<p>My daughter is having four wisdom teeth extracted.</p>
<p>What should I expect? Does someone need to be home with her? etc.</p>
<p>It varies from person to person. I think it would be good to have someone home with her.</p>
<p>My daughter has heard it will take some days to recover.</p>
<p>Is it likely she will need someone home with her for more than a day?</p>
<p>IIRC, the pain is mostly on the first day after the anesthesia wears off. Painkillers help here. Having someone there day 1 is good. After that, it’s about resting until the swelling goes down. Went through it 3 times. First kid was out and about in about 5 days, second kid had it easy, out and about in 2 days, last kid took about 3 days.</p>
<p>Also pay attention to the directions in order to avoid dry socket. That can be quite painful if it happens, and a setback as well.</p>
<p>Having someone available on day 1 is good because there may be prescriptions or other supplies to be picked up and the patient may be groggy from the anesthetic. I would not want to leave someone alone in that condition because they might not be ready to manage their own medications, and there could be problems if they take the meds at the wrong times.</p>
<p>After that, I don’t think that a companion is necessary, but it would be nice if there was someone in the family whom she could call if she wants/needs to. If she’s taking a narcotic pain medicine, she shouldn’t drive, so someone will have to do errands for her for a few days, even if she has her own car.</p>
<p>A few tips:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Ask the oral surgeon for the postoperative instructions in advance. This way, your daughter (and you) can prepare ahead of time. She may need some supplies that you don’t ordinarily have in the house, such as ice packs.</p></li>
<li><p>Also ask the oral surgeon to give you, in advance, any prescriptions that your daughter will need. Fill these the day BEFORE the surgery. Filling them after the surgery is difficult because your daughter will be goofy from the anesthetic, and either bringing her into the pharmacy with you or leaving her at home will pose problems. (Because it’s summer, leaving her in the car is obviously out of the question.) And if you wait too long to fill the prescriptions, the anesthetic may wear off and she will have no pain medication available.</p></li>
<li><p>Make sure to have plenty of very soft foods that she likes in the house. If this includes yogurt, it should have no seeds (seeds can get stuck in the stitches). Besides yogurt, pudding and applesauce are good. Also soups with no pieces in them, like tomato soup. After a couple of days (or for some people, a few hours), she will be able to handle things that aren’t quite as soft. (One of my kids was able to eat macaroni and cheese the first day – the other would have had trouble with it even after 5 days.)</p></li>
<li><p>On the day of the surgery, ask the oral surgeon if (and when) she might have the option of switching from the narcotic pain medicine to ibuprofen. Have the surgeon explain how much ibuprofen she can take and how often to take it. (She may be allowed a prescription-strength amount of ibuprofen, which is more than the usual over-the-counter dose.) The advantage of ibuprofen is that it doesn’t make you drowsy. Therefore, the patient can actually do things, and the activities are a good distraction from the discomfort. However, the dentist may not want her taking ibuprofen right away because it promotes bleeding, so don’t just switch without asking.</p></li>
<li><p>Make VERY sure that she knows not to take more than the prescribed amount of the narcotic pain medicine. Most of these medicines are a combination of codeine or something similar and acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol). If you take more than the prescribed amount, you’re getting too much acetaminophen. That can destroy your liver.</p></li>
<li><p>Your daughter will not be allowed to eat or drink on the morning of the procedure – but this is something that people can forget easily because most of us do our morning routines on autopilot. She may want to post signs to remind her. “Don’t drink” on the bathroom mirror and “Don’t eat” on the refrigerator door and kitchen cabinet door might help.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>When my d had her wisdom teeth out I woke her up around the clock to take her meds. You have to stay ahead of the pain.</p>
<p>I definitely needed somebody with me on the day of the extraction, all day. As I recall, by day two I could have just lumbered around the house miserable, as long as the house was stocked already with everything I needed. </p>
<p>There are two things I would do differently if I were going to have my wisdom teeth out again. (God forbid!)</p>
<p>First, I would ask the surgeon what to do if the opiate analgesic he prescribes bothers me. Mine nauseated me so much that I did not take it, and the post-operative pain was really more than Tylenol could handle. </p>
<p>Second, I would get prescriptions for post-op pain medication in advance. That was really good advice up the thread. That wait in the pharmacy to get my prescription filled was just about the most miserable experience of my twenties.</p>
<p>Sadly, I had a pretty terrible time with the extraction of my wisdom teeth. I should not have waited until I was 29!</p>
<p>A bit of a warning: some people have reactions when immediately after coming out of the anesthesia and are often a bit unstable physically. </p>
<p>DD stumbled a bit getting into an SUV after she had her wisdom teeth removed. I had to buckle her seat belt. She also was crying. I suspect that is a common reaction. I did the same thing decades ago. </p>
<p>Day 1 I wouldn’t leave her alone. Day 2 and after was fine. It depends on one’s reaction to the painkillers.</p>
<p>When I had mine out I bought ensure to drink for a couple of days. Also, melting or liquid tylenol (they won’t be able to chew and will be easier than swallowing the pills).</p>
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<p>The oral surgeon should prescribe a stronger painkiller than Tylenol. The patient may need it, especially on the first day. </p>
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<p>I’m the one who suggested this. I have been the driver/babysitter for people who’ve had minor surgery or other medical/dental procedures at least a dozen times. I ALWAYS insist that the patient try to get the prescriptions and post-op instructions in advance. In my opinion, it is the single most important thing you can do to make the day of the procedure go smoothly if you’re the patient’s only companion.</p>
<p>I broke out into hives all over me after taking anti-biotics after getting my wisdom teeth yanked. The hives went away when I stopped taking the anti-biotic.</p>
<p>When I had my wisdom teeth chipped out of my jaw they just told me to take advil every few hours. We were good about keeping the giant “bunny ear” ice packs completely filled, though.</p>
<p>Remember to not use any straws. I believe the sucking action can cause dry sockets (and it hurts anyway). Buy some plastic spoons/forks. Every time I’d accidentally tap my teeth with something metal it made me go cross-eyed from the feeling.</p>
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<p>This is a good example of why someone should be home with the patient on the first day. If something unexpected like this happens, the oral surgeon will need to be called, and the patient might not be able to manage that alone or to remember instructions given over the phone. (People’s memories may be affected by the drugs given during the procedure long after they appear to be sober.) And if the oral surgeon says that it’s necessary for the patient to come back to the office or go somewhere else to be seen by a health care professional, that could pose a problem. The patient is in no condition to drive and might have difficulty managing the trip by taxi.</p>
<p>On the second and later days, I think most people could manage the phone conversation, and if necessary,traveling by taxi to get to the dentist’s office or to a pharmacy to pick up a prescription for a different medicine.</p>
<p>Staying with her Day 1 should be all that’s necessary. Depending on the anesthetic, she could be groggy. Both my kids took naps after getting home. The needed me that day to give them their meds. After Day 1, they were alert and comfortable enough to handle meals and meds on their own. </p>
<p>Re:soup. It should be smooth, not hot (lukewarm), and should not be slurped. That could dislodge the clot.</p>
<p>First, my sympathies. Hopefully, she’ll be one of those people who recovers very quickly. </p>
<p>My D ended up lying on the couch for several days following multiple wisdom tooth extraction, but really only needed me there on the first day. The rest of the time, she was fine with painkillers, bad television and someone to whine to every now and again.</p>
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<p>Our oral surgeon would not do this for D2 this summer; I asked because it was a problem with D1. For D1 I had to ask her dad to leave work to pick up the prescriptions because she was groggy and miserable, and I couldn’t leave her. I asked the surgeon’s office to allow us to fill them early this time, but they said they can’t do that. Maybe because one of the prescriptions was for Vicodin, pretty tightly controlled in our state. So I made arrangements for her dad to pick up the RXs after D2’s surgery while I stayed with her.</p>
<p>I happened to be off work the week D2 had hers done. I’m glad I was because the medication schedule was not that simple and she was a little goofy from the meds for the first couple of days. One was every 8 hours and one was every 6-8 hours as needed. So I was glad I was there to keep track of the med schedule and make sure she woke up and took them as needed, ate something when necessary, did her saltwater rinses, etc. I did that for about 3 days, then she took over.</p>
<p>Oh, and D2 is a picky eater. So we spent some time on the internet ahead of time looking over what other people have eaten afterwards so I could grocery shop before the surgery. That worked out pretty well, but I am glad we talked ahead of time.</p>
<p>I made a flannel thing with pockets on both sides; it tied on top. That way, DD could put ice packs in and nap. It was also really funny looking, so I told her that I took her picture while she was sleeping. People have told me that their doctors provided something similar for ice packs.</p>
<p>My husband escorted DD for the surgery and went to the store with her afterward. When he came back out tot he car, he had trouble waking her and it really scared him. She seemed to recover fairly quickly, but said it took two weeks to be 100 percent. </p>
<p>This reminds me that DS needs to have his out.</p>
<p>I am remembering when I had two of mine removed - I was given only local anesthesia - and drove myself home with a prescription for Percocet. Although this was only about 15 years ago - I can’t imagine any oral surgeon doing that today!</p>
<p>Marian is so right about NOT having the patient in the car, with the anesthesia wearing off whilst you wait for 20-60 minutes to get the Rx filled. That is a miserable wait.</p>
<p>One of my DDs was in a very high level sport tournament a month after the wisdom teeth removal and she still had a headache & jaw pain at that time, not so much she could not function, but just the slow healing was distracting in the important situation :(</p>
<p>Also, be vigilant and aware for a few weeks. Just ran into a kid who got an infection three weeks after the wisdom teeth were removed.</p>