth taken out when I was 17. I was so scared because I didn't know what to expect. I remember I had been given a pill to take beforehand to relax, but that didn't exactly work. My mom drove me there. There was a gigantic fish tank in the waiting room, which I thought was interesting. Then I went back, they put a blood pressure cuff on my arm, and that's really all I remember of the procedure. Then afterwards I was wide awake. I know I asked my mom if I could go to work that afternoon because I legimately felt fine, and she told me to plant my butt on the couch and rest. It turned out to be a super boring afternoon. I didn't have any issues or pain afterwards.

I'm an old guy who still has the full complement of teeth. My hygentist really earns her pay. My gum measurements are a bit worse on the wisdom teeth as it is more difficult to get them brushed properly.

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXFhTXSLjco

Mean siblings.

Well...let’s just say...it was the experience from hell. The better question to ask would be, what exactly went well?

A little back story...I spent 4 years of high school battling ear pain. Orthodontist, dentist, and family doctor diagnosed swimmer’s ear, TMJ, grinding teeth, etc. The day before I was set to leave for college, my mom asked the million dollar questions, “how come her wisdom teeth haven’t started to come in and where are they going to fit in her mouth? Mom agreed to pay for a panorex, but orthodontist decided not to charge her for it after looking at it. All four of wisdom teeth had grown in horizontally in my gums, underneath my back teeth. Nerves and other tooth structure had wrapped themselves around them. Orthodontist sent me that day to oral surgeon. Oral surgeon wanted to get me on the outpatient surgery schedule at hospital for next day. My mom’s response...they’ve been like this for years...what’s 4 more months?!?

I crammed 5 finals Into the first 2 1/2 days of finals week. Packed up my dorm and headed home early to have my wisdom teeth removed a 10 days before Christmas. Because I have asthma and the impacted teeth were described as worst possible scenario, I had to have them removed in the hospital’s outpatient surgery center. Good thing they did surgery at hospital. The breathing tube irritated my sensitive airways and set off asthma. Nothing like waking up with a mouth packed with gauze, chipmunk cheeks, still disoriented, wheezing, and a post op nurse continually asking me what’s wrong? Even if I didn’t have the physical barrier of a gauze packed mouth, I’m not sure I could have formulated a response with the anesthesia cocktail still wearing off. Luckily, anesthesiologist was standing nearby and jumped in. Spent the rest of the day taking breathing treatments, iv prednisone started.

I ended up being admitted. The pediatric residents weren’t really familiar with wisdom teeth removal complications...so they were continuing the ridiculous question and expected response scenario. I had a little dry erase board and wrote down, what part of severely impacted wisdom teeth removed do you not understand?!? The massive doses of prednisone to control the asthma meant my body wasn’t responding well to the usual post op pain meds...ended up with a morphine pump. After 3 days, airway finally settled down and I could be released.

The fun didn’t stop there though...my first out of hospital follow up, oral surgeon had to open up all four incisions...I had dry socket in all of them. The steroids were slowing down the healing process and created a high risk for the dry socket. I lived on rx pain meds, antibiotics, steroids, breathing treatments every 2-4 hours, inhalers, spaghetti with meat sauce, mash potatoes, soup, milk shakes, ice cream, pudding, applesauce, and oatmeal for most of my first college winter break.

About four days before returning to college, I was finally off everything but nebulizer meds, inhalers, and occasional during night dose of prescription advil.

It’s been 34 years, and I can still recall the majority of the nightmare.

I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed when I was in the army. Three of them were severely impacted, one growing horizontal and jammed up against the molar, one coming up below the last molar. The removal was done in three sessions a week apart using novocaïne only. I fully remember the dentist using a saw, hammer and chisel to remove the teeth. One tooth had a root "fused" to the jawbone. I still have that root in my jaw. There would have been too much potential trauma to remove it according to the supervising dental surgeon. Considering that I did not have to pay for the removal and got light duty during the recovery, it was a bargain. The post-op pain was pretty bad. I don't think the meds did much to relieve it and I had to drive from the dental clinic to the dispensary to pick up the pain medication. I was bleeding all over my shirt waiting in line with a bunch of kids with the sniffles! I was 22 years old and the memory is still vivid.

I had all four removed when I was 18. It was not a great memory, considering my mouth was sore for days after. I remember the nurse giving me an IV to sedate me. She also gave me oxygen via nostril tubes. Once I started to get a little sedated she masked and gloves up.

A few minutes later the oral surgeon and assistant entered the room. They donned their ppe and all I remember is looking at the masked face of the nurse as I fell asleep. She was cute brown haired girl wearing glasses.

When I woke up I was trying to walk, but stumbling. They moved me to a recovery room until I was ready to leave. My girlfriend, now my wife, took me home. At first the diet was fun, but after a couple days I wanted to eat normal food again. Only pleasant part out of the whole experience was the lovely nurse.

Having mine removed in December 1st, ill keep you updated..

Have had 2 removed and 1 remains.

Upper and Lower right were removed at 23 due to them growing at 45 degrees into my other teeth. These were taken out under local anaesthesia and I felt them pull both out. Upper right was so stubborn they had to split it. Felt it crack and I just literally was frozen solid in shock.

It was done at a teaching dental hospital so the student took lower right out and was quick and smoothm

Lower Left remains however in planning on getting that removed soon as it's giving me a lot of grief.

I'm 78 and still have my wisdom teeth.

I was past the age by about 2 years that they recommend, I forget the age that was. My mom took me, she was in the room when I went under. I think the nurse gave me headphones to listen to music and sunglasses to block the light. The nurse or Dr. gave me some meds in an IV. I really didn't need the music or sunglasses because they put me all the way out, that is why I am not sure if I had them or if I am remembering this from another dentist visit.

I was afraid that my mom was going to be there when I woke up. I remember the nurse saying "Here she comes around now." I was helped to a corner nook to sleep off the sedation but my head was throbbing so much that I had to slouch so I was somewhat sitting up.

I ended up having all out, 3 of them were impacted. For a few months after, it was really weird because whenever I was running I would feel like my brains were going to fall out of the hole that was slowly closing. What was even weirder, that only happened to one of the teeth.

No leftover problems. All around, not as bad as I have heard some people have.

I had all four out at once. The doctors were really nice and gave me a blanket to cuddle up in and even gave me a milkshake afterwards. I was asleep and didn’t feel a thing. Worst part was that area of time when the anesthetic was wearing off and waiting for the pain meds at home to kick in

I still have my wisdom teeth. Occasionally they bother me, and they do cause some shifting in my mouth, but I’m nervous to have the surgery.

Three weeks ago my lower right wisdom tooth lost a cusp. All four of mine are in and are fine. Dentist said it could either be crowned or extracted. But if I had it extracted, the top one would have to go too because it would cause problems for my lower gum where the broken tooth is located. He said if it was his tooth, which is otherwise healthy, he would crown it. I opted for that. I get the crown next week. Not cheap but I could not face a double-extraction. Plus I am 58 and it is not exactly an easy procedure at my age. Midlife removal of wisdom teeth is complicated I understand.

I had mine done at 17. They were cut out before they had appeared. It was 3 or 4 days of misery and bleeding. My face swelled up like a balloon. Tea bags helped stop the bleeding. I would not wish wisdom tooth surgery on my worst enemy !!!

My wisdom teeth were all removed at the same time. My mouth was simply not big enough to have wisdom teeth!! So I am not as wise as I could have been. The lower ones were impacted (grew in side wise and below the surface of the gums pushing against the 12 year molars). I was advised by a few dentists to just leave them there until one started to partially erupt. They never really bothered me. I was semi asleep according to the dentist and had these huge holes where the wisdom teeth were. Afterwards, I had a vanilla shake and a nice nap. I ate soft food for a few days and have to say, it was not particularly a big deal pain wise or otherwise. I quickly healed up with no problems. I have heard of horrible experiences but wanted to let people know that it is not always the case. For anyone about to have their wisdom teeth extracted, I am hoping their experience is not too unpleasant. I had them out when I was about 35 years old.

Denise

I've only had one of my wisdom teeth removed.

I had some concern I might lose some of my knowledge, but at my age I must have had plenty of wisdom to spare.

I still have my wisdom teeth, I haven’t had them removed.