::Poll:: Local or General for Wisdom Teeth removal? -=UPDATE=-

[fatkorean]

I had impacted wisdom teeth and did the local route at th ortho surgeon. Dentist wouldn't touch it 😛 said was too hard for her. Anyway this was my second time getting impacted wisdom teeth pulled out. You sure do hear a lot of snap, crackle and pop. Ohh and the smell from the drilling hehe... And all that pulling and yanking and ung 😉 They had to drill both times and break my wisdom teeth into 4 parts before being able to pull it out 😛 Didnt hurt that much really, was fully alert. Ohh and watch out for dry socket, those suck, trust me on that!

 

[onza]

had gen.

no pain o brusing, was all good the same day.

all depends on the doc

 

[B00ne]

I ahd 3 of my wisdom teeth removed in one go and only local. It wasent all that bad, off course u feel the jerking and yanking and the vibrations from millcutting them out of the jaw (they were still small and in the jaw bone). But in general its not that bad. Its worse afterwards, when your face swells and u can hardly open the mouth (I could only fit the tip of a spoon into my mouth - needless to say I could only eat liquid food for some days).

Anyway the only instance I have heard of using a general was when some guy was literally jumping of the chair when they wanted to start - a general anathetic is always a risk - so only do it if ur are a real chicken.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: optoman

Originally posted by: Dudd
I'm getting mine taken out on Friday morning by an oral surgeon, and then I'm supposed to get up early the next day and drive out to a basketball game 4 hours away. Would general anesthetic be too nauseating to do this?

You are not going to want to go anywhere the next day.

or the next week.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
Choose "local with IV sedation", which is what people are mistakenly calling a "general" anesthetic.

You're going to get a local infiltration agent either way you go. The question is whether you want to be sedated a little or perfectly alert. I had a big wisp of nitrous oxide and a little Versed (a Valium-like drug) through an IV just before my surgery.

Once those two kicked-in (fast acting), I didn't have a care in the world, they could have pulled every last tooth in my head and I wouldn't have cared. I was still conscious, but extremely relaxed and totally indifferent. I started giggling a little when I felt the crunching and popping.

i remember getting an IV with something in it that made me completely apathetic.

 

[lowtech1]

I had localy done for 3 of them on the same day & one had to be cut into 8 parts, and I watch it of the doc faceshield for 1.5 hours during the dug out opperation. 3 hours after the operation I was starting setter in the city volleyball final.

The moral to the story get local if the doctor think that isn't that bad. If you can afford a day off from your daily routine then go for general.

 

[tcsenter]

whats the diff between local and general? (havent seen any real explanation)

EDIT: local=awake, general=asleep?

Well apparently the dental profession uses the term "general anesthesia" for IV sedation. While IV sedation does, albiet barely, fit within the definition of "general anesthesia", it isn't the same "general anesthesia" used by the non-dental medical profession (i.e. MD or DO).

General anesthesia in the rest of the medical world means giving you agents both intraveneously and inhalation which result in the complete loss of consciousness, and typically (though not always) involves the use of paralytic or respiratory depressive agents which effectively leave you unable to breathe on your own. You are ventilated artificially, by machine or by hand. Several reflexive mechanisms may also be lost, such as the gag and swallowing reflex, so you cannot protect yourself against aspiration.

This is rarely done for dental procedures, except in the case of young children, mentally retarded adults, or adults with extreme anxiety over the procedure (read: a phobia). General anesthesia is not done in a dental or doctor's office, it is done in a bona fide hospital or outpatient surgical facility with advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation capabilities. General anesthesia may not be administered except by licensed anesthesiologists (MD or DO) or certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA).

Dentists may administer IV sedation, however, which the dental profession appears to call "general anesthesia". IV sedation is self-explanatory; you receive a sedating agent intravenously. Sedation is merely an altered (lower) level of consciousness and alertness, as opposed to a complete lapse of consciousness and alertness including the loss of reflexes and respiratory abilities.

In any case, minor oral surgery such as a molar extraction will use a local anesthetic. A local anesthetic is lidocaine or procaine, an antiquated trade name is 'novacaine'. This is an injectable agent which 'numbs' an area by interfering (blocking) sensory (pain) nerve impulses, but does not result in an altered level or state of consciousness.

 

[djheater]

::update bump::

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: eplebnista
General

I agree...I had 3 impacted and 1 exposed also . I also had them all removed at the same time 🙂

Ausm

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
If you have a good dentist - then go with the local. I had three impacted wisdom teeth pulled out with nothing more than a local. I was at work that night. Your jaw will be a bit sore from all the tugging and twisting the doc has to do to get it out, and you'll hear some of the nastiest sounds you've ever heard (snap, crackle, POP!). But, in my mind it was worth it. I've known of people being bed ridden for two days due to nausea from the general.

That is true I was wiped out for 2 days after my surgery.

Ausm

 

[optoman]

I was also fine the first day. It is the second and third days that I felt like crap. I looked like a chipmunk and it hurt like hell. I had 4 impacted and went general. I was feeling great the first day but the second was bad. Blood everywhere but I didn't get dry socket or what ever its called.

 

[kermalou]

i gotta do this next month.

i have one that is impacted and one that is not out. the doc says if i go general, he will take both out. if local only one.

dilemna.

 

[JSClark]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
Choose "local with IV sedation", which is what people are mistakenly calling a "general" anesthetic.

You're going to get a local infiltration agent either way you go. The question is whether you want to be sedated a little or perfectly alert. I had a big wisp of nitrous oxide and a little Versed (a Valium-like drug) through an IV just before my surgery.

Once those two kicked-in (fast acting), I didn't have a care in the world, they could have pulled every last tooth in my head and I wouldn't have cared. I was still conscious, but extremely relaxed and totally indifferent. I started giggling a little when I felt the crunching and popping.

In that case I'd be laughing my head off and the dentist would wish he gave me general..

I have my wisdom teeth, but they don't hurt me yet... if I do have to get them pulled out, then I'm going general all the way... I will vomit if I hear any popping or crunching going on in my mouth that isn't food related! 😀