Your teeth and people who drill them

[Reg]

I had all four of mine out under a general unaesthetic as well when I was 18 and they gave me percodans to pop 3 times a day. Thats what it said to do on the bottle so i figured I'd better do it in case it was an antibiotic or something.  I never noticed anything myself except for the occasional attack of hiccups but other people told me I was in an exceptionally good mood that week 

[ghost]

Any sugars, or do you make a distinction between complex vs simple sugars?

Glucose, specifically, is the primary foodsource of Streptococcus Mutans, wich is the primary source of cavities.  So glucose/sucrose are going to be the big baddies. 

[ghost]

Also, I am going to have a wisdom tooth removed in about a month (in preparation of getting braces >.>)
Is there anything I can do before/after to speed up recovery and make it painless? Except eating lots of painkillers and putting something cold on the cheek?

Don't smoke.  Don't drink through a straw.  Don't eat or drink obnoxious foods.  Take an anti-inflammatory dose of ibuprofen.  Cold for the first 24 hours, but use heat after that. 

[bhodi]

DON'T be dosed to the eyeballs on Percoset/Oxycodone the following day, look at your hand and think "I feel really good. I don't feel any pain at all. You know, I bet I could smash this hand with a hammer and not even care. That would be cool, is there a hammer around?"

My first thought after waking up the next day was "Thank god I was too lazy to go downstairs" because I would have totally done it.

[Ratman_tf]

Also, I am going to have a wisdom tooth removed in about a month (in preparation of getting braces >.>)
Is there anything I can do before/after to speed up recovery and make it painless? Except eating lots of painkillers and putting something cold on the cheek?

Don't smoke.  Don't drink through a straw.  Don't eat or drink obnoxious foods.  Take an anti-inflammatory dose of ibuprofen.  Cold for the first 24 hours, but use heat after that. 

I got mighty paranoid about dry socket when I was having some teeth pulled, and lived off of ensure and jello for about 3 days after the extractions. I managed to not smoke for 24 hours after the first, and then smoked a few a day for the rest. (We spaced the individual extractions over the span of 3 visits.)
I never got dry socket , only a few bone splinters once. :)

[ghost]

I never got dry socket , only a few bone splinters once. :)

Those bone splinters are pretty normal and you can even get them up to 6 months after having the surgery.  Smoking is the most important cause of dry socket, and, unfortunately for smokers, I'm not even sure it's entirely related to active smoking, i.e. I think there's something that makes smokers more apt to get dry socket even if they don't smoke for a few days after the surgery.  You almost never see dry socket in people that don't smoke. 

[Lantyssa]

Vicodin and lots of it.

I was allergic to lodine and within fifteen minutes of taking one I'd vomit for half a day.  I couldn't even keep vicodin down.  It was four days before I figured out it was specifically the lodine, since I thought it was the pain at first.  As I tend to become inflammed easily, it was not a happy four days.  (Yes, wisdom tooth extraction, massive inflammation, and NO painkillers.  Joy.)  Although the next four weren't so bad once I could keep the vicodin down.

Also found out ambien does not agree with me.  Not that I remember much of those three hours.  Conscious sedation is fun.  Just don't have a bigger smart-ass than yourself take you to the appointment.

[01101010]

Vicodin and lots of it.

I was allergic to lodine and within fifteen minutes of taking one I'd vomit for half a day.  I couldn't even keep vicodin down.  It was four days before I figured out it was specifically the lodine, since I thought it was the pain at first.  As I tend to become inflammed easily, it was not a happy four days.  (Yes, wisdom tooth extraction, massive inflammation, and NO painkillers.  Joy.)  Although the next four weren't so bad once I could keep the vicodin down.

Also found out ambien does not agree with me.  Not that I remember much of those three hours.  Conscious sedation is fun.  Just don't have a bigger smart-ass than yourself take you to the appointment.

I can't really do conscious sedation given the fact I used pretty much all the stuff they prescribe for it recreationally back in my hey-days. I was asked if I would like that as an option once, to which I replied 'not for a dental procedure, but they work wonders at house parties.' My dentist was slightly amused.

As for wisdom teeth, I had mine out almost 25 years ago so my recall is at best vague. General knocked me out and I have fleeting images of my grandfather dragging my corpse to the car along with my mother. Oddly enough, it was Percodan that was my first foray into drug induced hazes. My mother feeding me those wonderful pills once every 6 hours the first two days and having The Cure's Disintegration on repeat on my new CD player was pretty intense. Outside of that, I had no bruising or swelling and my recovery was fairly easy given my teeth are a god damn dental travesty. Not the parts you see, but the roots are long enough to be up into my sinus cavity and just for more lulz, curled slightly at the ends. My wisdom teeth were equally as long and coming in perpendicular with one even starting to press downward. I can't even imagine the noises coming out of my mouth as they extracted them.

[ghost]

Why were you taking Iodine?  That is not something that is typically given after wisdom tooth extraction and I can think of no logical indication for a dentist to ever give you iodine.

[01101010]

Why were you taking Iodine?  That is not something that is typically given after wisdom tooth extraction and I can think of no logical indication for a dentist to ever give you iodine.

She probably meant Iocane. It takes awhile to build up a tolerance to it and I'd think you'd probably be ill for the first few days of it. 

[ghost]

Yeh, that Iocane is a bitch.  I hear it makes you grow testicles the size of watermelons.

[Lantyssa]

Lodine.  With an ELL not an EYE.  I'm also having deja vu about this discussion.

[ghost]

Oh.  I gotcha.  Lodine is an NSAID type medicine, so they are probably giving it more for inflammation/swelling than for pain.  It's still an odd choice.  Good old ibuprofen at 800 mg every 6 hours works great for that purpose.  It can induce problems with the stomach lining, but usually not over that short of a period of time.  I found that most of the time etodolac (Lodine) was given to people that were suspected drug seekers because they wouldn't know what it was and wouldn't bitch. 

Vicodin is a great drug for pain, but it has a tendency to induce nausea/vomiting.   Definitely need to take it with food.  I found that, when I was taking out lots of wisdom teeth, that most people confuse the concept of pain relief and the buzz that you get from Vicodin (and I'm not saying that's the case with you, just relating relevant information). 

[01101010]

Lodine.  With an ELL not an EYE.  I'm also having deja vu about this discussion.

...beaten by the scary dentist.

I am not surprised you got sick given that is some different form of Ibuprofen - shit bugs my stomach if I go over 800mg. And if you are getting sick of Vicodin, you are doing it wrong (i.e., taKing too much).  My rule is, if it is a narcotic, take half a pill and in 2 hour if you don't feel it or feel sick, take the other half. Then try the full pill. I had an overzealous endodontist give me a higher than normal script for vicodin - was my first root canal and he took enough time to calm me down and figured my pain threshold was too low given my dental history, so he followed with projecting that out to my aftercare. BIG GOD DAMN MISTAKE! Shit made me so nauseous I questioned whether my pills were tainted since I KNEW what to look for with this med. 

[ghost]

800 mg every 6 hours is the maximum safe dose of Ibuprofen. 

[Lantyssa]

I have no problems with Ibuprofen.  I can take it all day long without bothering my stomach.  And I did so once I realized it was the Lodine giving me problems.

Vicodin usually doesn't bother me either.  I may get a little nauseous, but I found that only happens when I take it right before eating.  Yeah, I know it's the inverse of everyone else.  Unfortunately I've had ample opportunity to confirm this.  5mg is plenty for all but the worst pain, and I've got the pain receptors of a red-head.

Also, since I never miss an opportunity to mention it, Tramadol sucks.  I'll hack off a limb before I let anyone give me a script for it again.

[ghost]

Yeah, Ultram is pretty well useless. Now Toradol, that is the nectar of the gods.  That is great stuff.

[proudft]

You almost never see dry socket in people that don't smoke. 

That's me, I'm that person.   I had all four removed two years ago, and followed all my instructions precisely because I was afraid of all the dire dry socket warnings, but ended up with dry socket in the lower two after day three (apparently as a patient of 'advanced age', i.e., 38, this increased my odds).  It lasted about 10 days, during which I went back to the dentistsurgeon every two days for him to cram sticky strips of goo in them which, despite the horrid taste, did really help for that day and sort of helped the next. 

It was... I dunno, I wouldn't say painful per se, more like maddening.  Sort of a dull throb that would ebb up and down for long periods of time.  It was in some ways worse when it was gone because I'd get my hopes up that it was over, but then it would come back.   I tend to get a lot of canker sores though, which may either make one more prone to this (I am making this up right now), or make me more acclimated to awful mouth pain, who knows.

It was nothing that a shitload of Percocet and sleep didn't fix, though I basically did no work for the duration and had to get a Percocet refill. 

[Sky]

It's so awesome this is a drug thread now!

I have amanita amerimuscara in my yard. It's ironic because I used to hunt the stuff when I was a kid and now it's just something that gets mowed under like anything else.

[ghost]

Mushroom identification seems difficult.  It's odd to think that people just take whatever people sell them illegally. 

[apocrypha]

Also, since I never miss an opportunity to mention it, Tramadol sucks.  I'll hack off a limb before I let anyone give me a script for it again.

I concur. It sucks when you take it and it sucks for 2 days afterwards too.

[Ingmar]

It sucked the first time I took it. Then I had a back pain flare up and my hydrocodone was all gone, so I took it again, gritted my teeth... and it was fine. I can't explain it.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Reading some of this makes me vaguely jealous that 3 of my wisdom teeth never budded and the fourth popped out like nothing when I had it removed.  I never got to have the good drugs!  WAAAAAH!

[ghost]

Trust me, it's not worth the effort.  Just complain about some back pain and get your vicodin that way.

[Ingmar]

It's Norco thank you. 

[Reg]

Toradol is awesome.  It's relieved the worst pains I've had in the last 10 years since I discovered it and it's awfully nice being able to ask for it without your doctor wondering if you're just a drug addict.  Toradol just kills pain and doesn't make you high or even drowsy.

[Selby]

Considering the last 3 times I've been prescribed various painkillers they didn't exactly help and just made me extremely nauseous or so out of it I couldn't function (and then got sick) I stick with good old Ibuprofen for everything.

[01101010]

Dental surgery question: Sinus lift, how long and how grueling? I have a very low sinus cavity and would need one to get an implant done.

[ghost]

Depends on who is doing it.  If it is an experienced Oral Surgeon or Periodontist I don't think you'll have a lot of trouble.  Some General Dentists will do them, but it is a bit of a bigger surgery and there is absolutely no training on this procedure in dental school, so most general dentists learned how to do them at a weekend course or two.  These types of procedures I always recommend a specialist.  Otherwise, you'll be talking about sinus precautions for a while (limited valsalva pressure, no lifting, careful with sneezing, no blowing nose, etc.) and some discomfort.  It's worth it to get the implant though.

[Ratman_tf]

You almost never see dry socket in people that don't smoke. 

That's me, I'm that person. 

Between us we beat the odds! 

[ghost]

After taking out thousands of wisdom teeth (and seeing quite a few dry sockets) the rate was quite low for non-smoker dry sockets.  I saw probably 25 dry sockets in smokers for every dry socket that I had to deal with in non-smokers.  Most literature will give you a rate of 4 or 5 to one, but that wasn't what I saw in my residency.  Meaning it's not so rare that you're never, ever going to see it.  It happens. 

Other interesting factors include:  Skill of the surgeon, length of time for the surgery, and whether or not it is a single tooth extraction versus multiple.

Skill of surgeon and length of surgical time go hand in hand, however some wisdom teeth are a real bitch to get out and take longer regardless of skill level.  The single tooth extraction versus multiple appears odd and counterintuitive at first glance, however in my opinion it makes sense because people are often getting a single tooth out due to decay (which usually means infection in the bone).  Multiple extractions at once is quite often healthy teeth, i.e. premolar extractions for orthodontics or all four wisdom teeth. 

[proudft]

Yeah, my wisdom teeth had been in for years.  The top two were perfectly fine, but the bottom two were basically at a 45-degree angle butting up against the next molars about halfway up the exposed part of those teeth and had stopped there.  After a decade the dentist finally badgered me into getting them removed because nobody could clean the backs of the 'real' molars, and the top two had to go because they would then have nothing to bite against (I was dubious of this reasoning for the top ones, but whatever).

So it was sort of complicated to remove them, apparently (they sure looked sideways in the X-ray) but not as bad as it could have been if they were totally impacted/hidden away/some really weird angle.  But maybe my sockets got used to having teeth in them for so long, or maybe it was because I was 'old', or maybe because I play saxophone a lot it's sort of like smoking in long-term tooth-socket effects with the air/pressure swirling around in there, who knows.  Or the new theory, because Ratman_tf didn't get it the universe had to balance out.

[Furiously]

So, just as a side to this, how many specialists don't you refer people to vs how many do you refer people to? I think about the people from high school who became doctors and how many of them I would never never go to who seem to be doing well, but were totally incompetent in high school.

[Lantyssa]

Reading some of this makes me vaguely jealous that 3 of my wisdom teeth never budded and the fourth popped out like nothing when I had it removed.  I never got to have the good drugs!  WAAAAAH!

That entire week sucked, so don't be jealous.  After three days without painkillers for two wisdom teeth that were 100% under the gums, but close to impacted, I needed the drugs to not curl up in as tight a ball and heal the rest of the week.

I rank it up there with my tummy exploding on the fun scale.

[ghost]

So, just as a side to this, how many specialists don't you refer people to vs how many do you refer people to? I think about the people from high school who became doctors and how many of them I would never never go to who seem to be doing well, but were totally incompetent in high school.

Can you clarify your question?  Are you trying to ask if there are a lot of specialists that I don't refer to because of incompetence, or are you asking if there are procedures that I sometimes send to a specialist versus a GP?