I am 1/2 as wise as I was yesterday.

[erkishhorde]

I've avoided it, without any issues yet. I had four impacted at 45 degrees - in the last xray, they had actually pushed themselves straight and are now coming in like an extra set of molars. Kind of gross, they are slowly poking through my gums and I have to take care not to let any infections build up under the flesh. I'm happy to take that over the operation.... When I had the 4 impacted on my xray, the dentist said with a completely straight face "we'll have to break your jaw to extract those". Wonder why I opted to leave them?

Mine are similar but I didn't do such a good job of keeping the gaping holes in my gums clean and one of them got a cavity and had to be pulled. The other 3 are coming out fine now although they are adding extra pressure on my teeth which hurts sometimes. I still kinda have gaping holes but now that the teeth have pushed out more they're more dents than caves and it's much easier to keep them clean/ pick out food that gets stuck.

[triangleforge]

*(During my first visit I made a Marathon Man reference and he got it. Seems as good a criteria as any.)

But if he comes at you with a Black & Decker in his hand instead of a dental drill, bet you'll be having second thoughts...

[rgramjet]

Ive had this reoccurring nightmare of waking up while under general anesthetic just as the surgeoun is putting the bottom of his shoe against my forehead for leverage right before he sets the vice grips on my first wisdom tooth.........eesh!

[JohnnyDucati]

Avoid tortilla chips for a while.

Trust me on that one . . .   

(unfortunately, I speak from experience).

[Scooter Montgomery]

Im 38 and need all 4 yanked out.....did you have all 4 done at the same time?  How long were you incapacitated?

Yeah all 4. I wasn't to bad after the third day. Life gets better once you take the guaze out. Just because what you eat and take the meds. I was all healed in about a 3weeks to a month.

[Jarvicious]

You had them pulled under locals anesthetics?  You're a crazy person.  I don't like IVs much either, but it was a welcome alternative to

A:  A giant needle going anywhere near my face (while I'm awake anyway) and..
B:  Knowing/Feeling what the doc is doing in there

Ok, so maybe I'm a baby when it comes to this stuff  .  All good advice though.  Salt water, keep your gauze in, take your meds (even if you don't think you need them.  Chances are they're helping), take your other meds (cough, wine, cough), and mildly injure anyone who makes chipmonk jokes (it's just like in prison, beat some ass or become someones pregnant dog).  Hope you have a good recovery.  I had all four of mine done in high school but it's been about 10 years and I have no infection problems whatsoever.  Good luck.

[lauramonster]

1.  Get all four out at once.  If you only do two, you'll never go back for the other two. 

2.  Percocets are our friends.  Nice percocets.

3.  No matter how good it looks and how healed you think you are, do not eat that Snickers bar (even if you cut it up in small pieces).  Anything gooey like that will hurt.

went to an oral surgeon.  local doctor didn't do them, and the surgeon was prepared in case of complications (none).  up your vitamin C intake BEFORE surgery.  It speeds up the healing.  Kudos to the above adviece.  salt water, avoid solid food, keep the holes clean.

Happy healing!