wisdom extraction
Wisdom teeth, that is. I haven't blogged in a long time and I thought it'd be a good time to get back on the blog train.
This morning I had my 2 lower wisdom teeth extracted. Prior to this, I have never been sedated, had an IV, or basically gone through surgery. I've never even had a Tylenol 3 until now (which I know now is codeine, a controlled substance). Basically, I am quite innocent in the world of surgery and post-op recovery.
I did my fair share of research through Wikipedia (awesome) just because I research stuff when I'm interested and also because I didn't know if I wanted them taken out. The dentist said they were straight and there was room, but the teeth have not moved much over a year. The teeth were peeking out a little, but not fully exposed like a regular tooth. I now realize that my situation could have fallen under the second most common category of impaction, which is vertical impaction (38%). This is where the wisdom tooth is straight, but the tooth does not fully erupt past the gum line. If I left it, then there would be a flap of gum where food and bacteria can get trapped. The flap is called the operculum. I didn't like this flap hanging around anymore, so the teeth came out. (And also because I'm still under my dad's health insurance!)
All I remember of the day was going to the surgery place and filling in an info sheet. Then going into the room, which was quite small compared to a regular dentist room. I looked around and there were some gas lines, and some dental equipment with some burly metal handles. Like screwdrivers but the tool was right on the end of the handle, and the handle was metal. After that, the doctor explained about the nerves, and how it is rare that it gets damaged, which would result in having a numb lip and tongue forever (eeks!). He even asked me if I wanted to be sedated. This caught me off guard, so I asked him what people usually do even thought I knew what most people chose. He called in the anesthesiologist and jokingly told him that I didn't want the drugs. So I played along and said, "yup, just gotta man up." I think it is a good thing to have some humour before something serious like a surgery. It just loosens up the tension a bit and maybe the doctor will take more care if he is working on a funny guy! The doctor was a cool guy though, he did come in saying, "what's up man?"
So he put in a little IV needle in my hand, which hurt less than a blood test needle. That IV was what I expected to be the most painful, but no problems! It wasn't attached to anything, the anesthesiologist just put in 3 needles or something and that was it. They also put this nose snorkel thing that was giving me some oxygen. It was kind of space aged, like I was in Star Wars or something. After that, I felt a little tingle go up my arm and probably within three minutes, I was out.
The next thing you know, I'm waking up on a sweet leather recliner and my mom is there! I was all tripped out and had to walk to get my shoes (it's like a house, you wouldn't wear you muddy shoes in the house would you?). I didn't know how I got from the office to the passenger seat of the van, but it happened. And I was still very sleepy, but my mom said she had to go get some drugs and asked if I wanted anything. I said I wanted a Booster Juice and she asked me what flavour. She gave me a pen and a receipt to write it on, but the pen wasn't working and I don't know if my mom would remember "Mango Hurricane," so I just said Original. My mom got it and I held it between my legs and fell asleep. I walked from the van to my house, put the Booster Juice in the fridge, and went to sleep.
When I woke up, I had some sick gauze in my mouth that I took out. Pretty bloody, but not bad. I read the post-op stuff and took a T3. Then I opened up the Booster Juice and started chugging. It was damn good and I was slobbering everywhere. I even have some red spots on my pants that can prove it! Whatever, the slobbering was worth the drink. Then I just put in some new gauze and watched a movie.
I'm not to swollen right now, and I hope it doesn't get worse. Maybe I'm like Wolverine with super quick healing powers. I hope so! Then maybe I can get my skeleton laced with Adamantium. Hmmmm, yes, that'd be sweet.
This morning I had my 2 lower wisdom teeth extracted. Prior to this, I have never been sedated, had an IV, or basically gone through surgery. I've never even had a Tylenol 3 until now (which I know now is codeine, a controlled substance). Basically, I am quite innocent in the world of surgery and post-op recovery.
I did my fair share of research through Wikipedia (awesome) just because I research stuff when I'm interested and also because I didn't know if I wanted them taken out. The dentist said they were straight and there was room, but the teeth have not moved much over a year. The teeth were peeking out a little, but not fully exposed like a regular tooth. I now realize that my situation could have fallen under the second most common category of impaction, which is vertical impaction (38%). This is where the wisdom tooth is straight, but the tooth does not fully erupt past the gum line. If I left it, then there would be a flap of gum where food and bacteria can get trapped. The flap is called the operculum. I didn't like this flap hanging around anymore, so the teeth came out. (And also because I'm still under my dad's health insurance!)
All I remember of the day was going to the surgery place and filling in an info sheet. Then going into the room, which was quite small compared to a regular dentist room. I looked around and there were some gas lines, and some dental equipment with some burly metal handles. Like screwdrivers but the tool was right on the end of the handle, and the handle was metal. After that, the doctor explained about the nerves, and how it is rare that it gets damaged, which would result in having a numb lip and tongue forever (eeks!). He even asked me if I wanted to be sedated. This caught me off guard, so I asked him what people usually do even thought I knew what most people chose. He called in the anesthesiologist and jokingly told him that I didn't want the drugs. So I played along and said, "yup, just gotta man up." I think it is a good thing to have some humour before something serious like a surgery. It just loosens up the tension a bit and maybe the doctor will take more care if he is working on a funny guy! The doctor was a cool guy though, he did come in saying, "what's up man?"
So he put in a little IV needle in my hand, which hurt less than a blood test needle. That IV was what I expected to be the most painful, but no problems! It wasn't attached to anything, the anesthesiologist just put in 3 needles or something and that was it. They also put this nose snorkel thing that was giving me some oxygen. It was kind of space aged, like I was in Star Wars or something. After that, I felt a little tingle go up my arm and probably within three minutes, I was out.
The next thing you know, I'm waking up on a sweet leather recliner and my mom is there! I was all tripped out and had to walk to get my shoes (it's like a house, you wouldn't wear you muddy shoes in the house would you?). I didn't know how I got from the office to the passenger seat of the van, but it happened. And I was still very sleepy, but my mom said she had to go get some drugs and asked if I wanted anything. I said I wanted a Booster Juice and she asked me what flavour. She gave me a pen and a receipt to write it on, but the pen wasn't working and I don't know if my mom would remember "Mango Hurricane," so I just said Original. My mom got it and I held it between my legs and fell asleep. I walked from the van to my house, put the Booster Juice in the fridge, and went to sleep.
When I woke up, I had some sick gauze in my mouth that I took out. Pretty bloody, but not bad. I read the post-op stuff and took a T3. Then I opened up the Booster Juice and started chugging. It was damn good and I was slobbering everywhere. I even have some red spots on my pants that can prove it! Whatever, the slobbering was worth the drink. Then I just put in some new gauze and watched a movie.
I'm not to swollen right now, and I hope it doesn't get worse. Maybe I'm like Wolverine with super quick healing powers. I hope so! Then maybe I can get my skeleton laced with Adamantium. Hmmmm, yes, that'd be sweet.
posted by ed @ 4:36 PM
4 comments
