For those who have had their wisdom teeth or tooth removed did you go under anesthesia?

I did, I honestly don’t remember how long it lasted. On moment I’m getting stuck with an IV and quite literally a second or two later my dad is sitting in front of me and I’m like “WTF are you doing here?” I did not even realize that it was over.

No. Just novacaine. I had only 2 wisdom teeth, both were removed separately. One was impacted. For that one, the dentist cut off a piece of my gum. Both had easy recoveries. I should add that I handle pain very well. I’ve had major surgeries and not taken painkillers for recovery.

Yepp all 4 at once. woke up during & hard to come out of. Maybe an hour. No big deal but you’ll be real sore days 2&3

I want to get surgery but I don’t want to go under.

I can ‘t imagine any oral surgeon taking out wisdom teeth without anesthesia. I had all 4 taken out at once. They gave me sodium pentothal (aka truth serum) it felt kind of creepy going in, like I kind of tensed up, but I was out almost immediately. The next thing I remember was being in the car with my Mom driving me home, no memory of waking up in the surgeon’s office or walking to the car.

They gave me Vicodin for the pain while I was at home. That did not help at all! I was in excruciating pain for about 3 days. The Vicodin did, however, make me have horrible hallucinations. Something I never want to experience again.

On the other hand, my Dad had 2 of his wisdom teeth pulled when he was in his 20’s, so this would have been in the 1940’s. He said the experience was just about the worst thing that ever happened to him. He was scheduled to have the other 2 pulled shortly afterward, but he refused. 2 years ago, at the age of 85, our current dentist insisted that he needed the other 2 pulled because they were so impacted that they were causing other problems with his other teeth, and because those problems could complicate his situation regarding having a suppressed immune system. You can develop really serious diseases if you have bad oral health. He complained miserably, but she and his regular doctor insisted that he needed them pulled.

So Dad also went to an oral surgeon (this would have been in 2012, as opposed to 1983 when I had mine done, so they’ve come a long way) and they put him under, he acted loopy in the car on the way home, but other than that, they just gave him some extra strength Tylenol and he said he didn’t feel any pain at all and didn’t even need the Tylenol.

@pleiades

Not everyone handles general anesthesia well and it shouldn’t be necessary when a local (novocaine) can do the job.

Just call around and find a dentist who will do it without general anesthesia. Its a perfectly reasonable request.

I had all four of mine out with just novocaine. I didn’t feel any pain per se, but there was pressure and awkward positioning since I have a small mouth. And there were also some rather weird crunching sounds.

He explained that the root was wrapped around the bone “but don’t worry, it will be fine once it heals” ha ha.

Some dentists only use general anesthesia because they don’t really want to deal with a patient who is aware of what’s going on. They find it a lot easier to deal with someone who is knocked out.

But its your body and you have every right to determine who does what to it.

Find a dentist willing to accommodate your wishes.

BTW: I did at a later point in time have a very horrid experience when I had an emergency situation with an infected regular tooth requiring extraction.

He never explained anything to me. Just knocked me out. And when I started to come to they had me in this little room and I started going out into the hallway in a panic since I was extremely disoriented and had no idea what was going on.

When I finally got home, I found myself unwilling to go to sleep and afraid all that night because that experience was so terrifying.

That was the last time I ever had general anesthesia for a tooth procedure. Never again it was awful.

It was an all day affair with me waking up and being handed unlimited ginger ale and 7-up…I would have preferred Name brand Coke but they didn’t have any. As soon as I had to pee I had to leave and go home.. It costs ,at the time, $2000 for all four teeth.

@pleiades Then don’t!

@Kardamom Most oral surgeons give you the option to do anesthesia or just laughing gas.

And some still use a local. Novocaine still works just fine even in this day and age :)

@Buttonstc Indeed.

Had it done in 1989 under general anesthesia. Not sure how long the procedure took. But I was on pain killers for at least 1 or 2 days after. It was very painful.

I had all four out in one shot, using local anaesthesia only. Three were impacted. I listened to a favourite CD three times over, so it was probably over 2 hours. They had to refresh the shots once or twice. It wasn’t that bad. Worst part was the noise (hence the iPod). Here in Quebec, it’s more common not to use general anaesthesia for wisdom teeth.

My son had all 4 removed at the same time, they were impacted, so he went under general anesthesia.

Mine were, too, @hearkat, and they still didn’t put me under. The option was open, but I didn’t want it and they didn’t encourage it.

all four at once, Novocaine plus laughing gas. Was awake but didn’t feel anything. Lasted umm…....30 minutes maybe? Overall it was nothing, it just sucked having four gaping holes in my mouth for a while.

If a dentist gives you flack about not wanting general anesthesia, just print out this page for him to read:
.
http://m.ceaccp.oxfordjournals.org/content/5/3/71.full
————————————————————

A summation begins with:
.

Key points

General anaesthesia for dentistry is not without risk and should not be undertaken as a first-line means of anxiety control.
Consideration should always be given to the possibility of local anaesthetic techniques with or without conscious sedation.

The standards of general anaesthesia for dentistry should be the same as those in any other setting.
————————————————————-

(That last sentence means that his dental office should be as equipped as any hospital if they’re doing general anesthesia; this is especially critical regarding resuscitation equipment. This means significantly more than just telephone line for 911 calls.

Some dental offices fall far short of these standards. You definitely don’t want to be in one of those !)

I was in the Navy. They will not cozy it up like that. No big deal. During the pulling, it felt like the root went all the way to my toes, and was being drawn through the entire length of my body. I was given tylenol for after the shots wore off. I was given a day to recover. Mostly my eyelids just hurt.
An old country dentist told me how to help stop the bleeding and reduce swelling and pain with a tooth extraction. Just bite down on a fresh, dry tea bag. It works very well, and almost instantly.

I was knocked out so hard when I got my four out that all I remember was getting the needle and then waking up on my sisters couch. It never really hurt. I was told it is a hell of a lot better to take the pills as prescribed. Once the pain kicks in it is harder to get it to go away so make sure I never felt pain. This involved a alarm clock so I could medicate all night long.

I had my four teeth removed for Orthodontic braces. He just gave me a local anesthetic to numb the area where the tooth was to be removed. A general anesthetic may be used, if several or all of your wisdom teeth will be removed at the same time. I would definitely suggest local anesthesia because without it extractions can be very painful.

I had two taken out under ‘twilight sleep’, which I think was a laughing gas/Valium/Novocaine mixture. I was awake but very, very high. So high that I freaked out right in the middle of the procedure. It was very unpleasant, and I never went back to get the other two taken out. If I ever do, I’ll ask to be knocked all the way out.

I had mine done under local anesthesia, it wasn’t bad until the dentist went in with his chisel.

I haven’t had it done yet but I can tell you sedation is overkill for wisdom removal. You only need a local.

I have had it done and Mariah is full of shit.

@johnpowell She’s not. Read above. Some of us have had it done with local without issue. Where I live, it’s more common for people to get it done with local.

Anyway, how would you know if you weren’t even conscious for the procedure. :P

Seriously. This needs to be between your dentist/oral surgeon and you. They probably know better than a bunch of wankers googling for lurve.

Mariah hasn’t had hers taken out. To claim she knows that You only need a local is complete bullshit. My sister got a general when getting hers out and she woke up in the middle and freaked out. It was rather violent. We tend to have teeth with hooked roots in my family.

Now I know why Shilolo bailed on Fluther.

@johnpowell Your sister’s story is an argument against general, not for it. If she’d been awake and alert through the surgery, she wouldn’t have had a reason to freak out. I’ve had mine removed under local, and it was absolutely fine. And my surgeon is the one who told me that people in my province more typically opt for local. He is the one who gave me the options, and said it made no difference to the procedure, and that general anaesthesia always carries risks.

Why on earth would you be angry at me for saying so?? This has nothing to do with lurve or wanking. Jesus.

< is a dentist. All depends on: age of patient, complexity of the removal. Teeth form the crown first, then the roots. Some wisdom teeth, especially in teens and upper jaw, can be flicked out. Other wisdom teeth, especially in males and older persons are much more difficult. They can have weird twirly roots that can go into the sinuses (upper) or around the lingual or facial nerves. The bone is much more dense on males and adults. Always have oral surgery done by a specialist , people.

I had 2 removed with just local but they were relatively simple extractions, no different to having any other tooth pulled. It took no longer than 5–10 minutes.

Both my kids had four teeth (bicuspids) removed before they got their braces. The same oral surgeon used general anesthesia (an IV drip) for them both. Procedure took slightly less than an hour, pain management was Tylenol for 24 hrs.

Extractions were all relatively simple. The kids were rubber-legged and droopy for a day or so after the procedure. It was very straightforward.

Not here to give an oral anatomy class but there are different degrees/types of impactions. You can remove more and more bone under local to get the tooth out. But then when they have a periosteal defect forever, there it is. Again, go to a specialist.

I had mine done a long time ago when I was in my early 20s. I had mild headaches and occasional problems with my peripheral vision.
I had nitrous and an IV of pentabarb. “Count back from 100.” “OK 100, 99, 98 – zzzz”
When I woke up, my wisdom teeth, my wallet, my underwear, and one sock were gone.
(Just kidding about the last three items.)

Yikes, sorry. I am just speaking from my plan with my dentist for when I do get them out (soon). Someone can remove my answer if it’s that terrible.

I woke up with the oral surgeon pretty much on top of me yanking one of four out. It was crazy. I’m the type to use laughing gas for every dentist visit though, I prefer it that way. The drill and all that suction noise drive me crazy. :)

I’m a dentist’s worst nightmare, unfortunately and I never have been knocked out for any dental procedure. If I had the money I’d gladly pay to be knocked out. So far I’ve had one wisdom tooth and 2 molars removed.

When I had my impacted tooth out, I told the dentist that I had a date that evening and I wanted to be able to still go on it. I took an aspirin and was fine and barely swollen at all. I had both wisdom teeth taken out separately (the impacted one when it was impacted, then the other one at a later date).

I think when all four are taken out at the same time (or even two at the same time) makes no sense, except for the people getting put out totally. Otherwise, why put yourself through that trauma all at once?

@jca In my case, the main reason was because I had never had dental surgery, and I was afraid that if I had one or two removed, the experience might be so traumatizing that I might never go back to have the others done. I absolutely wanted the trauma all at once. In retrospect, it was not nearly as bad as I anticipated.

I was also broke, had insurance at the time, and wanted to be able to use it. I suspect it might also have been more expensive to have them done on multiple visits.

None of that would have mattered if my surgeon had advised against it. I asked all kinds of questions like this beforehand, and he told me it made no difference whether I had them out at the same time or not. As @trailsillustrated points out, individual situations can differ. But in my case, there was no compelling reason not to have them all out at once.

I had general anaesthesia for abdominal surgery.

It. was. awesome.

Sorry, but I’m a mother to a young child, and that was the best sleep I had had in five years.

I can see why MJ was so into that propyphol. It rocks.

I had general anesthesia (septoplasty) in October. They told me to count back from 5. I made it to 3 and suddenly I was waking up in a different room. It’s some crazy sh*t.

@tom_g When I came out, my gf brushed my hair out and a bloody big tooth came out, I just started bawling…lol. That stuff is strong!

I don’t remember counting. My husband said he was going to run to the bathroom, and he’d be back before the anaesthesiologist came back… and I woke up three hours later.

I had to have anesthetic as all four were impacted and had to be cut out. I don’t remember the details, except that it was miserable. I had a two-year-old daughter, so I went to Mom’s house to recuperate. Three of the sockets healed quite nicely in a few days. The fourth ached and throbbed. I begged my doctor for more pain meds, but he refused, thinking I was a druggie or something. Then finally, a couple of bone chips worked their way out – and after that the fourth socket healed very quickly.

I had 4 premolars pulled before braces, like @gailcalled‘s kids, when I was 11. All I remember was being sick after. I have yet to determine of it’s the anesthesia or the opiates – I’ve gotten sick all 3 times I’ve had anesthesia – and getting sick with an empty stomach is miserable.

Because those teeth had been pulled, I had room when my wisdom teeth came in. However, one of them went bad when I was in my 30s and had to be pulled on short notice. I just had a local and the dentist pulled and it popped right out. He was astonished that it hadn’t broken off because it had a wicked bend in one of the roots… Had that happened, I’m sure I’d have rather been sedated, at the very least. I had root canal done under local, and there were no complications.

I mentioned my son’s anesthesia for extraction of all four impacted wisdom teeth above, but not his recovery… He had no complaints of pain and went back to his normal activities the next day. No dry socket, no problems at all.

The point is that everyone is different, so it is best to discuss your options with your oral surgeon. If you have any prior experiences with dental work and/or anesthesia, talk about them and weigh the pros and cons. If you don’t feel comfortable with or confident in Surgeon A, consult with another surgeon until you find one that you are most comfortable with.

I had 4 impacted wisdoms. I had all 4 removed at once by an oral surgeon. I was put under anesthesia, thank goodness.

I didn’t take narcotics afterward because I’d rather be in pain than take them.

There is no way in hell I’d do it again only with local. That is not something I’d want to be awake for.

@augustlan Haha it’s all fun and games when you’re high until you truly realize the situation at large.

I think it a limited case. It do not happens with everybody.

I had general anesthesia and the oral surgeon asked me about the worst boyfriend I have ever had. I got to “That motherfucker…” and was out. I woke up at home, medicated by an alarm clock like @johnpowell, and don’t really remember the next two days of my life. Easy peezy.
My oral surgeon looked like old school Willy Wonka, which was awesome. I did general anesthesia because I have pretty severe TMJ. My bursa actually shifted during the procedure and I had to go back for realignment. That was painful, but other than that it was ideal.
The doc later told me he always asked about the ex because it never failed to get the blood pumping. He said most people passed out right about when I did, and it cracked him up.