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Wisdom teeth
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I am contemplating having my two wisdom teeth removed. Never had teeth removed, especially perfectly healthy ones, but they have no respective lower teeth to grind against and hence are pretty useless back there, serving only as a breeding ground for cavities.


Thing is, I've NO idea what that surgery would do to my running/biking, etc. I'd imagine the jarring might be painful running. Anyone had late-life removal of teeth that can give me an idea? If it's gonna be too much, I'll just leave the suckers in there but if I'm only looking at maybe a day or two of not wanting to run for the pain I can deal with it.

(Yeah, I also still have my tonsils. Crazy, huh?)


There is no justice, there is only me. -- Death
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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OK, I may actually be able to help, dunno tho.
Most people get all 4 taken out at the same time, and they're a mess for days, bleeding everywhere, on all sorts of weird drugs, mumbling about pink elephants and whatnot...
I had only one taken out- it had already broken the skin, but the dentist decided he wanted some $$ for the referral, so he told me it would mess up the work my braces did if i left it in there.
coincidentally, i had 4 teeth removed before the braces, in hopes that all my wisdom teeth could stay- this did not workout., but anyways...
I got this done in high school, I did a sport every season in HS, so I'd assume I got it done during one of the 2 weeks of off season I had.
If they're already out, and they dont need to dig for the teeth, you should be in pretty good shape. I was eating solid food that afternoon- but if you know me, not much can get in the way of me and eating.
It may set you back a couple of days, and that will only be because you'll have holes in your face that the doc dosent want to bleed.
My cousin is an absolute fitness nut, got all 4 of his out in high school, and split all of his stitches throwing jav a couple days later... im pretty sure he won the meet, and didnt really care about the pain.
I doubt the pain will be that bad, its just a matter of wether or not you want to bust some stitches and drink a lil blood during the next days workout.

but what do i know
im not a doctor
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Re: Wisdom teeth [brikins13] [ In reply to ]
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Hey, cool. Thanks.


I'd have all 4 out, but I was born with only two:-D


There is no justice, there is only me. -- Death
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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Hi SK,
I'm not an oral surgeon but I'm a veterinarian and mother of two teens who both had their wisdom teeth out this spring... (four teeth per child) My kiddos were on a week of tapering prednisone, antibiotics, and either Advil or Tylenol w/ Codeine (as needed). They had it done on a Friday, were loopy that afternoon, but back in school Monday. They each were anesthetized with Propofol a short-acting IV anesthesia. they had some minimal diet restrictions and NO STRAWS for a week. Not a big deal at all, for them, anyway. Keeping track of all the pills during school was a nuisance tho.

I would think you could run easy. If I were you I'd stay out of the pool for a couple of weeks... or maybe just do vertical kicking or face up side glide balance drills... stuff were you kept your head out of the pool.

Biking while under the influence would not be wise but if you were clear-headed and comfy on Advil, I'd think you could ride easy.

Mandible holes will need flushing but maxillary ones will not. So since you only have maxillary teeth removed you may be okay to swim in a week (timing there associated with blood-clot resorption and the bone regrowing was what dictated when my kids started flushing their mandibular holes, IIRC). Pool officals may feel differently...

Ask your oral surgeon. He or she will have a better idea of recovery time based on how hard the surgery is expected to be (easy and shelling peas like in my kids' case, or not?) I'd have mine out if I were in your shoes. And just do other easy activities while recovering.

I still have my tonsils too --- trend now is to leave 'em there! They're important! And I only had two wisdom teeth too! :-)
Last edited by: PBJ: Nov 25, 08 12:55
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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I was only a runner back when I had my wisdom teeth removed so I can't speak to swimming and biking but I ran 4 days after having them removed. The worst part for me was being allergic to the pain medicine I was prescribed. This made me crazy sick and is my primary memory from the whole process.
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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I had one removed. It was painful for about 48 hrs and was eating Tylenol 3's but was fine afterwards. You'll be sidelined for 2-4 days most likely.
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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I had all four taken out at once. Mine were easy, took the dentist about 15 mins to pull all four. I actually went out bowling the night of - not that I felt great, but I felt ok enough to go out. I didn't feel the need to take any painkillers (I think I may have only taken 1 ibuprofen the night of) like the big bottle of T3's I was given... speaking of which, where did those end up? lol

I got mine taken out because they were getting cavities and I had 100% dental at the time. I figured they were going to come out eventually anyways, I may as well do it when it's free.


______________________________________
I know I'm promiscuous, but in a classy way
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Re: Wisdom teeth [deee] [ In reply to ]
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My brother is getting his wisdom teeth out tomorrow. We're home from school for Thanksgiving break.

I am sad that he'll be in pain for a couple days but on the other hand I can't wait to just hang out with him even if it means just watching movies and making milkshakes!

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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I had mine done 'later' in life, 2 years ago when I was 33. For me, it was mad relief. I had cracked/split one of mine; it got infected and the pain was unreal ... really otherworldly. I couldn't sleep; eat; my entire existence revolved around the pain (I'm sorry to be so effusive ... but it really was miserable). The oral surgeon had mine out in maybe 10 minutes. Local anesthesia only. Instant relief. Recovery was not bad at all. I was back to work a few days later. I was back to training almost immediately.

*****
"In case of flood climb to safety"
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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not sure if this would help....but i had a similar question after my surgery last year. As you can probably tell, I didn't have much patience to sit around and heal. :)

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...post=1610392#1610392
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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I had mine pulled last year in February. The next day I flew to CO and went snowboarding for 3 days. I never remember having any sharp pain during the healing process, it was more like a dull ache kind of pain. The only thing to keep in mind is that since you are healing you will probably need a few extra hours of sleep.

It affected me for about a week, but after that it never bugged me again. I had jaw pain on and off for about 2 years before I had them removed and I think I missed more training in those 2 years than I did after surgery.
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Re: Wisdom teeth [jcurtis] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you, that is very reassuring. I'm not facing the issues you did (mine are healthy and not impacting anything), but since I'm going with the better dental plan starting in January it seems I should go ahead with it. Like you, I'm looking at removing later in life (though I'm even later at nigh 40) and I was concerned that it would be like my first root canal.... painful for a couple days when walking.

Extra sleep: check
Possible pain pills: check
Avoid swimming for a little: check
Biking ok: check
Running probably within a few days: check

I'm good with that. I could schedule for right after a build when I'd need to back down a bit anyway. I just don't want a full week of mouth agony stopping my current running momentum. I'm on a roll I tell ya, and I'm scared if I take more than a couple days from it that I'll not get started again.


There is no justice, there is only me. -- Death
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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I had one of mine removed last year, at 28, for the same reason (cavities).
My dentist is an endurance athlete and he just said to take about 2 days off, and then keep my heart rate low for another 3-5 so as to not blast the stitches out. He also made me promise to stay out of the pool for at least a week because bacteria + open wound = bad news.

One thing you might want to do is look at the big picture. I understand how important training is, but you also need to realize how important dental health is to your overall health. If your body isn't trying to fight off the cavities and bacteria, it leaves more strength for other things (training, fighting off colds, etc.) It took me a long time to realize what a huge effect having good dental health has on the rest of my body, so I just wanted to share some insight and encourage you not to put off a recommended dental procedure for fear of missing a week or two of training.
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Re: Wisdom teeth [td] [ In reply to ]
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Heh, I don't have cavities there yet, so I can afford to take my time:-D


There is no justice, there is only me. -- Death
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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my brother had his out this AM and is doing okay so far. Not up to much movement but I thought he'd be completely out of it!

We all got to have milkshakes for dinner... hee hee.

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: Wisdom teeth [Sabrekitty] [ In reply to ]
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I had all four of mine out at age 28. They were not causing any problems, but I thought it was time. I have had a numb tongue since (it's been 4 years). I understand that nerve damage risk increases with age. If I had it to do over, I would have kept the wisdom teeth.
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