Worried about losing my wisdom!

Teerah

Glad it all went well for you sue67

poppycat_3

Just came across this thread and it’s very interesting reading! I don’t think telling any of you my experience is going to be very constructive but I’ve decided to anyway. If any of you are planning to have your wisdom teeth removed, you may not want to read this.

Anyway, here goes.. (apologies if its long but there’s quite a lot to tell)

I had all four of my wisdom teeth out in February 2002. I had had trouble with them for ages and my dentist recommended having them all taken out at the hospital under GA. I wasn’t too worried about it, I’d never had a GA before but realised it was a relatively minor procedure and was just looking forward to being infection free!

I had the op on the Friday morning. I felt a bit rough when I came round but nothing too bad. I managed a yogurt and they let me go home at around 5pm. Over the weekend I didn’t feel great but that was to be expected.

By the Monday evening I was getting some serious pain in the bottom left side of my mouth where one of the teeth had been removed. The pain got progressively worse and I spent the whole of the Tuesday in bed, in agony. By this point I couldn’t eat or drink, I couldn’t swallow my own saliva and so was surrounded by tissues (gross) and it was the most horrible feeling. I sat up all Tuesday night because the pain was driving my insane, I had never felt pain like it. I have given birth 3 times but I’d take labour over that pain anyday. By Wednesday I was having trouble getting my breath. I could only take shallow breaths and was feeling panicky.

On the Wednesday evening I was getting so desperate, I couldn’t take any pain killers due not being able to swallow and just didn’t know what to do. My OH practically carried me to the local A&E department where I pleaded to be admitted back into hospital as I knew something was really wrong. The silly cow doctor who was there told me there was nothing she could do, despite the fact that my face had swollen to elephant man proportions and I was really struggling to breathe, not to mention delirious with the pain. She gave me a bottle of Calpol and a couple of soluble aspirin – I kid you not. I was in tears, trying to tell her I couldn’t even swallow my own saliva so how could I take the medication? I couldn’t speak properly because of the swelling and my OH was trying to translate for me.

We went home and I spent another night in agony. I couldn’t lie down because that made breathing virtually impossible. The next morning my OH took me to see my GP and she took one look at me and got straight on the phone to the hospital saying that I needed to be readmitted ASAP. I could have kissed her!

At the hospital they told me that despite what I was telling them about the pain and the breathing difficulties, they were only admitting me because I hadn’t drank anything for 3 days and so they wanted me on a drip to stop me dehydrating. They also put me on another drip for antibiotics and promised me the pain would subside within 24 hours. By this point my breathing was so bad, I was begging them to do something but they wouldn’t even look in my mouth. My jaw had locked and I could only open my mouth by about 1 centimetre, if that.

That night in hospital the pain was still just as bad and I spent the whole night sitting up in bed just concentrating on my breathing, it was so hard to breathe that I thought if I fell asleep I would stop breathing. I got out of bed to tell the nurses this, but they were too busy knitting and just told me to go to sleep and not to be silly.

The next day nothing had changed. At tea time the doctor finally came round to see me. He was the first person to show any concern and he managed to get a look in my mouth. He disappeared off somewhere and came back a little later.

He told me that my mouth was badly infected. I had two very large abcesses in my throat which were blocking my airway and I needed emergency surgery that night or my airway would completely block and that would be lights out for me. Then came the bad news. He said that because my throat was in such a bad state, if they gave me a GA my airway would probably collapse before they could get a tube in so he said that before I was to be knocked out, they would have to put a tube up my nose and get that all in place before giving me the GA.

So later that night I had to climb onto the operating theatre table fully awake and lay there while they shoved a tube up my nose. It was so horrible, it took four of them to pin me down while they did it. That was the last thing I remember as they must have knocked me straight out afterwards.

Next thing I know it’s the following afternoon and i’m in intensive care on a ventilator with my family at my bedside. Apparently it had been touch and go, I don’t remember the details but my other half got a late night phone call and got straight to the hospital as I wasn’t doing very well. All the time I was unconscious, my family were all waiting to hear if I was going to make it or not.

I was taken off the ventilator later that evening and then spent another week in hospital recovering. I had drains put into my mouth to drain of the infection fluid and when i had to have them removed i was freaking out, I couldn't bear anyone coming near my mouth but they were really kind and patient and i got through it eventually. I couldn’t eat solids for weeks, my jaw was still locked and so eating was pretty impossible. For three months at least I couldn’t open my mouth properly, and even now, 4 years later, I still have some numbness in the side of my mouth due to nerve damage.

So that’s my story of having my wisdom teeth removed! I know what happened to me is a one in a million thing but it doesn’t make you feel any better when you’re the one going through it.

tonytooth

Thats a fairly scary tale!
Glad you came out the other side in one piece (just about)!!

Don't have much time to reply at length but i just want to reaffirm what you've said, that it is rare for the complications post extraction to be so severe.
Also the symptoms you describe are a real possibility with wisdom teeth that are still present and 'poking halfway through' the gum. An infection arising from these can spread rapidly to endanger the airway. I've had patients who've put off getting their wisdom teeth removed and came in as a last resort with large dangerous swellings. They've then needed emergency surgery like you.
So if your dentist says get them out, it's still best to do this in the big majority of cases, despite the complication risks.

i hope this is clear but im in a rush!! apologies if it isnt

Toothsmith

As Tony has said, this is a very rare, but very scary complication.

As he has also pointed out, exactly the same reaction can happen with troublesome wisdom teeth left in place, and also if you ignore broken teeth, or toothaches.

A couple of years ago, a case of a spreading septacaemia like this was also reported in a young lady who had just had her tongue pierced!

Glad you came out OK.

pug_in_a_bed

I am deliberatley not reading that post, as I'm still waiting for mine to come out!

Lara

My 20 yr old is having his wisdom teeth out under GA on 16th June and after reading poppycat's experience I shall be on the ball right away. Oh dear hope it isn't too painful cos he doesn't want to miss the World Cup he says!

Just one question: he is asthmatic but not bad at all now and suffers with bad hay fever. Does this make any difference to GA? Thanks T&T

Toothsmith

Lara wrote:

My 20 yr old is having his wisdom teeth out under GA on 16th June and after reading poppycat's experience I shall be on the ball right away.

It's an ultra rare complication following surgery. Much more common (But still rare) complication of leaving things in place!

Lara wrote:

Oh dear hope it isn't too painful cos he doesn't want to miss the World Cup he says!

More chance of being ready for it than Rooney;)

Lara wrote:

Just one question: he is asthmatic but not bad at all now and suffers with bad hay fever. Does this make any difference to GA? Thanks T&T

The anaesthatist will take a full medical history and take all appropriate measures.

rharper83

I'm glad I've found this thread (although a little scared now I've read some of it!!). I must admit I didn't look after my teeth as much as I could have done when I was little, but I've had a lot of work done to sort out the problems in the last couple of years (I'm only 22 now!! ). I've been told that I've got 2 horizontally impacted wisdom teeth in my lower jaw, and that unless they cause problems I should be ok. However, I've got a nasty taste most of the time coming from one of the teeth, and it's starting to poke through (no pain or anything). I've got a dental appointment for a checkup on the 1st of June. Is it worth making an appointment now for before then in case there are any problems? The taste is quite nasty at times, but doesn't taste like an abcess (I'm guessing it's plaque and stuff that's built up around the tooth in the gum?)

Also, do you think a dentist would be able to get it out or would it need to be a hospital operation??

Hope someone can offer some advice!

Rich..


PS, sorry for hijacking the thread!!

Toothsmith

If there's no pain or swelling, don't panic. The bad taste is probably just old food composting around it! (Not nice, but not an emergency.) See if doing a few salty water mouthwashes each day (Vigerously swilled around the tooth) and more dilligent toothbrushing help.

Mention the problem when you go in a couple of weeks, and see what the dentist says.

If it ever does need to come out, being horizontally impacted, it may well be a hospital job, but that's not really a worry. If the dentist has a special interest in oral surgery, he may well feel like he wants to do it himself. he would still explain the options and give you the choice though.

Lara

Thanks for your reply Toothsmith - really need thanks button back:(.
I think I am more worried than he is! Dentist decided last July he needed X Rays, that happened in December and they said all four have to be removed and so we've waited for appointment and it's just come through. I don't think he hasn't been in too much discomfort - well he hasn't said but there again he is at Uni:rolleyes: .