To get a good idea of how this went down, let's start at the beginning. I had a consultation appointment set up sometime in March. I was taken into another room where they looked at the x-rays of my teeth I was required to provide, but they also took new e-rays with a machine that spun around my face (aka, the least painful x-ray machine ever!!!). Then, the dentist/doctor brought me into an operating room to talk to me about the procedure if I chose to go forth with it. For me, I had already been feeling pain from the teeth trying to come in, but I had just gotten my braces off so there was no room in my mouth for them to come in. Dr. Lew also talked about how it was good I was getting it taken care of when I did because I was still young (I was 17 for the consultation).
Once I was done talking with him, my parents and I talked to the secretary to get a date set up for the removal surgery. The office was great because we were able to set one up just one or two weeks down the road. We were told how much it was going to cost, and a few of the rules I should expect to deal with at this point. I walked out of that office knowing a date for surgery to take place, understanding that straws are a no-no for a good duration of time after the surgery, and understanding that for me to get 100% back to normal it should take about two weeks but the pain would really die down by the fourth day.
This is where my story will probably differ from yours. This is during the Carona Virus crisis of 2020. The office shut it's doors to everyone except emergency cases about a week before I was going to go in. The office explained via a phone call that we should not call them, but they would call us back when they were ready to take in more patients.
We waited and they left a voicemail on my phone so we were able to set up a new appointment about 6 weeks later. By that time I was eighteen, so I would have to do much of the paperwork myself. When my mom and I showed up at the clinic on the 4th, we were given the paperwork to fill out (most of which my mom had taken care of when we went for the consultation) and my mom had to sign a form saying she would drive me home because I would not be in a good mindset to drive myself home.
Then, about thirty minutes later, they were ready to take me in. They sat me down in a dentist's chair and immediately leaned my back. They had to stick a rubber thing between my top and bottom teeth so I did not bit down too far during the procedure. They got me all set up with an IV to my right arm that would give me the anesthesia so I was asleep throughout the whole procedure. I was concerned it would not work on me, but Dr. Lew told me "This should kick in in about ten seconds" and I almost decided to start counting, but I could already feel it starting to kick in so I chose not to count and just closed my eyes. And I was out.
The next few things I am about to mention- almost all of this paragraph or the dialogue- I cannot promise actually happened. I remember starting to wake up and I could feel that Dr. Lew and his two helpers were still messing with my mouth. I was afraid that the medicine had worn off too early. So, I spoke up saying "I'm awake!" letting them know that they may need to give me more anesthesia. But, they responded with "I know" and kept on working. Now I had chosen not to talk during some of that until I feel the pain was so bad that I wanted them to give me more medicine, so I was not too surprised that they knew I was awake because I felt like I had been awake for a few minutes already (though it was probably just seconds). My mom thinks, when I told her this story, that I was already in the recovery process- that I was feeling them putting the gauze in my mouth. This makes the most amount of sense. Yet, that is not all I remember about waking up. Once I felt I was more awake and aware of what was going on, I think I remember Dr. Lew asking me what kind of music I liked- and then I thought he looked it up on his computer and played one of my favorite songs! This, I am pretty sure, totally did not happen. I was sore and I had gauze in my mouth so there was no way I would be able to give him a clear answer to what my favorite artists or songs were. And, from what I do remember seeing on his computer, he was entering data and dealing with medical things- I never saw the google search, YouTube, or Spotify pop up.
Other than those adventures that were personal to me, I remember one of the helpers come in the room with a wheelchair and then leave real quick. I knew she was getting ready to put me in it and I felt fine enough to pick myself up, but I also have a history of lightheadedness from getting up too fast, so I decided it was probably safer to wait for someone to help me into the wheelchair. I felt the same way when she wheeled me outside to the car.
The one hour ride home was pretty uneventful. Supposedly there are three reactions that people have with anesthesia especially after this surgery. They are either loopy and talkative, emotional (where they cry about everything for no reason), or are simply sleepy. If I was any of them, it would be sleepy because I was a little tired. Yet, for the whole ride home I was aware of everything I said and none of it was anything I would not have said if I was not in the right frame of mine. One thing I would like to mentioned to prepare you is that for that ride home, I could taste all the blood in my mouth, yet it was hard to swallow. Every once and a while I would take a Kleenex to wipe my mouth (though I could barely feel my puffy lips because I think they numbed my mouth once I was put under) and when I got home I had dried blood on my lips. I know it is disgusting to hear about, but it was how I looked.
When we got home and I could finally change my gauze, I took them out and simply left them in the sink because I wanted to take the water from the sink and rinse out my mouth a little. My mom had me squeeze out most of the blood from the gauze before throwing it away, and I felt amazing once I got the new gauze in my mouth without any trouble. Just half an hour later was lunch, where my mom made a smoothie for me. I took the gauze out to eat, and I never put any more back in. When I was climbing into the car, the nurse/assistant told my mom that I should only have the gauze in my mouth if I was bleeding bad- not even if I was bleeding a little.
For reference on how I was feeling, I went to someone's house and played card and board games with them almost all afternoon. Yet, I fell right asleep at night because I was so tired. My mom did not want to buy the strong medicine for me because often it is expensive, yet my pain was growing so dad ended up going to pick it up from the pharmacy. Again, this might be different for others, but the medicine that I was given cost about $60 for it all- but about $40 of that was all from the 9 pills I got that help patients not get sick (ondansetron). So, if you do not easily get sick then don't ask for this medication. I normally do easily get sick so this was a special request. I have not needed to use it yet, and I don't think I will have to use any of the 9 for this surgery. Then, I got a container of just really strong Ibuprofen which has been amazing and seems to work within just a few minutes. The final medication I was given is called Hydrocod/acetam or something like that. This medication has codeine and is what the ondansetron is for. It does affect me (I feel motion sickness and I cannot stare at a screen for too long), but it is not too bad and it really does help with the pain. They also gave me a wash (that works like mouthwash) to help make sure my mouth does not get infected.
The foods I have been able to eat are limited, but as of today (four days after the surgery) I am able to eat more solid foods. Before today it was mostly pudding, applesauce, shakes, eggs, bread, gravy, soup, and not much else.
Update: This is about a month after the surgery. I have recently gone to the dentist for my 6-month checkup and they could tell that my wisdom teeth were gone. I was informed that the healing technically does not completely heal up until about a year after the surgery, yet I feel as normal as ever since the week after the surgery. I just want to warn you that it is not completely healed up so something could still possibly go wrong, yet it is very unlikely.
Even though this is a crazy long article, I am sure there is much information I forgot to write down here. If you have more questions, comment down below and I will answer the best I can with the information and experience I gained from this.
Even though this is a crazy long article, I am sure there is much information I forgot to write down here. If you have more questions, comment down below and I will answer the best I can with the information and experience I gained from this.
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