<p>Don’t trust a 19 year old on dental drugs! S1 had his wisdom teeth out this a.m. On the way home after the 45 min. procedure, where S1 told me that this was the BEST experience of his life… “No, REALLY, Mom, this has been the BEST experience of my LIFE” We stopped by the market for a fast dash by me to get ice cream and yogurt which, I admit, I had neglected to figure out before. A four minute shopping experience. S1 is a very responsible, rule-following kid. I took the car keys with me and my cell phone, told S1 to stay put. DH works 2 blocks away from the market in our tiny town. While in the market, called DH to give him the update. As we’re speaking, DH says “Why is S1 walking down the street across from my office???” Apparently, S1 decided to go visit Dad, ice pack clutched to his cheek and blood all over his chin. AYE YI YI!!! Dad sprinted and corralled S1, I picked him up, and he is now snoring on the couch. I have informed him that I control the oxycodone and he’d better not pull any more idiocy!</p>
<p>Moral of the story: don’t let them out of your sight while still under the anaesthetic (sic) influence!!! You probably all know this already, however…the bad Mom story of the day!</p>
<p>Ouch, ouch, ouch! Thank god everyone is OK.</p>
<p>Wanna hear the bad dad story? DD had her wisdom teeth surgery a couple of years ago. I brought her home from the dentist’s office, and then my H came and took over the watch since I had something going on at work that needed urgent attention. Of course, H got glued to the home computer researching something, and groggy DD headed straight for the kitchen to fix herself a milkshake. Well, long story short, H heard a loud thud, tuned around and saw his D passed out on the kitchen floor (the meds made her disoriented and dizzy). She fainted, fell and, thank god, missed all sorts of sharp corners and objects! Needless to say, H is not to be trusted again with these issues. Yeah. DD said she did not enjoy the meds’ effect whatsoever, and did not touch a single pill of the “strong stuff”.</p>
<p>Sound’s like D’s friend’s brother. For some reason (allergies maybe) he had to have laughing gas instead of the usual IV anesthetic when he had his wisdom teeth out. He was LOOPED to say the least. On the drive home, he was waving out the window at everyone. There was construction and a confusing detour, and when his mom rolled down the window and asked the policeman for directions, loopy brother leaned over and yelled, “Hi! I’m on drugs and it’s REALLY fun!” and several other inappropriate comments. All the way home he talked about all sorts of ridiculous things. When they finally got home he fell sound asleep on the couch, and awoke with NO memory of ANY of it. He still thinks his sister (16) and mother were making up the story about him yelling at the cop and the other things he said!</p>
<p>This winter S had his wisdom teeth out. The dentist had trouble getting him to awake up and stay awake. Every couple of minutes S’s eyes would slowly open, he’d turn to the dentist and ask “Can I go skiing now?”. Dentist would say “No, you need to wake up now”. S would close his eyes and say “OK, I’ll ski later” then fall back to sleep. This verbal exchange went on for a half a dozen times. He spent the next five days on the couch, not on his skis. He also didn’t remember any of that. I wish I had recorded it for his coach.</p>
<p>DD had all 4 of her wisdom teeth out last fall–age 16. It was a pretty warm fall day so the car was hot. She wanted to take her shirt off. I stopped that and buckled her up like she was five again. For some reason I had to pick up DS that day so we needed to wait until he was finished with school. Thank goodness she couldn’t quite get the seat belt opened or her brother’s MS friends would have had quite a show. While we were sitting in the parking lot though my phone rang. It was a work related call so I talked for a few minutes. DD started crying because I was on the phone. Once we arrived home she zonked out in her bedroom for awhile. The next day, a Saturday, she practiced her instrument for about 4 straight hours while under the influence of her pain meds. Same thing on Sunday. She ended up this year in a pretty good chair this year and attributes it to the wisdom teeth practice sessions.</p>
<p>When my son had his wisdom teeth out, I brought him home and put him on the couch, where he promptly fell deeply asleep. The dog lay down in the chair opposite the couch and watched him all afternoon. She wouldn’t leave him.</p>
<p>I felt pretty normal after anesthesia. I was apparently very combative when they were putting me under (not good with drugs + being held down, but that’s pretty logical, right?), but I was OK upon waking. Got home, sat down at the piano, and started playing some Bach. My mom thought it was weird, but I normally play a piece or two when I get home, so it was nothing too unusual.</p>
<p>Of course, I went on to experience over a month of extremely painful complications (starting with dry sockets, ending with multiple infections… let’s just say my mouth was still actively bleeding after a month, and I had been on three antibiotic treatments) that had me on high doses of Percocet for about three weeks before I was “downgraded” to Vicodin for another week. :eek: So I’m sending positive thoughts that your son will have an easy and smooth recovery!</p>
<p>It’s really quite difficult for one person to meet the needs of a patient who is sent home while still stoned on drugs. Even if you try to get all the supplies you could possibly need beforehand (and bully the doctor or dentist into giving you the prescriptions ahead of time so you can fill them the day before), it’s very difficult to make sure that you will never have to leave the patient unattended.</p>
<p>Until recently, I had a very flexible work schedule, so I have been the designated driver/babysitter for multiple family members who have had dental procedures, fancy diagnostic tests involving sedatives, or day surgery. I have tried very hard not to have to leave the patient alone on the day of the procedure, but I haven’t always succeeded, despite being experienced at it.</p>
<p>My older D fainted after we had gotten home,
I think she has low blood pressure anyway and doesn’t weigh much, but it was scary.
She also only had to get two of them out.</p>
<p>My D was only 13 when she had her wisdom teeth out. When they brought me into the room to get her, she was VERY sleepy and just wanted to be left alone, but I got her moving and into the car. We started down the road and she started to cry because she just wanted to sleep, and she was disoriented and confused. The crying led to runny nose and blood leaking out of her mouth, which led to HYSTERICAL crying, which led to blood running down her chin. I hadn’t thought to bring tissues, so I’m driving on the thruway telling her to calm down, I’ll stop as soon as I can, which I did, but she continued to cry and run and bleed. </p>
<p>So then she was so worked up that after we got home she started throwing up, and did that a couple of times, and cried, and threw up, and cried… We ended up with her on the couch and me wrapped around her just rubbing her back and humming until she finally fell asleep. </p>
<p>I was so worried about the dry sockets and such, but she was ok after that initial trauma. When my oldest had hers out a year later, she was fine.</p>
<p>My son’s “best” drug experience came when he had to have a colonoscopy his freshman year. I was waiting in the out-patient surgery room where they were to return him. I heard all this commotion coming down the hall. When I get up to look, I see my son sitting up on his gurney, squealing “Wheeeeee!!!” and rocking it side to side. As they passed this prim-looking gray-haired nurse, he reaches out to grab her and asks, “Wanna party baby?”. Then he tried to tell me not to pay for the procedure, because all the docs did was play video games while he was on the table. This went on for about 30min–and he had no recollection later. It was even more funny, because this is my kid who was somewhat shy and reserved.</p>
<p>This makes me laugh. I just took S to his consultation today with the oral surgeon and he gets his out the day after graduation in June. He’s never been sedated so this should be interesting.</p>
<p>I don’t have insurance and wondering about how much one should have to pay to get 4 wisdom teeth removed these days? I know it somewhat depends on if the teeth have surfaced or not.</p>
<p>D’s top wisdom teeth came in spring of senior year. We figured others would be fine–not so. She had to have them removed this January. I flew down to her school and stayed with her when she had the surgery. We figured it was easier for her to stay at school than to come home for the surgery. I was pretty sure it would be miserable for her, so I booked a really nice hotel room and had her stay with me for two nights. I did the same thing you did–left D in the car and stopped in a CVS to get ice cream and fill a prescription for pain medication before going to the hotel. When I got back, D was sound asleep. Earlier she was flying and laughing saying that she couldn’t believe it happened so fast and was I sure that her teeth were really out! The oral surgeon’s office submitted the bill to my health insurance–they thought that because her teeth were impacted BC/BS PPO might cover it. It wasn’t covered. The bill for two wisdom teeth was in the neighborhood of $2500.</p>
<p>Here in Mass I was told last January it would be about $3000 if I didn’t have insurance. None of the 4 teeth that DS had removed had erupted, he had it done in the dr’s office with anesthesia. No funny stories to report though. He was sitting up reading a magazine when they brought me in. He was fine in the car, fine at home, just all around fine. No complications either, hardly any swelling - we were really good about keeping the ice on.</p>
<p>After my son had his wisdom teeth out and we arrived home, he groggily complained that his favorite shirt was full of blood. (Why he wore his favorite shirt to the extraction, I’ll never know.)</p>
<p>As soon as he got into pajamas, I grabbed his shirt and jeans and threw them into the washing machine. Hours later, I remembered they were in there and went to put them in the dryer. They felt exceptionally heavy … I had washed his cell phone and wallet in my haste.</p>
<p>Cressida, I have a procedure estimate for my D’s teeth, which will come out on Friday. All 4 teeth, not erupted yet, with anesthesia in Dr’s office, $1740. We have lousy dental insurance, so will have to pay about half. Comparing with Lafalum, I guess it depends on the region of the country, because it looks like the same procedure. We’re in SW PA.</p>