Wisdom Teeth

[Satchmo10th]

I'm going to be having mine cut out soon, is there anything I should pay particular attention to as far as flying is concerned? Any meds to stay away from? Time periods I should wait before flying again?

I have a feeling that there isn't a whole lot but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

 

[Ted]

When I went in they gave me vicodin for the pain. I didn't fly for about two weeks or so while the initial recovery was taking place since I didn't want to risk the pressure causing any issues. Worked out fine, and my wisdom teeth were a pain to get out. Also remember to be off the pain meds. I only took them the first day, after that I was fine.

 

[jesse]

I didn't enjoy that experience at all. I was sick from the anesthesia and throwing up for about two days. I was bleeding non stop from my mouth for about a week. There was an alarming amount of blood the first few days.

Don't turn down the Vicodin. You very well may need it. Don't fly until you've recovered. It might take a week or two.

 

[Greg Bockelman]

I think by the time you feel up to flying again, the medications won't be an issue.

 

[denverpilot]

I had all four out via "surgery" at the same time in my 20s.

I woke up from the anesthesia with the doc hammering on my right rear one with a hammer and chisel trying to split it in pieces to extract it.

Thankfully the pain killers were still intact and all I remember is mumbled comments about, "He's waking up, we need to put him back under Nurse."

I don't recommend the experience of having someone whaling on your face with a hammer when you wake up. It kinda stays with you.

Amazing how hard he had to hit to break it too.

Then a few days later I got the joy of dry sockets. Well one out of four anyway. That pain feels like you'll never put anything on that side of your mouth ever again.

Then a week after that I got the joy of an ER visit because the antibiotics killed off everything useful as flora and fauna in my intestines.

Then a while with a lovely horse-pill version of a wicked antibiotic called Flagyll to kill off whatever had invaded my guts.

And a lot of time spent no further than ten steps from a bathroom.

Four weeks later, life was back to normal.

So...

My current dentist wasn't too surprised I stated that I would be a "nervous patient" when I started seeing him.

After being there for years and saying I won't go anywhere else (he's awesome), I get a letter from his office that he's dropping all patients with Aetna because they're just totally ****ing him off and he doesn't need the headaches.

He has a waiting list for patients. And Aetna sucks.

Maybe my new plan will let me go see him again. Crossing fingers.

I share this that you might get a good laugh when yours goes MUCH better than this, as the vast majority do.

 

[JesseD]

I'm going to be having mine cut out soon, is there anything I should pay particular attention to as far as flying is concerned? Any meds to stay away from? Time periods I should wait before flying again?

I have a feeling that there isn't a whole lot but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

Cut out literally or just extracted? I only ask because extraction (I had that, mine were in, just compressing my other teeth) is less of a problem. You bleed and get a local, that's it. I wouldn't have wanted to fly for a week, under normal circumstances. No other meds required.

Just make sure they check for issues I had a piece of jawbone come out with my tooth. I couldn't smile for a week because the bone was poking my cheek.

 

[Ted]

I got local anesthesia only and drove myself home. It was not particularly fun, and not for those with weak stomaches. I was thinking what a great invention novicane is. Vicodin ain't half bad, either. There's a reason why it's recommended by Dr. House.

Greg makes a good point: You probably won't be feeling up to flying for the time period that you shouldn't be.

 

[steingar]

Yah, I had to ride home on my motorcycle both times. I do like Vicodin, good stuff. No worries for the OP, by the time you actually feel like flying you should be good to go.

 

[JesseD]

I got local anesthesia only and drove myself home. It was not particularly fun, and not for those with weak stomaches. I was thinking what a great invention novicane is. Vicodin ain't half bad, either. There's a reason why it's recommended by Dr. House.

Greg makes a good point: You probably won't be feeling up to flying for the time period that you shouldn't be.

Yeah, Vicodin is a good thing. I learned that after my accident, along with the fact that Oxycodone and Morphine are real nice discoveries. The nurse didn't note (and no one told me, I was unconscious in surgery) that they turned off my automatic morphine drip. My stomach didn't like Percoset, and after the Morphine was "out" if my system (with no other painkillers in it) I learned what real pain is. That was a bad night.

 

[steingar]

Vicodin made the pain from the gout go away.

 

[Telemakhos]

I have an old school dentist who simply shot my mouth up with Novocaine, waited fifteen minutes, and yanked all four our. The fourth didn't come quietly, and I was treated to the spectacle of a bloody scalpel being repeatedly inserted into my mouth. Good times!
The whole procedure took maybe 20 minutes; I was in the office for a grand total of maybe 50 minutes. I walked home, took a nap, and drooled much blood onto my pillow. This effectively destroyed my pillowcase.
I refused the heavy pain medication, took some Tylenol, and was sore for a couple of days. There was a tooth fragment that kinda got stuck in the gum, but it worked itself out over a couple of days. Then I was all better.
So it's not always a crazy ordeal. I hope yours goes as smoothly as mine did.
Plus, ask to keep your extracted teeth. They make great gifts for your loved ones!
Just kidding about that last part.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

It depends.

My dad walked in, got them yanked on a local, went flying that afternoon. No big deal.

I went in, got the local, and then the guy got to work. He would drill, then use the mallet and drift punch, then the pry bar (You could hear things cracking as he pried), more drilling, more chisel, more prying... I could see him sweat he was working so hard. And that was just the first two.

He then asked if I wanted to come back later to get the others, and I said N.F.W. Do it now or it won't get done. So back to work he went...

Drove myself home, and rolled around the floor in pain until my wife got back with the prescription for the pain killers (don't recall what kind).

Other than that, it was no big deal.

 

[rotorhead1026]

Satchmo, it's usually routine with modest pain and inconvenience. By the time you feel like going back up all should be well.

Some of the stories above are priceless. Jawbone fragements; mallets; scalpels; hammers and chisels. Geez, if I had read this before I went in I might have visited Kervorkian instead of the dentist!

 

[kgruber]

Most people don't really have to have them out.

It is mostly a dentist scam. First they pull your wisdom teeth, then later in life they sell you dentures, since the wisdom teeth no longer hold the rest of your teeth together.

 

[Satchmo10th]

Cut out literally or just extracted?

We're talking literally cut out. The one on the left hasn't exploded at all and the one on the right has but only a little. Only the top ones are coming out though, the bottoms are staying in place. They're turned 90 and are stable where they are but they said they would think about taking them out if they ever give me problems.

 

[lprellwitz]

Some rough stories above, but it doesn't have to be a big deal.

All four of mine were rotated 90 degrees and headed for trouble (all my sisters had the same problem), so we had them all out at the same time, even though only one had started to erupt. In the oral surgeon's office, was in the chair and conscious just long enough to see the 'V'(alium) on the IV line tag; next thing I knew, I'm waking up in a different room, mouth thoroughly filled with gauze rolls, being guided into the car for Mom to drive me home - turns were really interesting....

Got some tylenol 4 for the pain, recovered over the weekend while studying for final exams at college the next week (yeah, timing wasn't ideal; it was an insurance coverage thing), pretty straightforward. Just glad that the first final that week (still taking the pain meds then) was psychology, with essays; some of the most creative writing I'd ever done

Once you're up to flying again, and you've been off the good pain meds for a bit, you should be good to go.

Leslie