During the summer, I suddenly developed a severe stabbing pain in my lower jaw. I was working remotely at the time, and one of my coworkers suggested that it could be my wisdom teeth trying to come in. Flabbergasted, I made an appointment with my dentist and told him of my ailment. They instructed me that I, unfortunately, had all of my wisdom teeth and that I would likely be eligible to get them removed. After dropping the semester of school, I came home to live with my parents, ergo putting me in the perfect position to get them out, even if they weren’t going to come in for a few years.
After attending a consultation appointment, arguing with the receptionists about our obscure dental insurance, and having to make a call to our formidible health insurance to see if they would cover my anesthesia, the day finally came to have them removed.
We had to show up to the appointment 15 minutes early to do some COVID paperwork and to pay for the procedure. When I got called back, they showed me a video from the 90’s about after care, and we found out at the end that the main women in the film was not even a doctor; she was an attorney. Once the video concluded, I was ushered into a room that I quickly discovered was the operating room. This freaked me out, I’m not going to lie. I didn’t enjoy being face to face with the tools that are going to be ripping into me within the next fifteen minutes.
When the nurse came in, she was very comforting and lighthearted. We talked about her iridescent purple shoes and my upcoming journey to Colorado. The anesthesiologist and surgeon came in and hooked up my IV while joking with each other and making me feel more comfortable. I have always been genuinely curious about the manner of surgical procedures, so I decided to ask about how they knew when I was fully unconscious. Instead of answering me, they all laughed. I suppose this amused them because I remember nothing after the collective laughs.
When I woke up, I remembered where I was; I didn’t feel foggy or delirious like some people after surgery. I think I took off my oxygen meter and my blood pressure cuff and called to the nurse that I was ready to leave. After she called my dad, she helped me to the car and off we went! My dad tried to film me saying something stupid in the car, but I wasn’t confused or surprised. If anything, I grumbled in frustration at my inability to speak well with a mouth packed full of gauze.
After we stopped by the pharmacy and the supermarket, I got home and took some pain and some antibacterial medicine. For the bleeding, you have to replace the gauze in your mouth about every 30-60 minutes, and the swelling is managed with the ice-pack headwrap that’s to be applied for thirty minutes at a time. My pain has been very tolerable due to the meds, I wouldn’t describe it as anything worse than a jaw ache.
Since my pain has been manageable, I have been able to talk a bit and avoid being bedridden. For lunch I ate a smoothie with a spoon, and for dinner I had some applesauce, Spaghettio’s, and a pudding cup. Eating directly after the surgery proved challenging since I couldn’t feel my tongue, lower lip, or chin. As of writing this, I am about 12 hours post-op, and my lip is still a bit numb, but all the other feeling has returned!
Overall, I was honestly kind of scared about this operation, but it has been much more simpler than I imagined. I have felt really well, and I hope to avoid dry socket on any of my incision sites. Stay tuned to find out.
UPDATE: I wrote the above portion the day of my surgery, and I’m not sure if I overextended myself on this day or what, but I felt absolutely terrible the next couple of days. I woke up in the middle of the night in pain with dry mouth, and my limited choices in food began to tax me. The pain could be mediated with some Advil and new cold packs for my cheeks, so there was relief at the end of each uncomfortable period.
After the second and third days, I felt much better, and besides inflated gums at the back of my mouth, I think the wounds are fairly healed. I can eat fairly normally, and I’ve resumed my daily routine, including exercise. You are also supposed to take a weeks worth of antibiotics to ward off any extra bacteria and do a salt water rinse three times a day to keep your mouth clean. I am now one week post-op and I feel great!