<p>My daughter, 20, will have oral surgery for wisdom teeth extraction in two weeks. We are trying to decide between IV sedation and general anesthesia. She will have four out and two are somewhat impacted (although she thinks they have emerged more lately). Can anyone offer advice/pros and cons of both both during and following the procedure? Any general wisdom teeth wisdom based on their kids’ experiences?</p>
<p>Thanks very much.</p>
<p>My son was put under at the dentist’s office and had 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed. He was given a IV sedation. Make sure you have a couple extra people with you to get the patient home because in my son’s case he did not wake totally up for about 6 hours afterward. My son is a big guy and had to be half carried in and out of the car. That was the first time my son had surgery. They don’t remember anything afterwards.</p>
<p>Both of our kids had general anesthesia for their wisdom teeth removal. I think both kids had 4 impacted wisdom teeth. My husband came along both times – both kids are around 6 feet tall, and I couldn’t catch them if they needed help. Both did just fine – have lots of soft food that they can eat, and keep ice on according to the directions you receive from the oral surgeon. Both kids had some swelling, which went away in a couple of days. Both were pretty loopy on the day of the procedure, which can be pretty entertaining! I think they really need someone at home with them for the first day.</p>
<p>I have had three separate extraction procedures, the last for impacted wisdom teeth. I much prefer IV sedation to general (gas) anesthesia. The nausea afterwards is much milder, and both types effectively blocked any memory of the procedure or immediate aftermath. I was very uncomfortable for the first couple of days, but sleeping pills helped me rest and get through that period.</p>
<p>Hopefully, an anesthesiologist will chime in, but I think there is a little less nausea and vomiting with IV sedation than with general. Many people have no nausea with either, so it is a hit or miss thing. Has your child ever been sedated before? The downside of IV sedation is no intubation, I liked the idea of the anesthetist having airway control when the oral surgeon is working in the back of the mouth, just seemed safer to me.
My D was wide awake when she was discharged from OP surgery (she had general), but they had also given her several local shots so she was numb and drooling. She was still numb and drooling a couple of hours later when it was time to take her antibiotics and pain pills, so she couldn’t swallow them. In the end, we got the antibiotic down, and said if you need the Lortab, we’ll find some way to make it work. She was able to keep the ice on for the entire recommended time, and actually only took a little Advil before bed that night, and had little soreness. She had 3 of 4 impacted, I think.</p>
<p>Our D had 4 wisdom teeth removed using IV sedation. She is tiny so I could keep her on her feet until I got her home. She was fine after the 2nd day, but I am a nag about following the instructions to the letter. The first several hours were the worst with all that packing. Hope your D’s recovery is quick and painfree.</p>
<p>I think I had my bicuspids pulled with just novacaine I don’t ever remember getting good stuff at the dentist.( I still have my wisdom teeth)</p>
<p>Don’t remember what my older D had ( I should ask I don’t even remember if she had 2 or 4 taken out- I think it was just 2, as the others ones might not have even been in there- but she probably had novacaine also, not impacted though- the pain medicine afterwards did make her very sick- so sick that she collapsed-which might have been compounded by low blood pressure or something else I don’t know- so watch for that)</p>
<p>Younger D had general, but that was when she was about 5, and it was for a filling, since she was not so cooperative- she had to be admitted to the local hospital and everything.</p>
<p>I had general when I had a breast reduction- but IV when I had foot surgery. I would go for IV, much faster recovery.</p>
<p>My brother got his out last Friday (poor kid had them growing in perpendicular to how they should have been, so he had to have them out way earlier than most people would). He had IV sedation and some local shots, too…I don’t think he really got nauseous, but it took him almost a full 24 hours before he could completely feel everything in his mouth again - he was drooling everywhere and had a hard time eating, which he was not too happy about because he’s like a bottomless pit normally. He iced and used the heating pad a couple days after, and his cheeks were normally sized by the time he went back to school on Monday.</p>
<p>He apparently got the bad teeth genes - he had to get braces and get his wisdom teeth pulled, and I haven’t had to get either.</p>
<p>Both of my kids had their wisdom teeth – including several impacted ones – removed under IV sedation. One of those same kids recently had a growth removed from her hand under general anesthesia.</p>
<p>The kid who has had both IV sedation and general anesthesia greatly preferred the IV sedation because the recovery afterward is much quicker. With the general anesthesia, she felt unwell – tired, draggy, as though she were catching some bug – for four days. With the IV sedation, she was fully functional (except for a very sore mouth) by later the same day.</p>
<p>When oral surgeons use IV sedation, they also use a local anesthetic (the same stuff that’s used when you get cavities filled) to deal with the pain during the procedure. People rarely remember anything about the procedure, but if they do remember, they won’t remember pain because the local takes care of that.</p>
<p>I am a big fan of IV sedation. Last December, I had a broken leg fixed surgically, with lots of plates and screws, under spinal anesthesia plus IV sedation. I don’t remember any of it, but I was functional enough about six hours after the surgery to go over my daughter’s schedule with my husband and make complicated arrangements about pickups and carpools and that sort of stuff. </p>
<p>For your daughter, I strongly recommend having a second person available after the procedure, at least for a few hours. Getting her into the house is one of your challenges, but there is also something else to think about. Regardless of which kind of anesthetic/sedation is used, your daughter is going to be in a condition where she shouldn’t be left alone, at least for several hours. But you’re going to have prescriptions to fill! Taking a half-stoned person into the pharmacy with you is not a good idea, but neither is leaving that person in the car. If you don’t have a second person whom you can send to the pharmacy, try to get the dentist to give you all the prescriptions beforehand so that you can get them filled the day before the oral surgery. </p>
<p>One other piece of advice (courtesy of my kids). Before the oral surgery, ask the dentist whether it would be OK for your daughter to switch from the prescription pain medicine to ibuprofen after a day or so if she wants to, and ask how much ibuprofen she can take. You will probably find out that 1) this is OK, and 2) she can take twice as much as it says on the Advil bottle. The advantage of ibuprofen is that it doesn’t make you feel dopey the way that nacrotic pain relievers do. If a person doesn’t feel dopey, she can get involved in things, and the activity itself serves as a distraction from the pain. My son had considerable pain after his wisdom teeth were removed, but he found that he could cope much better after he switched to ibuprofen because he was alert enough to play online games, and the pain didn’t bother him as much when he was involved in gaming.</p>
<p>IV sedation and ask for the post op prescription for pain ahead of time. They can call it in or you can P/U the written Rx 1-2 d before and have it ready and waiting at home when you bring D home that day.</p>
<p>My D had IV sedation when she had hers out in March. Definitely needed help out to the car afterwards and was dopey and goofy (which, yes, was quite entertaining). Pretty quick recovery. Pain meds were prescribed & we specified no oxycontin(sp) (which seems a remarkably frequently prescribed pain med nowadays - we always have to say we don’t want it as she & I have both had bad reactions to it before including nausea and vomiting which is not something you want after wisdom teeth extraction. He prescribed something else which also contained an anti nausea medicine just in case.) Foodwise our Doc recommended mashed potatoes as they are something a bit more solid on the stomach than apple sauce etc. She loves mashed potatoes so it suited her fine. Plus if you are feeling lazy KFC sells mashed potatoes - my D wanted Mom to make them of course.</p>
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I can attest to this! We had 2 people with her so one could get her prescriptions but she needed to go to the bathroom - half stoned in an unfamiliar pharmacy was a little tricky! And of course the bathroom was in the furterest location away from the entrance it could be!!</p>
<p>I got IV sedation. I was out before I knew it, and I was back to full alertness at what felt like a second after the operation was completed. It was really like waking up after a relaxing sleep (save for the salty, squishy gauze in your mouth) – I wasn’t groggy and I wasn’t numb.</p>
<p>I have no idea what anesthesia would entail in a wisdom tooth extraction, but if it’s anything like what they do at the dentist, what with being unable to feel your lips or gums for hours afterwards, I would much advise the sedation. I went in thinking the extraction would be a horrible experience, but everything ended up being perfectly fine (no puffed cheeks or anything!)… well, except for having to remember to squirt food out of the back of my mouth with Listerine solution after every meal! :)</p>
<p>Agree with IV sedation rather than general. My main advice is to find out about the new techniques being used that hasten the recovery and prevent the dry socket syndrome. Infection and dry socket are much worse than the extractions themself. A friend of mine was telling me about a new pre-op procedure that really helps…sorry I can’t recall the name of the technique.</p>
<p>Both kids and husband had IV sedation. None of them remember a thing about it. Don’t plan on doing anything but nursing for about 24 hours afterwards. Everyone just slept, but when they were awake, they needed help.</p>
<p>One more thought – one of my kids vomited on the way home. I had put a towel and large zip lock plastic bag in the car, just in case, which came in handy. If you don’t need it, that’s great! But I was happy to have it with us.</p>
<p>How timely all of this pleasent information is! My D is taking her last final today, coming home from college this weekend, and getting two wisdom teeth out on Tuesday. I did not go to the oral surgeon with her so I don’t know what kind of anaesthesia she is getting or even if they are impacted or not. I don’t thnk so, since one is already coming through the skin and she was told it was not an emergecy to get it done. It just seemed prudent since she is going away to Taiwan and China this summer and fall and she does not need a dental emergency while away. I will be sure to bring a towel and bag in the car! Thankfully, the oral surgeon’s office is less than two miles from our house!
She has an eye appointment on Thursday (two days later) as she needs new contact lenses before she leaves on June 4. I assume she will be okay enought to go the appointment two days after the wisdom teeth are removed, even if I have to drive her. Do all of you experienced people agree?</p>
<p>Interesting that many of have had the IV sedative. Our oral surgeon used nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”), and local numbing injections. My son said that it was not painful, and he walked out of the office 30 minutes later (had to hang around with ice packs for about 30 minutes) without any assistance. He did swell up, and was miserable for about 4 days, and he claims that he could not chew foods for 2 weeks (I think that he was able chew carefully, but was not himself for about one week). He did have all 4 removed at once.</p>
<p>MotherofTwo, my son would not have been up to going to an eye doctor 2 day later. I guess you’ll have to see how it goes.</p>
<p>My son had his wisdom teeth out on Tuesday. The oral surgeon was very honest with him and said that he recommends nitrous and local anesthesia for all his patients. He said when his kids have their wisdom teeth out they will be awake.
Both IV sedation and general anesthesia come with risks. If you choose either of these I would question the surgeon on their emergency procedures and their percentages of complications.
Our surgeon told my son that “if you think you can’t die in a dentist’s office you are wrong”
He also said that most oral surgeons have a 90% IV sedation or general anesthesia rate. A not insignificant factor in their recommendations to patients is that they get more money.
I wouldn’t take the risk for my children for wisdom teeth. And I am speaking from experience. I had four impacted sideways teeth removed when I was 18. While the complication rate is low, I wouldn’t want to be that one unlucky person.
My son did well. He was numb for most of the day but only used Vicodin for the first day and a half.
Ice ice ice is key as is taking Ibuprofen along with pain meds to decrease swelling</p>
<p>Our oral surgeon also explained the risks of general anesthesia vs. nitrous and local anesthesia. He also told us about the extra cost for general anesthesia. We left the informed decision to our son (we would have paid for the general anesthesia if he wanted it). He is very happy that he chose the nitrous oxide and local anesthesia.</p>
<p>My d. had 4 out last week. Here’s how good those IVs are: I thought it WAS general anesthesia! certainly she remembered nothing about it. All 4 were impacted, but the procedure was only about 35 minutes long. One week later she’s practically completely back to normal.</p>