Wisdom Teeth Removal?

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Damselfish, my dentist tells me there is no room for them and as they are coming in, they are starting to shift other teeth around- I was hoping to be able to keep them, but I already have had to have 2 teeth pulled when i had my braces put on in high school due to overcrowding and a petite jaw. I wish I was as lucky as you though!
 
I just had my upper left wisdom tooth extracted after a piece of it broke off a few nights ago, my brother in law ( the dentist ) said I should be fine in 2 weeks to dive. He isn't a diver but has some knowledge of pressure, air spaces etc. He simply told me to be careful of the clot leading up to my dive in two weeks...no force clearing of the throat etc. He didnt have to remove any bone and the tooth came out clean after rocking it slowly for about 15 minutes. I had it extracted because I knew that under pressure the broken area was probably going to give me fits and although he could have filled it I figured that trapped air in a brand new filling could be the greater hazard to my dive. I still have some swelling and pain but with 10 days till I hit the water I'm hoping to be fine (fingers crossed) I'll post the results even though I'm sure every individual case is different.
 
Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I was wondering if those of you who have gone through a wisdom teeth removal might help me overcome my fear. My dentist told me years ago that my wisdom teeth needed to be removed but I am so utterly and completely terrified of this procedure that I can't make myself go. Just reading this thread gives me sweaty hands. I vividly remember the picture of my younger brother lying in bed after he had his removed, being in such pain that he cried. I thought, "screw that, I'm not gonna do that." I don't know what bone impacted or dry socket means, but mine have never fully emerged which I believe is a bad thing.
 
Abyssal let me start by saying IM TERRIFIED OF THE DENTIST! When I was child I had a bad experience and I've had an extreme phobia ever since. They scare me to death so I feel ur pain. Shop around for the right dentist and don't be afraid to say that u have a fear. Now I'm not sure if ur afraid of the procedure or the period afterwards but both can be managed. Under most circumstances my regular dentist (not my brother in law who I went to cause I needed it done ASAP) will prescribe me Valium to calm me before the apt. Then I get gas and an IV drip of Valium during. You are basically asleep, feel nothing and remember nothing. You just have to find a dentist who uses IV sedation. As far as afterwards goes the vicodin or Tylenol 3 will manage any pain u may have and I've also used a warm heating pad at times. Dry socket is when a clot doesn't form in the space or only forms partially and can be painful but a quick procedure at the dentist will remedy that if it should happen.
Just remember ...divers are horrible with nitros masks. They only cover ur nose and we are used to deep controlled belly breaths and good mouth exhalation. At the dentist it's all bout the nose. Short to normal breaths exhaling through the nose seems to be the key. Otherwise they want to kill us because we keep collapsing the bag in the gas apparatus. LOL even so it's hard to not to go into scuba mode whenever someone straps a breathing device to ur face!
Good luck!!! I'm sure ull do fine :)
One more thing.. I always stress that I dive and sometimes u may have to explain abit why this is important to ur dental work..trapped air in fillings, anything that affects sinul passages etc. That way they take a little extra care so that u don't need a redo layer.
 
Robertcrockett:
Abyssal let me start by saying IM TERRIFIED OF THE DENTIST! When I was child I had a bad experience and I've had an extreme phobia ever since. They scare me to death so I feel ur pain. Shop around for the right dentist and don't be afraid to say that u have a fear. Now I'm not sure if ur afraid of the procedure or the period afterwards but both can be managed. Under most circumstances my regular dentist (not my brother in law who I went to cause I needed it done ASAP) will prescribe me Valium to calm me before the apt. Then I get gas and an IV drip of Valium during. You are basically asleep, feel nothing and remember nothing. You just have to find a dentist who uses IV sedation. As far as afterwards goes the vicodin or Tylenol 3 will manage any pain u may have and I've also used a warm heating pad at times. Dry socket is when a clot doesn't form in the space or only forms partially and can be painful but a quick procedure at the dentist will remedy that if it should happen.
Just remember ...divers are horrible with nitros masks. They only cover ur nose and we are used to deep controlled belly breaths and good mouth exhalation. At the dentist it's all bout the nose. Short to normal breaths exhaling through the nose seems to be the key. Otherwise they want to kill us because we keep collapsing the bag in the gas apparatus. LOL even so it's hard to not to go into scuba mode whenever someone straps a breathing device to ur face!
Good luck!!! I'm sure ull do fine :)
One more thing.. I always stress that I dive and sometimes u may have to explain abit why this is important to ur dental work..trapped air in fillings, anything that affects sinul passages etc. That way they take a little extra care so that u don't need a redo layer.
Click to expand...

Dang, Robert, that was a great read and really helped ease my fear! Thank you for taking the time to write such a helpful response. I had no idea about all these kinds of sedation methods. I guess I'm most terrified of the procedure itself. I have an extremely vivid, let me repeat, EXTREMELY vivid imagination. That means whenever I'm at a doctor's office, I can't just let go and relax even if there is no pain at all. What happens is that I visualize the procedure in my head (I'm a biologist and used to thinking in terms of tissues, nerves and stuff like that, which doesn't help), and my brain keeps telling me, "Boy, this guy is drilling into your bone, that HAS to hurt. Are you sure you don't feel anything?" And then I do feel pain, even though it might be precipitated more through my imagination than anything.

I know, it's ridiculous, because I usually don't mind pain that much, for example when I stick my hand with a needle by accident or scrape off skin when mountainbiking, I couldn't care less. But the difference in those cases is that it's unexpected and the little voice in my head has no chance of setting up its little show, so that doesn't bother me that much.

But knowing about all these kinds of sedation really does help. I believe the way they remove wisdom teeth in Germany (where I'm from and where my brother had done his) is they numb you up with a couple of shots of novocaine and that's it. but I'm not entirely sure about that, perhaps things have changed in the meantime.

Anyway, thanks again!
 
Anything for a fellow dental phobist. But most definately there are sedation methods to fit ur needs out there. The nitros gas which is extremely common not only helps to sedate u but actually makes you not care what's going on. The dentist could tell you that he was going to remove your nose on the nitros and u wouldn't care.
I wish u nothing but luck :)
 
Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I was wondering if those of you who have gone through a wisdom teeth removal might help me overcome my fear. My dentist told me years ago that my wisdom teeth needed to be removed but I am so utterly and completely terrified of this procedure that I can't make myself go. Just reading this thread gives me sweaty hands. I vividly remember the picture of my younger brother lying in bed after he had his removed, being in such pain that he cried. I thought, "screw that, I'm not gonna do that." I don't know what bone impacted or dry socket means, but mine have never fully emerged which I believe is a bad thing.


it isnt that bad. i had it done when i was younger and it only hurt the first day. i didnt swell up to bad or anything. but i have seen where others swelled up and all. its worth it.
 
Logged 4 dives with a max depth around 40 feet without any problems. Water temp at max depth was 62 degrees and even purging a mouthful of chilly lake water didnt cause any pain or sensitivity issues with about 2 weeks of healing time.
 
I've never had the procedure, but does anyone else think that wisdom teeth extraction is an over prescribed procedure?
What I mean is this: It seems all too frequent in the dental business, that if a patient has wisdom teeth, they automatically need to come out-- regardless of whether or not the patient is having issues related to the teeth.
I know many older people who still have 2-4 wisdom teeth, and have never had a problem with them.
 
Glock Diver:
I've never had the procedure, but does anyone else think that wisdom teeth extraction is an over prescribed procedure?
What I mean is this: It seems all too frequent in the dental business, that if a patient has wisdom teeth, they automatically need to come out-- regardless of whether or not the patient is having issues related to the teeth.
I know many older people who still have 2-4 wisdom teeth, and have never had a problem with them.
Click to expand...

20+ years ago, my dentist said "Your wisdom teeth need to come out"

I told him that they're not bothering me and I'll be keeping them until they do.

I'm not a doctor or a dentist, but think that "Wisdom Teeth" are the new "Tonsils" (tonsils used to be removed very frequently).

Terry
 
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