Ugh, S (23) needs his wisdom teeth out and he’s in Beirut. He really needs special medicine because of his bleeding disorder. I couldn’t get him insured for it since it’s a pre-existing condition. He’s insisting, “I’ll be fine!” I told him to find out the price for the med. I also told him to see if he can delay the procedure long enough that we could fly him home. The hemophilia center in Maine can get us the medicine for about $65 - market price is $2,500. (He has Factor XI Deficiency, which used to be considered a type of hemophilia but now it’s not, because it’s not as severe.)
D16 got hers out two days ago. Still in a lot of pain and has the chipmunk cheeks to match. Hoping day 4 - tommorrw - is a lot better for her. She has presciption pain meds and also an antibiotic - the oral surgeon didn’t prescribe my son an antibiotic when he got his out in January so hers may have been worse?. She’s been able to eat the normal froyo, yogurt, mash potatoes, potato pancakes, applesauce and oatmeal. TIP - there is a high protein oatmeal that I think staves off hunger a little longer than normal oatmeal.
@threebeans I have no idea why some kids have it easier than others. I suppose it depends on how long the tooth root was?
I have read that protein is important for healing so I was glad D had several eggs (she is normally vegetarian but knew she needed protein and was sick of sweet things).
I made instant oatmeal as I think that is easier than the good steel cut in terms of not getting caught in the stitches. I should have sprinkled some whey protein in there I realized later.
I filled the Rx pain meds (Percocet) but the doctor said she wouldn’t need them and I am reluctant to give her any unless something really changes and she can’t sleep from pain etc.
Tofu, mashed beans, and yogurt are additional ways of getting protein in soft foods.
College student here! I had all 4 out the summer between high school and college, because my dentist saw how they were growing and said it would be easier to do that summer than after roots had come in more fully. They would have been severely impacted if I had waited. I had general anesthesia, woke up with my glasses on in a different room from where I had started. I was given a prescription for antibiotics, narcotic pain medication, and anti-nausea meds (everyone in my family gets really sick from narcotics). I was only able to stand the opioids for a day and a half, then switched to alternating ibuprofen/Tylenol.
My mom made me a big pot of homemade applesauce, and after a day of just ice cream I was begging for normal food. I felt a lot better after about 3 days, and after a week I was able to practice flute again after I OK’d with the surgeon. It did affect my flute playing a bit because there was a lot of empty space in my mouth but I learned to adapt.
Homemade applesauce?!! @GoatGirl19, your mom is awesome. 
I’m gonna need an applesauce recipe! So it turns out my son has a cyst at the root of one of his wisdom teeth, so the dentist is scheduling a biopsy first. He starts college mid-August, so I hope this doesn’t push his extractions too close to when school starts…we shall see. Thank you for all your words of “wisdom!”
One thing we found was they didn’t give us enough gauze. Neither of my sons could stop talking while they were supposed to be biting down to stop the bleeding. Thankfully I had some at home. They were funny, but just wouldn’t keep their mouths shut.
Yes, the gauze was a challenge. They sent my daughter home with a small packet of gauze and said to change it every hour or so for the first few hours. It was a little bit of a comedy routine - me trying to shove gauze in her mouth in the correct spot (something I had watched the nurse do in two seconds - oh and the nurse had plastic gloves I didn’t). I was unprepared for the first thing to happen when we got home was for her mouth to start bleeding and her needing the gauze changed immediately.
We are on our way in a few minutes for my daughter’s extraction. I’ll ask for extra gauze! We are in the middle of a renovation and I have minimal available to me…certainly no extra gauze.
We are home. According to the oral surgeon, the extraction part went super smoothly but she threw up repeatedly for the first 90 minutes. The nurse took out the gauze every time she was ill, and then replaced it. As we were leaving the office, she got sick again so the nurse removed the gauze and told us to leave it out until we got home but my daughter promptly fell asleep. I guess I will put it in when she wakes up as they said no gauze when sleeping but I’m worried. Hopefully she’ll wake up feeling lots better.
Good luck, @momofsenior1 and @MaineLonghorn! Thinking of you. We’re expecting to have my S18’s 4 wisdom teeth out next month, but he has been having low blood pressure and his PCP is concerned about anesthesia. My son just wants to wait another year . . . we’ll see.
@momofsenior1, I hope she feels better quickly. Sounds miserable. 
@pickledginger, thanks for your thoughts. DS saw a dentist in Beirut this morning for a routine dental cleaning. The doctor gave him the names of some oral surgeons and said it shouldn’t be a problem to get the med he needs. It will be interesting to see what it costs me, ack. Without a subsidy through the hemophilia center in Maine, the sticker price is $2,500 here.
Yikes @MaineLonghorn! Hopefully all will go smoothly for your son. I hope he has some good supports to help him through the at least the first day!
@momofsenior1, good point! I hope his girlfriend can help out, but she tends to be swamped with a challenging course load. I will mention to him not to underestimate the recovery involved. He has one close friend who might be available.
Frankly I was kind of shocked at how out of it my daughter has been. The nurse told me not to leave her alone for the first 24 hours and I can see why. She’s also been asleep since getting home and they told me to wake her every three hours to give meds so she stays on top of the pain (just OTC).