Just over two weeks ago, I slowly had an abscess at the back of my mouth. I wasn’t sure why it happened, but I had a educated guess that it was a result of my impacted wisdom tooth. After seeing a dentist and getting a cheap consultation, I was right. So, I immediately went on Amoxicillin to kill the infection that was causing the abscess. I, finally, was faced to the fact that I had to get my wisdom teeth out.


I immediately made an appointment the next day with the UCLA dental school for a consultation to get approved for a oral surgery procedure to remove my wisdom teeth. At first, I thought that appointment was going to be the surgery as well as the consultation. But I later figured out it was just the initial appointment to set the surgery for a later date.

I made the appointment in the middle of the day for two reasons: Traffic is usually much better in the late morning and early afternoon and I wouldn’t have to wake up so early or late. Stupid LA. Somehow, traffic was just as bad as it could have been any other rush hour of the day and it took me and hour and a half to get there. Then, after parking, finding the office took another half an hour. How annoying!

After another 45 minutes of waiting, they took me into a room to take a look at my x-rays and gave me all the warnings of what could happen with a wisdom teeth removal. I went in there the intention of getting all of my wisdom teeth out, though I didn’t really even need to take out the top teeth. However, I think it would have been pointless to leave in the top teeth. I also think they suggested it as well. Either way, I was very prepared to get all of those teeth out of my mouth, especially because trying to brush my wisdom teeth was such a pain.

After a little conversation about the warnings and procedures, they decided to accept my case. Then, surprisingly, they gave me another option. It turned out there was a cancellation that day for another removal and they gave me the option to going under the knife right away. After giving it no thought, I figured, hey, what the heck! I might as well get this done now!!

I was offered three options for this immediate surgery. One, I could go under with some N2O, or nitrous oxide. This is also referred to as laughing gas because it makes you inhibited and silly. Two, they could actually knock me out with a gas mask that would make me really sleepy. or Three, I could take it on cold turkey with no sedatives and feel almost everything. Which one did I take? I really didn’t have the option of taking any sedatives because I drove myself and planned on driving myself back. So, I told them to just bring it on cold turkey. All I would get is a bunch of shots to numb my mouth. When I told them that I was going to do it live, fully awake and aware, they thought I was crazy! Well, I like to think that I’m stronger than that. I’ve had other procedures that entailed a lot of pressure so it wasn’t a huge deal to me.

Those who know me know this. I HATE shots with a passion. I cannot stand doctors and nurses putting needles in me because I hate the pain. But, I really didn’t have a choice. So, I just had to take it like a man. After numbing my mouth with a paste, they started giving me what turned out to be around 10 or more shots around my mouth. How uncomfortable and weird, but I was so nervous and uncomfortable already that I just figured get it over with. They even told me if I wanted to stop in the middle and reschedule to finish, I had the option.

Then it began. He first ripped out my upper left tooth. Yank! CRUNCH! CRACK! DRILLLLLL! and it was out. Same with my upper right tooth. It was not very fun, but it was definitely interesting. In fact, I wish I had a mirror because it would have been really interesting to watch everything. I couldn’t believe how long my teeth were; something like an inch or more in length! One of the teeth had a root with a 90 degree bend. However in the heck they got that out, I have no idea!

Then came the bottom teeth. My bottom right tooth was the hardest because it was so impacted. He drilled on it the most out of the rest, but it also didn’t take much longer to remove either. One of the roots, however, did crack off. So he had to continue to tear my gums to get the rest of it out.

Before I knew it, they finished! It really didn’t take long and I was glad they got it over with quickly. It was difficult to breath at certain times, but as long as I relaxed and just breathed out of my nose, I was fun. It was weird when most of my tongue was numb and I felt like gagging on the back of it and some of the blood and water, but relaxing myself got me through the rest of it. It wasn’t always fun, but I had to make myself laugh a few times just to get myself through it. Yeah, I seriously laughed! The nurse said, “Did you just laugh?” and I just gave a big “UH HUH” back to her. I think it was sorta annoying the surgeon, but I didn’t care. I had to get myself through it the best I could.

So that was it. After getting my prescription and waiting for some more meds and gauze, I was on my way! First thing I did before going home was get gas! I thought to myself, “Haha, I just went through a minor surgical procedure and the first thing I do is fill my tank up.” I wasn’t in any pain, most of my lower jaw was completely numb, and I was tankin’ it up! I then had to get my vicodin and some food to accompany everything. That pretty much sums everything up.

So what have I learned?

  1. If you want to keep your wisdom teeth after they extract them, do not go to a dental school. I was not allowed to keep them because my case has the option to be used in some studies. That’s a bummer but I didn’t have the choice.
  2. If you want to save a lot of money, do not get your wisdom teeth out at the dentist’s office. I saved more than 50% on each tooth because I went to the dental school. The wait wasn’t bad, the procedure was pretty easy, and it wasn’t that inconvenient.
  3. If you can bear the pressure used to tear those teeth out, or if you don’t mind hearing everything including the tearing of the gums and breaking of the teeth, save money by not using N2O. It would have cost $100 more to use the stuff. NOT worth it!
  4. Definitely, most definitely, put cold packs on your cheeks following the surgery. I am swollen, obviously, but I did not visibly bruise at all because for the rest of the day I had frozen washrags on my checks all day.
  5. If you’re not sure of something, anything at all, ask. Over and over. You don’t want to go through this feeling any of the pain. It’s not worth it. For the rest of the day, I took a lot of Ibuprofen and then vicodin. Because of that, I pretty much did not feel any pain at all. I wasn’t completely pain-free, but I also did not want to feel any so I just stayed totally drugged up. Speaking of which, try not to take a LOT drugs by themselves. I took my vicodin this morning as well as 800mg of Ibuprofen and I felt nauseous for a few hours. I was on an empty stomach and it wasn’t fun.

I think my one disappointment throughout this whole thing is that the vicodin is barely making any effect on me. I don’t mean I don’t feel better because of it; I’m just disappointed that I don’t feel stupider! Seriously, I took 2 vicodin yesterday for the first time ever and didn’t really feel anything. That made me sad!!

Also, I couldn’t believe it but after a few hours of sleep last night, I woke up to almost no pain at all. I was surprised because I figured that after the medication wore off, I would felt miserable. But, it seemed to have settled a lot. Hopefully this means I’m healing rapidly!

I also was surprised that I didn’t really start seeing the swell until this morning. Yesterday, for the rest of the day, I did not even see much difference in my appearance. Then I woke up and could feel it. Smiling takes a little more effort but then looking in the mirror confirmed this bloated version of me!

This morning when I woke up, I looked like a chipmunk.