Question: How Are Wisdom Teeth Removed?

If you developed wisdom teeth (and no, not everyone does), chances are you will require wisdom tooth removal at some point in your lifetime.

From personal experience, I have found that if I know what is happening during a procedure, I’m not as nervous or apprehensive during it. If you are curious to know how wisdom teeth are removed, keep reading.

Answer: Here is the low-down on how wisdom teeth are removed:

1. After the elected method of sedation has taken effect, the oral surgeon or dentist starts the procedure by numbing the tooth and tissues in the area of the mouth where the wisdom teeth are located, with a local anesthetic. You’ve probably already had an x-ray, known as apanorex, taken of the wisdom teeth, but sometimes the dentist requires additional x-rays the day of the procedure. Any additional x-rays will be taken at this point in the procedure.
2. Once the patient is completely numb from the local anesthetic and the required x-rays have been taken, the dentist begins the surgical part of the procedure by removing the gum tissue that is covering the area where the wisdom tooth is located. If the wisdom tooth is impacted, an incision is made in the gum tissue, in order to access the tooth. The gum tissue is then pushed out of the way with a surgical instrument until the tooth is visible. There is a good chance that an impacted wisdom tooth could be fully or partially covered in bone. If there is bone covering the wisdom teeth, a high-speed hand piece is used to drill through, and remove the bone covering the tooth. If the wisdom tooth has already erupted into your mouth, the dentist will loosen the connective tissue from around the wisdom tooth.
3. Once the impacted wisdom teeth are visible to the dentist, various surgical instruments are used to gently loosen the wisdom tooth from any connective tissue in the tooth’s socket. The use of the high-speed hand piece may be used on and off throughout the extraction. The same procedure applies for a wisdom tooth that was already erupted. It may be necessary for the dentist to cut the tooth into sections before it is removed. This is done because the tooth is at risk for breaking while it is being removed from the socket.
4. Once the wisdom tooth is loose, or it had been completely sectioned, it is ready to be removed. The dentist will remove the wisdom tooth with a selection of surgical instruments that are designed to remove the tooth from the tooth’s socket.
5. Now that the wisdom teeth are gone, it may be necessary for the dentist to use stitches to close the area where the teeth were. This is done for surgically removed impacted wisdom teeth and in cases where the dentist feels the patient will heal better with stitches in place.
6. The dentist will give you some post-operative instructions to follow, along with a small amount of gauze for you to bite down on.

Wisdom tooth removal, albeit a nerve-racking thought, is a very common dental procedure. Wisdom teeth may be removed in your dental office or in a surgical office.

Source: About.com

Wisdom teeth extractions are a common practice in dentistry — just another day at the office for most dentists. Ask a patient about his or her wisdom teeth removal and chances are the story you hear will sound more like a nightmare than a trip to see the dentist.

What was your wisdom teeth removal like? Was it a piece of cake or more reminiscent of a horror film? Was your recovery quick and painless or slow and agonizing? Share your wisdom teeth removal stories here to help prepare others for what’s to come.

Horrible

I had my wisdom teeth out 3 months ago and my bottom two holes still haven’t closed. I had all four extracted, and all were impacted. My bottom two had dry socket, and it is the worse pain I’ve ever felt. I still hurt and I am resistant to every painkiller. The procedure went well, except for the nausea after the surgery. All in all, it was not bad… Just, still waiting for the pain to go away and to feel normal again…

—Guest Kelly

Find someone you can trust

I’m phobic of needles, but I have no fear whatsoever of dental injections because I never had one that hurt. When I was told the wisdom teeth had to come out, I was also told that I needed IV sedation, which I couldn’t handle. Three years went by before one tooth was so rotten that it began getting infected every few weeks. The dentist I saw was a saint, she told me that my dentist had lied through his teeth about needing IV sedation. When I found out, the teeth came out two weeks later. The surgeon was great, I had no sedation whatsoever. He had to redo most of my numbing shots, but the important thing was he was thorough enough to find out he had to before operating. He had to drill for 3 of the teeth, but he did it all as fast as he could, 10 minutes to get 4 teeth. The 3 years of waiting was by far worse than the surgery. I was in almost no pain afterward, unless you count the chunk I bit out of my cheek, it was a breeze.

—TyLe_RoAd

Depends where you go

I’m terrible when it comes to needles and pain so I was frightened when it came time to have my wisdom teeth removed. I had the bottom ones (the hardest) done first when I was 17. The dentist called in an oral surgeon to do it and it went great. I felt nothing, and it was done it about ten min. It did hurt like hell afterward though. When I was 18 I went in to have my tops removed, this time only nervous about the recovery. Boy was I wrong. I had switched dentists so it was a total different experience. He barely numbed me at all, was in pain the entire time, his assistant accidentally ripped the stitches out. And barely gave me any painkillers to get me through recovery. Take the time to find a good one!!!!!!

—Guest Ashley

NIGHTMARE

I had my bottom wisdom teeth removed 4weeks ago and it has been a living nightmare. The dentist said I had one of the worse cases of wisdom teeth they were very deep and he had to remove a lot of bone and cut through a lot of tissue. I woke up from surgery with packing in my jaws where they removed the wisdom teeth and i have to keep going and have the packing replaced every week. (REALLY SUCKS) I have had no feeling in my bottom front teeth, lip or chin since the surgery. I’ve been trying to heal from an infection on my left side and dry sockets this is the worst surgery I have ever had and wish a hundred times over i would of never had it done.

—Guest Stacy

No Biggie! Don’t Worry!

I worried horribly after reading all of the dreadful stories online. I had all 4 of mine removed, with the bottom 2 having to be cut out. I’m TERRIFIED of needles, but I barely flinched at the IV being put in. After the procedure, I woke up pretty alert, no pain whatsoever. I filled my scripts, took the first dose and headed home. The bleeding stopped within a few hours and I felt pretty good. It took me a few days to really eat anything solid, but NO pain, NO feeling yucky, NOT BAD AT ALL. I’m not 3-4 weeks out and things are pretty much healed up. I still have the "holes" in my bottom gums, but they’re really not that big of a deal and they’re healing very quickly. Bottom line, the experience will be different for everyone, but I think the majority of people who actually write about it online are the ones who suffered. There are just as many out there who breezed through the process.

—Guest Amanda

Wisdom Teeth Removal – numbness

I had my wisdom teeth removed 2mths ago. I had all 4 removed in a hospital by an oral surgeon. I was informed before the procedure that it would be very difficult as I have a small mouth and cavity. The procedure entailed removing some jaw bones to access the teeth. After the procedure, I was in a lot of pain. The bleeding continued for a few days (yucky blood on pillow every morning) and I could barely open my mouth as my jaw was extremely sore. After the anesthesia wore off I realized that my right hand side of my bottom lip and chin were numb. Recovery was slow and I developed an infection despite taking all of my antibiotics and gargling every hour (around the clock it felt like). I couldn’t sleep properly as my jaw was too sore and would feel like too much pressure was pushing on it when I lay down. On the upside, the pain subsided gradually after about 2weeks and I began eating soft solids (eggs, fish etc.). The numbness persisted for 6 weeks.

—Guest ally

Very Upset!

I’m very scared of dentist but badly needed to get my wisdom teeth out because they were hurting me really bad! I went to the oral surgeon and did a consultation with him. Asked to be put out with an IV and have all four wisdom teeth taken out. He agreed and the insurance lady came in after the oral surgeon left. She discussed the prices with me: price for each tooth and price for 45 min of the IV. We scheduled the surgery for morning since I have other medical issues that keep me in chronic pain constantly and I didn’t want to be in pain all day long without being able to take anything. I paid for all four teeth and the 45 min of IV and the surgery went well. Took 17 minutes from when I left my boyfriend in the waiting room till I was wheeled out of the office to go home. They told my boyfriend the surgery went perfect and there was no problems. I was glad I finally did it! Then the bleeding stopped and I took out the gauze only to find out that I still have two wisdom teeth!!!

—Guest Nikki

Nightmare

I had one wisdom tooth out and ended up with an infection in the gums and dry socket ( I don’t smoke either) it was a night mare, the infection got so bad that the 2nd bottom back wisdom tooth had to be removed also. In 7 weeks I had 7 antibiotics and some major pain relief. 2 months on and I’ve a jaw that’s out of balance and my teeth are grinding at night and are becoming increasingly damaged , I have never had any of these problems before. I got unlucky I suppose never again I’m now looking at new solutions to fix my teeth and help my jaw re balance again .

—Guest Angel

Complete nightmare

I just got my top wisdom teeth taken out by my dentist in the office. The bottom teeth need to be taken out by an oral surgeon, but that is another day. All four are impacted. The top extractions were horrible, I felt everything. He even stopped in the middle of the extraction to add more freezing because I was ready to jump out of the chair. I cried through it and I cried all the way home The pressure was the worst, he was twisting so hard and I could hear the cracking. Overall, it was an awful expirience and I hope they heal up soon.

—Guest amanda

no big deal!

Had all four wisdom teeth out a couple of days ago. No big deal. Internet stories freaked me out. I didn’t get gassed/knocked out or anything. I did have a great dentist who made sure he gave me tons of freezing and I had him test it out to make sure I couldn’t feel anything before he took out the first tooth and I could so he gave me MORE freezing. That’s important. Then he gave me lots of Tylenol 3′s for after (I need them but with them feel no real pain), a precautionary anti-biotic cycle, and an anti-inflammatory medicine to take for a few days after. I got a stitch on each bottom side that I will get taken out in a week. Don’t worry, but DO get an EXPERIENCED dentist or oral surgeon who believes in making sure you don’t have any pain and is caring.

—Guest kate

Not that bad…

Had two wisdom teeth out a week ago and all went well. Oral surgeon said I did great and no problems at all. Came out easily. Slept on and off for 2 days following, eating soft foods and following his instructions. Had no pain just a soreness in my mouth. Top back wisdom tooth and on same side of mouth a back bottom tooth/molar. Now a week later and just feel tired and at times no energy. Didn’t need to take any painkillers, but took his recommended anti-biotic to kill away any possible infection. Also Advil before bed to help reduce the swelling. I was nervous of the procedure – but it really went fine. They gave me a IV deep sedation so I slept through the procedure and lots of sleep afterward. Each day get better and better…Not as bad as the many horror stories over the internet – and the experience is different for everyone… For me who’s 35, and who had 7 teeth out when younger – it really was okay. Had more pain before.

—Guest Guest Karen

Stupid dentist.

Well, he missed with the IV. 4 times. So 4 holes In my arm, but its wasn’t horrible. I was knocked out, and i got oxycodone after. Just don’t be nervous! You’ll be fine. You might have massive amounts of blood and saliva afterward, though.

—Guest

Navy did a good job

I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth taken out in bootcamp (even though I was not having any problems). The only thing that sucked was that I had to get around 9 Novocaine shots in my gums; 2 were in the roof of my mouth, the other 7 in my gums. They yanked all 4 out, with no pain. I was eating semi-solid foods the next day and solid foods 2 days later. I wish they had Nitrous for me to make it more enjoyable, but it all comes down to you and your dentist.

—Guest Robert

Wisdom Horror

I had mine out 8 days ago & I am still in chronic pain, I can’t eat solid food, I can’t open my mouth more than about 1 & half centimeters. I went in under general, had all 4 removed which were impacted.. I have never felt more uncomfortable & throbbing persistent pain in my life! Pain killers don’t work no matter which brand, the quantity taken or the time between each dose. Its very hard & hurts to talk, as does trying to smile or laugh.. Thank god I got them all taken out in one hit because there’s no way I would ever go through this again! Also, I can still constantly taste blood in my mouth & down the back of my throat, I have a gross taste in my mouth too & I am yet to find out if I have dry sockets, which are highly likely seeing as they are so common & I have the symptoms.. All those people that say ‘it isn’t that bad’.. OMG my experience is extremely close to what I would call ‘living hell’.. Good luck

—Guest Zoe

no big deal

Had my 2 lowers done under local anesthesia with nitrous oxide. No big deal, I went with the ipod distraction method per recommendations of the oral surgeon. I was barely swollen and the pain other than loosing the clot from when I sneezed was pretty much minimal. The oral surgeon I went to happen to be a client for a IT company I was there working on behalf of so I decided to ask her since I hadn’t seen a dentist in nearly 10 years after having a bad experience that pretty much got me not to see one. She is a Oral Surgeon so having a pro who specifically went to school for doing extractions, implants, etc was definitely a benefit than having a regular family/cosmetic dentist doing it. I initially got 2 injections per side plus an additional long acting local once she was pretty much done so that I would not be in pain post op for a few hours (4-6 hours post op without pain).

—Guest Ben