How bad does it hurt to have your adult teeth pull

[Animeboye]

So here's the thing: I have crooked teeth. I've had crooked teeth pretty much ever since I lost all my baby teeth. Just recently my parents have decided to get me fitted with braces sometime this year(currently I'm not on the dental plan apparently). However, for me to get braces, I'm going to have to have some teeth pulled. I've had my baby teeth pulled before but never any adult teeth. What I'm wondering is if having adult teeth pulled is worse than having a baby tooth pulled. If so, just how painful is it? 'Cause right now I'm not too sold on being awake while my teeth are pulled.

[Cancerian Tiger]

I wish I could help, but I have no memory of it.  I was eleven when I got braces, and I had to have five teeth pulled.  My mom assumed I would not let the dentist shoot me up with Novocaine, so I was given the gas.  However, I felt absolutely no pain afterwards and even went to school the next mornin' :blink:.

My pain threshold is very high.  The few cavities I have ever gotten have been drilled and filled without any Novocaine.  I was given Novocaine when my four wisdom teeth were pulled a few years ago "just to be safe", and I never had to take any of the Vivodin I was prescibed or any other painkiller for that matter.

That's why I'm not much help when it comes to others asking me if it hurts to get teeth pulled.  As for braces, from my experience, your teeth will be somewhat sore for a couple of days each time your braces are tightened.  I hope that part helps somewhat.

[Mumbling]

I never had any adult tooth pulled, so I fear I cannot be of any help with that..

[DarkHououmon]

I never had adult teeth pulled but I would assume it would hurt just as much as it would if you were to pull baby teeth that weren't loose, maybe even worse.

[Kor]

Never had any of my teeth pulled but I did have a former dentist that I use to go to wanted to take out my wisdom teeth, though they are not bothering me.  I can say what I remember what he and some others there said.  

There may be some bleeding and they can proscribe some pain killers.  I think after 2 or 3 days, not sure how  many he'll have wanted me to go back to see how things were.  They recommend eating only soft foods, or only with one side of the mouth.  Forgot for how long.

[crazedwriter]

I've had one adult tooth pulled, and it's really not all that traumatic, aside from going from 32 to 31. My DDS gave me a local, and he was very gentle with that. I hate those needles in my mouth. :

He told me to keep the gauze on it until the bleeding stopped. I just had to get used to the empty place. And he gave me a prescription for Vicodin which I didn't think I needed. Wrong...  :blink:

Let us know how things went.

[Animeboye]

Crazedwriter, at first were you nervous about having your adult teeth pulled? Does it hurt more than having a baby tooth pulled?

And thanks to everyone who's posted so far. I'm starting to feel a little better about this.

[Ptyra]

In two weeks, I'm going to have my wisdom teeth pulled, marking my THIRD time having my teeth taken out. The first was to remove a bunch of loose baby teeth, the second was to remove a few adult teeth, and this will be the third.

Now, they're not going to pull them with you awake. They'll either give you an anesthetic or sedation (I will be sedated). So, you won't feel them taking your teeth out, although the extraction process does look pretty darn painful on the lower teeth, of which the roots are deeper (they have to split the tooth before extracting it). There WILL be pain afterward, but you will be provided/prescribed with pain medicine for it. I was told to use Tylenol PM . The level of pain really depends on what you do or how it was done. The pain might last a while, but some times it will be just numbness.

And who knows? You could be just fine afterward. I remember asking about getting my fish on the way home from getting my teeth pulled for the second time   . No fishies for little med-drugged Ptyra yet.

Pulling baby teeth didn't really hurt for me. Maybe JUST as they popped out, but I don't recall being in any pain. Just numbness. In all honesty, I'm not nervous at all. Despite my "ewws!" from the video I was shown, I just want to get it done and over with so I don't have to delay until it WILL hurt. Besides. It's good to do it now so my tooth alignment won't be ruined by my wisdom teeth (and let me tell you, my dad's family had some REALLY bad tooth alignment issues...and I was spared that)

[Kor]

I'd suggest, if you are going to have teeth pulled from both sides of your mouth, to having just one side done.  This way you can eat normally with one side of your mouth.  Then have the other side done when the first pulled teeth areas have closed enough that your dentist says you can eat normally with the side of that mouth.  Just a suggestion.  

Keeping gauze on the area, yes, totally forgot about the dentist/dental assistant, mentioning that.

[Noname]

On a minor note, I consider myself lucky never to have had a need for the dentist to pull out my wisdom teeth.

[Ptyra]

I had mine removed just this morning, so I can tell you a bit more.

My sedative was used with an IV, and I fell asleep about a minute later. When I got home, I had to put gauze between the areas before going to sleep, and put ice on each side of my face. Since one side was more swollen than the other when I woke up later, I would recommend switching sides every so often to keep that from happening. You won't be able to eat solid food immediately after the surgery, but you can the next day...soft things in bite-sized pieces. It's gonna hurt for a while, but you can use a caffeinated tea bag (PLAIN tea, like Earl Grey or Black) to help with it.

'Course, I have an ear infection at the same time  :

[raga]

Never had a tooth pulled, but my girlfriend had four of her wisdom teeth pulled a few months back.  I didn't see her pain first hand (it happened the day I had to return to college after my winter break) but from the sounds of it, it was not a pleasant experience.  On a lighter note the oxycodine they gave her provided a entertaining few days  

[Animeboye]

On a lighter note the oxycodine they gave her provided a entertaining few days  

How so, if you don't mind my asking?

[Cancerian Tiger]

On a lighter note the oxycodine they gave her provided a entertaining few days 

How so, if you don't mind my asking?

Painkillers make some folks talk crazy, hallucinate, etc.  Oxycodine is VERY powerful, often used in cancer patients.  It can make some feel high off their arse .

I have a relative that I watched over after they had a major operation done.  They were prescribed Percocet, and man were they off the hook   .

[Animeboye]

Really? Well I've never had painkillers before so I wouldn't know  

Hey, CT, how exactly did this relative of yours act when they were taking Percocet?

[Cancerian Tiger]

They mostly talked crazy, even when sleeping.  They would just suddenly say or ask random, off the wall things like "Where's my a**?", "Get that horse out of here!", or even "Shut that cat up!" (they don't even have a cat :blink:).  

As bad as I felt for this relative, it was pretty entertaining to listen to them .

[Ptyra]

I've been prescribed penicillin and Tylenol. But I still feel like quoting Dr. Smith. "Oh the pain! The pain!"

[Jrd89]

OOOOOOH!!!!!!!  Ptyra.   You had your wisdom teeth pulled???!!!!

You're making me very very nervous and scared. Because a few months ago. My wisdom teeth started sprouting. very very slowly. (I'm surprised that my wisdoms didn't start sprouting until 20.

Here's what I got right now. My top left (once again these are little spouts.. they're not fully in .

Top left: I can feel the outer edge of with my tongue,

aNd my top right one is just (well, it feels like a couple grains of sand. or crumbs.. and it's been like that for a few weeks.

Bottom left:  Nope.. nothing there but gums.. no tooth yet

Bottom right: Nope. just gum there, too

I'm glad that they're coming in SLOOOOWLY.  I only got 2 and they're just little sprouts.

But i'm really really scared about the day they get pulled.  :unsure:  :unsure:

I feel really sorry for you and hope you're mouth gets better. I can't help you on advice because my wisdoms are lust starting to come in (haven't been through the pulling)

But in 2003 I had 8... COUNT 'EM.... 8   (my last 8 baby teeth) pulled from my mouth. I had lots of trouble losing my baby teeth. I only lost the first 12 the easy way but the last 8 got pulled...

my dentist commented on an x-ray a few weeks before the pulling. He said that they were stuck to the tops of the adult teeth like "bottle caps".

I hope you feel better soon Ptyra...

[Ptyra]

It's not too bad when it's all over with. Sure, you have to keep gauze shoved up in your mouth and change it every few hours and have a liquid diet the first 24 hours, but the next day, it's not so bad depending on how you handle it. I don't think I would mind at all if I didn't have an infection in my ear at the same time T__T .

I had some of my baby teeth removed too, but later I had some adult teeth taken out (an unfortunate gene from my dad's side causes me to have a slightly small mouth, so my teeth would have crammed if they had not been removed).

But everything's hunkydory now ...except for my ear  <_<

[Pangaea]

I had my wisdom teeth removed in high school (I don't know what the scientific term for that procedure is; “sapieodentectomy” is the name I came up with ). The removal process for me was different than the one Ptyra described (and may be different from yours, too, Jared), probably because I don't think my wisdom teeth had actually erupted at the time I had them removed. From what I recall, an X-ray taken during one of my regular dental checkups revealed that my wisdom teeth were coming in, and that there wouldn't be enough space in my jaw for them.

The drug I was given before I had the teeth taken out caused me to conk out during the process (I was pretty drowsy afterwards, too, and slept for several hours after I got home); I woke up what felt like minutes later with a distinctly empty feeling in the back of my mouth. My gums in that area were sewn up with a kind of thread that would gradually dissolve over the next few weeks as my mouth healed; for the next ten days I ate soft foods like yogurt. I don't remember any pain during the procedure itself, though I think my mouth was sore once the drug wore off, and the stitches hurt a little for some time afterwards. (The parts of the stitches that protruded from my gumsóespecially the knotsóstuck around in my mouth even after my gums had healed, so over the next few weeks I was habitually teasing out little pieces of stubborn thread with my tongue, and even after I had pulled the last piece out my gums still hurt slightly for a while.)

I think I may have used ice packs on my mouth immediately after my wisdom teeth were removed, but I don't remember using gauze or anything of that sort (though I may just have forgotten). I don't know about you, Jared, but my pain threshold is pretty wimpy, so if it wasn't that bad for me, then you shouldn't worry too much, either.

As for the original subject of this threadóhaving your adult teeth pulledóI can't really say anything, because not counting my “sapieodentectomy” (during which I was unconscious) I've never experienced it.

EDIT: By the way, I hope your ear feels better soon, Ptyra.

And CT:

They mostly talked crazy, even when sleeping.  They would just suddenly say or ask random, off the wall things like "Where's my a**?", "Get that horse out of here!", or even "Shut that cat up!" (they don't even have a cat :blink:).

(I'm sorry, I can't help it.)