Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

[Mark42]

I'm 52 yo now, and up until 4 weeks ago, had all four wisdom teeth. But the lower on my left was mostly filling, and did not come through the gum far at all. Last two years I ended up with a few infections in the gum, and my Dentist decided it was time to pull the tooth. So dentist sends me to a well known oral surgeon who suggests removing the upper to avoid problems down the road.

He tells me at my age it will be really rough, as the roots are firmly imbedded in the jaw bone. Kind of like rebar in cement. So he puts me out and removes both teeth. A few days later the pain is unbearable. He looks and I have the dreaded "dry socket" condition where the bpme is exposed and does not heal over. He addresses the situation with medicine and some packing, and three days later its healing.

Then I notice my re-constructed ankle is starting to hurt. Not unusual, but it won't go away. I get to the point where I just cannot walk and end up at my doctors office. He looks at the scared up reconstructed ankle and foot, puts his hand on it and says "Holy Cow! You got one nasty infection so bad I can feel the heat coming off your ankle with out even touching it." So he prescribes two different antibiotics, and I have to call him with an update each day for the next two days. After one day the heat was gone, and after two days I could put some weight on it and walk with a cane. It cleared up after two weeks.

So I get my teeth pulled, and end up with an infection in my foot. Doc said that happens, especially from oral surgery because its hard to keep the germs out of the wound. And the infection often settles out in the lower extremity due to slowed blood flow.

Who would have thought.....


Oh, and I ended up taking 60 Percoset in a 8 day period it was that painful between teeth and ankle.

Put me about a full month behind in yard work and getting the boat ready for this season.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

Wow, that sux... I have to get all mine pulled or at least what's left of them after my accident 7 years ago. It's taken that long for my jaw to finally be strong enough to handle the implants. I'm 57 and I'm dreading it. I should probably tell the doc about all the pins I have in my foot too. Thanks for the info, I would have never thought of it.

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

So what you're saying is, my plan of having my 4 wisdom teeth pulled and spending the rest of that day peacefully fishing by myself is unrealistic?

 

[ehenry]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

Mark42, hate to hear you had such a problem......60 Purcocet in an 8 day period....you shouldnt have been feelin too terribly bad ! !

I had 4 wisdoms pulled at once in the dentists chair and she told me "What ever you do, DONT suck anything through a straw, DONT be fooling with where the teeth were with your tougne and stay away from caffein or you'll windup with a dry socket. Go home and lie down and take a break for a couple days." I followed her intructions to the "T" and was over it in a few days with no porblem.

 

[partskenn]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

So what you're saying is, my plan of having my 4 wisdom teeth pulled and spending the rest of that day peacefully fishing by myself is unrealistic?

Somewhat unrealistic. I had 4 pulled when I was about 40, didn't eat anything for 2 days, ended up with 1 dry socket, and just had a great old time. Plan on spending the rest of that day, and probably the next, sitting on the couch, and taking it nice and easy.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

I had 4 pulled and since I generally have a high pain threshold, figured I'd be back to work that afternoon. Suckers didn't stop bleeding ... took me the rest of that day and the next to get up and around ... missed 2 days of work. Guess I was wrong. Thought of going fishing, but didn't think for long ...

 

[Philip_G]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

I had all 4 of mine dug out in my mid/late 20's. All were impacted, seems to me that makes for an easier time of it since they cut you open, break it up and stitch it shut again, no gaping hole. I went home, finished waxing my car, took a nap and was mostly OK just couldn't eat or talk a lot

 

[freelancer]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

Sorry you had to go through the whole ordeal...got mine all pulled at the same time about 7 years ago. It put me in bed for at least 3 days.

Look at the bright side, it beats looking like this guy:facepalm:

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

Had mine done when I was 23 or 24. Thankfully they knocked me out for the procedure. Bottom two teeth were sideways, oral surgeon told me they had to chisel them out. Pretty much lived off of soft foods, and penicillin for the next couple weeks. I'm surprised the oral surgeon didn't prescribe you an anti-biotic right off the bat. She sent me out the door to CVS with scripts for 500 mg of penicillin and 325 mg oxicodone (only took 3 of them, don't like the drugged up feeling).

 

[Summer Fun]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

Mark, You have more problems than a gay guy in a ***** house. . :facepalm:

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

Your biggest mistake was waiting so long to have them pulled!!!

I'm 56 and had mine pulled back in my 20's and it wasn't that bad, especially with the Mepergan Forte (demorol) they were prescribing back then.

Don't futz around with a dentists/doctors instructions, it may just be their opinion... but it's for good reason!!!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

Geez, makes me glad I got mine pulled when I was only 19 years old. No complications at all. Took one pain pill the first day, and was even back to work, with a tiny bit of puffiness to one side of my face, just 3 days after the surgery. And it only cost $300, when the going rate in my little hick hometown was $1500! Thanks Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Had Theteeth pulled.... what a mistake!

I had 4 pulled and since I generally have a high pain threshold, figured I'd be back to work that afternoon. Suckers didn't stop bleeding ... took me the rest of that day and the next to get up and around ... missed 2 days of work. Guess I was wrong. Thought of going fishing, but didn't think for long ...

That's what happened to me too. Except the blood was coming from a cut capillary. It was the middle of winter and I was going outside to spit the blood. They said sucking on a tea bag, I believe, was supposed to stop the bleeding. Wrong!

Called the wife to tell her, "I think I need to go in". She thought I was being a big baby until she got home and saw all the blood in what used to be nice white snow.

I had been sleeping that afternoon and injested alot. When we got back to wherever I had them yanked, I was puking up. Nothing but dark red blood. I was filling up their little puke tins. It was so bad that the younger nurse had to leave. An older one stayed with me. They even had to give me fluids thru an IV. I was in my mid 30's.