How long did it take to feel better after you got your wisdom teeth pulled?

Omniant · #1 03-09-2010, 01:45 PM

Yea...just got all 4 wisdom teeth pulled this morning. At the moment its positively excruciating, regardless of the vicodin and all the other crap im taking. The worst part is I'm not salaried at work so I'm missing out on pay while im sitting around my apartment doing nothing.

I also have a gig this weekend and as much as Im trying to be optimistic about making it, i'm having my doubts.

Any advice?

hover · #2 03-09-2010, 01:48 PM

As long as your sockets haven't unplugged, it should start to feel much better in a couple days. No sucking motions, no using straw, etc.

PSPookie · #3 03-09-2010, 01:58 PM

At least you got vicodin. They just gave me extra strength tylenol.

A few days to 1 week and you should be doing just fine. I had mine pulled on Friday and went back to work on Monday.

Gargling with hot saltwater will also help but you'll want to wait two days or so before you start doing that.

Phalex · #4 03-09-2010, 02:06 PM

It'll take a couple of days for the swelling to go down. I played a gig 4 hours after having oral surgery. I took lots of vicodin and people bought me several beers...... I don't remember much about the experience at all, but my drummer says I played flawlessly.

The moral of the story: Don't sweat the gig.

hover · #5 03-09-2010, 02:07 PM

what creeped me out when I had mine done was the knowledge that the bone around your teeth is soft and malleable, and the dentist essentially caves the bone into the socket to promote the healing process.

rarisgod · #6 03-09-2010, 02:14 PM

I believe I was better in a week. For some reason I couldn't open my mouth all the way for a bit longer after that, like my muscles had been used to remaining closed I guess. But with exercises that was fixed soon after anyway.

The main goal is to keep the sockets clean and not to damage them in any way. This can cause damage and/or infection, which will prolong the healing and even bring about the need for more work done.

need4mospd · #7 03-09-2010, 02:18 PM

Had all SIX(yes, I'm a freak) of mine pulled on a Tuesday, went back to work on Wednesday. In any other job, I probably would have been fine with that. But, I worked in a grocery store, and that Wednesday just so happened to be the day before Thanksgiving. Ever been to a grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving? To top that off, I worked in the dairy department. I walked in and out of the cooler at least 100+ times. Going from 40 degrees to 75 degrees over and over for 8 hours. To top THAT off, by the time I got home I realized I had dry socket.

Walk it off champ. You should be back in action by Thursday at the latest. There will be pain, but nothing that prevents you from getting on with your life.

MonetBass · #8 03-09-2010, 02:22 PM

About 24 hours (had all four out at the same time as well), but I'm a freakishly fast healer. I was eating solid food after 48 hours.

Just don't push it, though. I've heard dry sockets are no fun.

rosanne · #9 03-09-2010, 02:25 PM

You will be ok in a couple of days. Will make the gig fine. Your muscles may get sore from clamping down on those cotton pads. Yes, it hurts like ****, but that will pass. My advice is to sleep propped up for at least one night.

Kipaste · #10 03-09-2010, 02:58 PM

It's no biggie, don't worry about. You might need some basic painkillers or not. I had two pulled and two had to be surgically removed. All operations were quick, painless and resulted in no pain. Sure the jawbone will be a bit sore for a day or two if they are taken from the downside, but in my case there wasn't any need for even aspirin. But it would've sucked to sing.. Just make sure you don't lose the blood in the socket, I hear that sucks.

**jmattbassplaya** · #11 03-09-2010, 03:02 PM

Mine took about 3 days to get down to bearable pain and then another 4 for it to go away completely.

groooooove · #12 03-09-2010, 03:11 PM

don't take the pain killers or any of the other poison they've given you.

itll get significantly better in a few days (2-3)

completely healed 1-2 weeks.

dont forget to spray water into the holes (im sure your oral surgeon went over that with you..) if food gets in there and you dont wash it out, the pain your in now will look like nothing next to what that can turn into..

kesslari · #13 03-09-2010, 03:14 PM

You heal faster if you're younger. I had mine done this year (48 yrs old) and I was pretty wonked for the weekend, and still somewhat uncomfortable (and eating carefully) for a week.
I had them out Friday and was back at work Monday.

Omniant · #14 03-09-2010, 03:26 PM

48 wow...I'm 26 and I thought that was unusual.

I'm diabetic so thats my other concern, everything takes longer to heal. Vicodin seems to be making it a little better but its still pretty rough. What sucks even more is I have nothing to do to take my mind off of it. Thinking of buying a nice tremolo and have it modded for an exp input to control rate/subdivision as a reward for myself.

EBodious · #15 03-09-2010, 04:19 PM

i had mine around that age (maybe 30?). like others, it was relatively painless and quick recovery.

if you have a lot of pain/soreness, could this be due to it being a longer/tougher procedure? mine came out disturbingly easy. it was quite a shock to have the dentist pick up a pliers and twist twice and, pop, out they came. i kinda thought my teeth were a little more soundly rooted into my body. my wife (at the time) had hers out and had a horrible experience. hers were hard to get out and she was sore for a long time, even suffered from TMJ from having her mouth open so long.

in the end, who is better off? me with weak teeth and quick recovery or her with rough experience and strong teeth?

first day is the hardest. have a good gig.

Cyber Soda · #16 03-09-2010, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSPookie

At least you got vicodin. They just gave me extra strength tylenol.

A few days to 1 week and you should be doing just fine. I had mine pulled on Friday and went back to work on Monday.

Gargling with hot saltwater will also help but you'll want to wait two days or so before you start doing that.

This

L-A · #17 03-09-2010, 04:23 PM

It took me maybe 48 hours. The healing has been longer than that, but after two days I was completely functional.

FWIW, I had all four of them pulled in the same session, which happened to be maxilo-facial surgery with a renowned surgeon. I was a bad case.

James Hart · #18 03-09-2010, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSPookie

I had mine pulled on Friday and went back to work on Monday.

same here.

TOOL460002 · #19 03-09-2010, 05:25 PM

i had mine taken out before they even broke the surface (i was pretty young... 13 i think...). the first day was me on the couch going in and out of naps, drooling blood and whatnot into a bowl. the second day i had a big sandwich with some nice crusty french bread (im a fiend for good bread for some reason).

you might have some puffy cheeks, but youll be fine after day one. plus, if you play crappy at the gig, you have an airtight excuse there.

WickedPissah · #20 03-09-2010, 06:07 PM

A girl in my class had hers out last week and she has big bruises on her cheeks.