Wisdom tooth removed......

joeys mom · #1 10-31-2009, 09:56 PM

Ok so I must say first that I have never had a tooth removed and maybe I am being a bit of a baby but...... I had one wisdom tooth removed 3 weeks ago. The day of the tooth removal I was fine, I even went back to work and finished the day. Day 2 was fine. Day 3 was a totally different story. One week after, I went back to my dentist because the pain was so bad that I wanted to make sure I didnt have dry socket. Dentist said no I didnt and said all was progressing fine. Well I took all of the pain pills they gave me and still at this point cant go 3 to 4 hours without taking ibuprofin to make the aching stop. So my question is.... Is this normal to still have pain after 3 almost 4 weeks? The pain is in my jaw and the area that the tooth was as well as the teeth surrounding. I do think SOME of the soreness is due to the teeth surrounding are moving and adjusting to the new "space" they have. The hole that was left is still quite large ( to me anyway). I have been gargaling with salt water and listerin after every meal and before bed. For those of you that have exsperienced (sp) this PLEASE let me know that this is normal or not. I am going crazy!

Caney Creek · #2 10-31-2009, 11:08 PM

Nope, that's definitely not normal.

However my BF had something similar happen after he had wisdom teeth removed -- he was in a terrible amount of pain about a week or two after the procedure... got to the point where painkillers were barely "taking the edge off." I'm pretty sure that it ended up being an infection... I can't remember the details exactly, it's been a while. You know it's possible that the dentist left some bone fragments in the wound during the extraction -- in that case you'd probably have to go through another surgery to have it opened back up and cleaned out.

Bottom line, you shouldn't still be in pain 3 weeks after the procedure... something is wrong, and if it were me I'd be telling the dentist that he'd better figure it out.

Sorry you're hurting

Hope you get it all straightened out very soon.

BoxerMoments · #3 11-01-2009, 07:01 AM

I had my wisdom teeth out a couple years ago. The top two had come through and the bottom two were impacted. The whole thing probably wouldn't have been so bad but I didn't have dental insurance so I put it off for years. Anyways.. it was the worst experience of my life. Let me just say I have a very very high pain tolerance and i've had a double root canal after being hit in the face with a field hockey ball in high school which almost knocked the two teeth out.. i've broken my femur after having been in a car accident when I was 14.. and i've had 2 kids and one with no pain meds and even all that was nothing compared to the after pain of having my wisdom teeth out. Like you the first day or 2 weren't so bad but then everything started swelling up and I coudn't close my mouth without biting my cheeks for about 2 weeks. My mouth was in so much pain that the pain meds did nothing (however I will note that I ended up using Motrin because any prescription meds knock me out.. I did use the scripts at night though and it didn't help). The only thing that helped the pain was a hot gel pack that you can put in the microwave for a few seconds.. I used it pretty much around the clock. I ended up with dry sockets on the bottom (well I think they were). I could see the holes. Now after two months (maybe a little longer) the pain finally went away. I couldn't have any hot or cold drinks, everything had to be room temp or it hurt too much. It was just the most miserable 2 months of my life. I couldn't sleep for weeks because the pain NEVER went away. Also when I went back for my post check up he also said everything looked good but I could see the holes and I felt it and food would get in them so I would have to make sure I rinsed after I ate anything. One side was a little worse then the other and took loger to heal. Well I hope you start to feel better and if it's anything like what I went through i'm truely sorry for the pain you're in. Keep us posted and good luck!

joeys mom · #4 11-01-2009, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caney Creek

. You know it's possible that the dentist left some bone fragments in the wound during the extraction -- in that case you'd probably have to go through another surgery to have it opened back up and cleaned out.

Thats exactly what bf said too. OMG I dont want to even imagine having to go through that

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoxerMoments

I had my wisdom teeth out a couple years ago. The top two had come through and the bottom two were impacted. The whole thing probably wouldn't have been so bad but I didn't have dental insurance so I put it off for years. Anyways.. it was the worst experience of my life.

Its looking like this is topping my top "worst experiences". I have put this off too because the tooth (also impacted) really never bothered be at all. My top 2 wisdom teeth luckily grew almost perfectly straight with my other molar teeth and didnt move or disrupt my top teeth at all. My dentist agreed that if the top wisdom teeth arent bothering me leave them alone, but that bottom tooth that I had removed was resting against my molar tooth and in the future could cause problems for that tooth so he wanted to remove only that one. On the plus side I could get a retainer after the tooth was removed and easliy straighted my bottom teeth back out. I had braces when I was young so all of my teeth are nice and straight except a few on the bottom due to that wisdom tooth crowding my teeth and shifting them a bit. I was thrilled to be able to have them fixed nice and pretty again. My mother too since she paid for those braces

I am so glad that I dont have a bottom wisdom tooth on the other side, If I did IT WOULD BE STAYING THERE!!!!!

Thank you for the input I needed to hear what you both have told me, I probably do need to go back and have them check it out once again. And also to be preparred for a few more weeks if this!

Thanks again and I will keep you posted!

BoxerMoments · #5 11-01-2009, 11:57 AM

Yeah you should definitely go back and get it checked out. I'm not always one to voice my concerns and keep going back when it's about myself. If it were my kids that had been in that much pain I definitely would have gone back and kept going back. I just did A LOT of rinsing and made sure I kept it clean. It's funny what we let ourselves go through. I hope you feel better!

RolenKisses · #6 11-02-2009, 08:08 AM

I would go back in and have it checked out. My husband had three wisdom teeth removed about a week ago (two on the bottom, one on top). All three were cut out and he just had the stitches removed Friday. He's feeling really no pain and is back to eating solid food except that he can't have nuts, seeds, or chips for 6-8 weeks. He has this syringe looking thing that he squirts water into the holes after eating. He did have pain early on and did swell pretty good on one side, but is pretty much back to normal.

I know that nerves can be bothered when they take wisdom teeth out, so maybe it's one of your facial nerves that is giving you pain. I would have the doctor look at it again.

joeys mom · #7 11-04-2009, 09:51 AM

Well I did go back to the dentist and he reassured me that everything looked good and that I may still have the pain because of the placement of the tooth (it was at a slight angle) and it also being so close to the jaw bone and with all of the pulling and tugging to work it out that it is possible that it will be sore for a while! He said to keep taking the ibufrofen as need! I go back in a few weeks to check it again! I am glad that all is good but I still am frustrated that is is still bothering me

Thanks for the well wishes!

johann · #8 11-04-2009, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeys mom

Well I did go back to the dentist and he reassured me that everything looked good and that I may still have the pain because of the placement of the tooth (it was at a slight angle) and it also being so close to the jaw bone and with all of the pulling and tugging to work it out that it is possible that it will be sore for a while! He said to keep taking the ibufrofen as need! I go back in a few weeks to check it again! I am glad that all is good but I still am frustrated that is is still bothering me

Thanks for the well wishes!

Did they take any follow up x-rays? If the tooth was at an angle and hard to get out they could have cracked your jaw. Any sort of infection/abcess would probably show up on x-rays as well.

Hope you feel better soon!

BoxerMoments · #9 11-04-2009, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeys mom

Well I did go back to the dentist and he reassured me that everything looked good and that I may still have the pain because of the placement of the tooth (it was at a slight angle) and it also being so close to the jaw bone and with all of the pulling and tugging to work it out that it is possible that it will be sore for a while! He said to keep taking the ibufrofen as need! I go back in a few weeks to check it again! I am glad that all is good but I still am frustrated that is is still bothering me

Thanks for the well wishes!

Like I said with mine it was a good 2 months if not a little longer before I wasn't in pain anymore with no infections or anything so it does happen. I think the most important thing is that you keep it clean back there. Hopefully it starts to feel better soon!

joeys mom · #10 11-05-2009, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johann

Did they take any follow up x-rays? If the tooth was at an angle and hard to get out they could have cracked your jaw. Any sort of infection/abcess would probably show up on x-rays as well.Hope you feel better soon!

No they didnt take any x-rays, He just looked at it! I hadnt thought about my jaw possibly being cracked

I did have a nice size bruise along jaw a few days after!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoxerMoments

Like I said with mine it was a good 2 months if not a little longer before I wasn't in pain anymore with no infections or anything so it does happen. I think the most important thing is that you keep it clean back there. Hopefully it starts to feel better soon!

I swish with salt water and listerine first thing every morning/night and after every meal to keep it clean.

Thanks again, I am so glad I posted cause you guys have pointed out things that I had thought of! I knew my BW buddies would help me out!