<p>I just want to give a suggestion for those of you who are planning to have wisdom teeth out soon. It may be an old wives tale- but it worked for me and for both of my boys who just had theirs out 2 weeks ago. </p>
<p>Drink as much pineapple juice as you can the day before surgery- right up to when you can’t eat or drink after midnight. Try to drink a whole giant can of Doles if you can. It will reduce or eliminate your swelling. It is also good to drink after surgery as it aids healing and keeps reducing the swelling.</p>
<p>It works! Our oral surgeon says that people report to him all the time about how it helps.</p>
<p>I also disagree with the previous poster’s assertion that a wisdom tooth extraction could lead to “withdrawal” from the pain medication. First of all, “big time painkillers” are not usually prescribed for post wisdom tooth extraction, unless one considers Vicodin to be a “big time painkiller.” As a nurse, I don’t consider that “big time” at all, though I suppose that could be subjective.</p>
<p>Secondly, most competent oral surgeons would only give a short term prescription, certainly nothing which would put the patient at risk for physical dependence.</p>
<p>My advice would be to take the painkillers if needed. It does the patient absolutely no good to lay around in agony. After the first day or two, they become less necessary. If severe pain persists, that suggests a complication which should generate a call to the oral surgeon.</p>
<p>My D1 just had all four out. She quit taking the Vicodin after day 2.</p>
<p>I need to get mine pulled (one is cutting into my cheek, one hasn’t grown in yet, one is about fully grown and the other one is about half way there) but I’m not on my parents’ insurance anymore.
I’m currently looking at how much it’d cost without having any insurance. I only have school sickness insurance. This sucks. I really should have gotten them taken out when I had insurance.</p>
<p>Had to laugh at this, too. Not that Vicodin can’t be addictive, but it’s not anywhere in the league of big-time painkillers. After working in hospice for almost seven years, I know what the ‘big-time’ painkillers are, and I can’t think of a reason that any of them would be prescribed for post-wisdom tooth removal. Morphine, Fentanyl, Dilaudid, Methadone, i.e., those are some serious painkillers.</p>
<p>Writer-- My regular dentist was able to pull mine out because they were fully grown in, which is the only reason the procedure was affordable for me as my family pays a freaking mortgage payment just for catastrophic coverage and that is the best we can do. Perhaps you can find a dentist that can help you with a few of those teeth and save up for the rest-- I had one cutting into my cheek too and it was a nightmare, you should be swishing with warm salt water and doing all you can to avoid letting that get infected because it will HURT. I just had numbing shots and nitrous, procedure was totally pain free, zero complications, absolutely no big deal-- but it could only be done that way because the teeth had come through the surface of the gums and x rays showed it was little more than a simple tooth extraction. It may be different for you but it’s worth a shot. I really feel your pain. :(</p>
<p>Thanks Emaheevul07 for the advice. Yes, I’m thinking of only getting the tooth that’s bothering me removed. It sucks though because my parents are pretty broke and when I had insurance, they (my teeth) didn’t bother me at all. I’m going to try though to look around for a dentist and find a way to pay for it in the next few weeks/months.</p>
<p>My daughter will get hers out in 3 weeks. she only has three. They will give her nitrous and sedate her with versed. they will also use novacaine- a longer acting one. The oral surgeon will also give her ondansetron for nausea as she tends to get nauseated with anesthesia. He says that fair skinned people tend to swell more and red heads are the worst (D1 is a red head) so he orders decadron(steroid) post op. and he gives an antibiotic. My neice just had hers out and she (fair skinned) was religious with the rinsing, cold packs, and then moist warm packs, and she didnt have any swelling at all. My daughters’ (D2) teeth dont have any roots, so hopefully it will be ok for her. (fingers and toes crossed) as she is the one who went on vacation to Florida and left her appendix there. With her its always something. D1 (red head) had swelling but things went well other wise.</p>
I really should have gotten them taken out when I had insurance.</p>