Wisdom teeth extraction: local or general anesthesia?
Just to chime in with the alternate experience… I had my wisdom teeth removed under general anesthesia. It wasn’t gas– it was some kind of IV drug. I remember the IV going in, the doctor saying a few words, and then… just waking up. Having never had the novocaine experience, I can’t comment on that, but I think it was nice having absolutely no memory of any part of the actual surgery.
Between my wisdom teeth and various braces-related pullings of adult and baby teeth, I’ve had 12 pulled. I had nitrous and local the first two times and was given general anesthesia for my impacted wisdom teeth. I’m pretty novacaine resistant, so just the act of getting the 15 or 20 shots I require to be really numb is pretty traumatic without something else to relax me. I found the cracking noises and blood very upsetting even with the gas (they had to pry my mouth open), so I can’t imagine laying there and being stoic without it. My wisdom teeth were a breeze. He even gave me a Valium to take in the morning and gas for when he put in the IV. I had no pain (other than a very full bladder when I woke up) and no stress. Don’t remember a thing. I slept most of the subsequent 24 hours which gave my mouth a chance to heal, was up and around the next day and eating normally the day after that. It was by far the easiest teeth removal I’d ever had, even though the procedure was more complicat
I had mine done with a short-acting IV general, as did my sister, and both of us have the least-horrible wisdom teeth stories of anyone we know. According to my dentist (who was not the one who did the wisdom tooth removal, has no reason to state otherwise and who I trust completely anyway), it’s much easier on all concerned to have a general, and in my experience, that’s definitely true. I had a badly impacted tooth which required some bone removal, and aside from that area being sore for a few days (controlled with meds), I was completely fine almost right away, no bleeding, almost no swelling (aside from a small amount in the area of the bone removal) and very minimal discomfort. I say find a doc who’ll give you more than a local.
Another vote for just local anaesthetic being fine. I had both wisdom teeth out on one side, both non-impacted, one at a funny angle digging into my cheek, the other only partially erupted (which meant it kept getting infected, which was AGONY). A few more injections than you would for a simple filling, and they make you wait a loooong time after the injections before they start doing anything so they’re sure everything’s numb. It was little bit scary as it’s slightly more full-on than a usual dentist visit – face masks, big pointy tools, but it was over very quickly, about twenty minutes in all. A lot of pulling and a slightly worrying creaking noise as the teeth came out, but that was pretty much the worst of it. I took some co-codamol once I got home, but I barely needed it. The worst thing was not being able to brush my teeth properly for a few days in case I dislodged the clot, to be honest. I’ve had a root canal and that wasn’t horrible, but it was worse than the wisdom tooth ext
