impacted wisdom teeth

[pianistimo]

this might impact my occasionally planned trip to britain.  after my parents came to visit - the very next morning my son was moaning about his back molar.  so, thinking it was a cavity - i took him to the dentist.  the first response was - he probably needs a root canal.  i thought 'that's strange - he doesn't have any cavities in the back molars.'  but, after an x-ray - there were four bone impacted wisdom teeth and the one that was infected was hurting. 

so - now we have a scheduled surgery to remove all four of them in november.  anyway, it's a good excuse not to fly - though i would have liked to hear the jonathan powell concert very much.  and, of course, meet thal, ahinton, pianolist - and whomever else is going.  you'll have to fill me in, ok. 

hopefully all will go well, and my son won't have some sort of loss of feeling in the lower lip for longer than a few hours afterwards.  he said that one of the slight risks is to hit the nerves that connect to muscles in the lower lip.

[henrah]

Good luck for your son!

[pianistimo]

thanks!  it's just one of those things.  he's 17 and actually probably a good thing he had one bother him this year.  he'll be 18 next year and who knows if the health insurance covers over 18 (unless he's in college?).

[ahinton]

Best of luck with that! Having had the same condition myself years ago (although not at as young an age as your son), I know precisely where you're coming from here. Who knows - perhaps most of whatever wisdom I may once have possessed got surgically removed along with the impacted teeth...

Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

i doubt that very much!  please know that i did wait patiently for some kind of offer from my parents of money after hinting (by telling them three times) of my desire and planning for a trip to britain.  it seemed to fall on deaf ears.  they couldn't understand why i would need a trip of any kind.  of course, my husband just went to france.  life is unfair!  and, i never directly asked for the money.  suppose it would be unfair to travel on their dime.  but, as life goes - the money to travel is there - but the money for the hotel, etc. is not.  and, as it happens - now i am stuck at the dentist's office.  well...in any case, the decision is made.  a rather bad one, i'm afraid, as who knows when i'll ever hear your work or jonathan powell play.  believe me, i was planning to drink a bottle, fly, wait for some kind of pick up by thal, come to the concert and return to the airport by any means available.

[Mozartian]

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[pianistimo]

you must be tough to play tennis that evening.  i was whining for three days.  i needed someone to get me soft food.  i ended up going out with hubby (as mine erupted late - at 25) and getting this champagne carrot soup.  it had enough champagne to dull the nerves and tasted good without having to bite down. 

my mom said her whole jaw was black and blue.  (our family has a history of impacted wisdom teeth).  hopefully, they won't have to do anything really drastic - like get a jack hammer and accidentally break some big pieces of bone off.  i think when mine were done - the dentist said the tooth broke when he was pulling it and so he left one of the roots in instead of trying to spend a lot of time pulling on it.  sounds better than injuring a nerve. 

you have to put a certain amount of faith in the dentist that they'll do the right thing.  is there some list like 'angieslist' for dentists - to find out if they are good or bad?  i'm looking on angies - but i think it's just for contractors.  he's good looking. that must count for something.

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

I had two root canas done quite recently.

Wasn't a pleasing experience.

Pianistimo you almost have 6000 posts. You should be proud of yourself.

[elspeth]

Top tip to reduce the bruising - arnica. Both in the cream variety (for his face - rub it around the jaw where the bruising will happen) and I believe you can get it in other forms too. Works wonders on bruises. Get him to start using it every day for a week or so before the op - my best friend did this and didn't get any bruising at all when she had her wisdom teeth done.

[pianistimo]

wow.  i'll try that on him.  maybe it won't be as bad as it sounds (the pain and the bruising).

[quantum]

My dentist advised general anesthetic when I had mine pulled, and although I was hesitant I'm sure glad I took the advice.  I remember nothing of the operation, and as the dentist pointed out it will be a less traumatic experience. 

Apparently I walked myself over to the recovery room, and I remember nothing of the sort.  First thing I do remember is waking up in the recovery room, with no feeling around my mouth and plesantly no pain. 

[pianistimo]

good advice, too, about general anesthetic.  having four teeth out at the same time could be a rather gruesome thing to endure with only local anesthetic.  and, his are bone impacted so i'm not sure exactly what they are going to do.  i think i'll request that they try not to break the bone if possible.  i read in the brochure that's what they sometimes do to get the teeth out.  but, does it matter if the roots don't all come out?  esp. if they are covered over by skin?

i can't find his name on the american dental association list - but i'm fairly certain he's on it because he has a full patient load.  and, he's on the list of preferred providers for our dental insurance (aetna).  his name is andrew kanter of collegeville, pa.  ok. i found out he IS board certified by the american board of oral and maxillofacial surgery and the american dental board of anesthesiology.  that's reassuring.  and, he used to work as a paramedic especially on dental reconstruction.  he is also a fly fisherman and amateur astronomer.

[pianojam]

I went to the dentist today. I had an x-ray and found out my wisdom teeth were growing at an angle. They are coming up early so my jaw might get bigger and they might align themselves. she said unless they did align themselves (which is unlikely) Im going to have to get them removed. Im guessing...
teeth pulled out = pain
and i know that...
 pain=scary!

[pianistimo]

i had more pain before they were pulled than after.  it was actually a relief to wake up and know they were out!  the pain wasn't unbearable.  i just remember a really fat lower lip.  i tried to talk, but it was pure jibberish.  i had to write things down.  for a while - you just are high on pain killer and feel pretty good.  but, then when it wears off - you have a dull pain that subsides after a day or two or three.  it's nothing like the intense pain of a tooth that is trying to come in and can't.