We all remember the dread of having our wisdom teeth removed when we were in our late teens or early twenties. It’s a rite of passage that many of us have to go through. But what can we really expect when facing this common dental procedure?
I recently spoke with Christy Spencer, a dental assistant at Living Dental Health, about what patients can expect when getting their wisdom teeth removed. She shed some light on the process, the common complications, and important post-operative care tips.
According to Christy, the average patient age for wisdom teeth removal hovers around the late teens and early twenties, but the ideal time falls between 17 and 26. However, the timeline might shift if your teeth are fashionably early bloomers. Who knew wisdom teeth had a sense of fashion, right?
Now, let’s talk about the potential complications. Christy mentioned a few potential hiccups, like infections and the dreaded dry socket (what is that anyway?). Still, the risk is quite low with an experienced dentist and good adherence to the post-operative instructions (that’s where you come in). While some local offices may have more experience with complications, they seem to be a rarity at Living Dental Health thanks to the comprehensive protocols they have in place. In fact, they’ve had rarer sightings of complications than UFOs in the past five years – now, that’s impressive!
While surgery can happen Tuesday through Friday, most patients opt for Fridays so they can use the weekend to recover. Christy emphasized that at Living Dental Health, patients have the option of being sedated using conscious sedation, which involves taking a Halcion pill and then not having a care in the world. Conscious sedation allows patients to be awake and responsive but has temporary amnesia effects, which is nice unless you like having surgery, which most people don’t. In case you’re wondering…Christy confides that patients making embarrassing proclamations mid-surgery aren’t the norm. Phew!
The team monitors your blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen levels during the super short procedure (like a few minutes per tooth!). Then they send you home with strict warnings about not driving or texting (that’s where those embarrassing statements have been known to happen). Christy also warns to keep your Amazon account locked down to prevent random shopping sprees. Does it count if you can’t remember buying something?
After the procedure, patients are provided with detailed post-operative care instructions, including guidelines to prevent dry socket. In this painful condition, the blood clot comes out of the socket, exposing the raw bone. But in the rare chance this happens, they have a really cool treatment to fix it, lickety-split!
To promote proper and fast healing, it’s crucial to avoid hot foods and drinks, hard foods, drinking from a straw, smoking or vaping, and strenuous activities. Additionally, patients are advised to use ice packs to reduce swelling, rinse with salt water after 72 hours to aid in healing, take prescribed pain medication, and be mindful of their diet and oral care during recovery. Soft foods are on the menu, my friend!
In closing, getting your wisdom teeth removed is an adventure! Under the skilled hands of Dr. Engel, surgery is a breeze for most patients, especially if you have good direction-following skills. If wisdom teeth removal is in your future, talk with Dr. Engel to find out when you should plan on getting it done. He’ll be monitoring your wisdom teeth’ entrance into the world and will keep you in the loop regarding when they should get the boot.
If you are hungry for more info, you can read another insightful blog we’ve written on wisdom teeth removal here.