Welcomes and Wisdom Teeth

Welcome to my blog! This is my first post (obviously) and here I will be talking about my life and things that happen to me. Basically, this is your standard, run-of-the-mill personal blog. If you have happened to find me on Google or anyplace else, allow me to introduce myself. I am a Stony Brook University student who loves exploring new places and seeing new things. I also love to play computer games and ride the subway here in NYC. I am not one for long, extended introductions, so let's get to the fun stuff.

My wisdom teeth.

Wisdom teeth?!?

Yes, you heard that right. I went to an oral surgeon today, just up the street from where I live. I was referred by my dentist because on a routine X-ray he saw that my wisdom teeth were growing in crooked. I put off the appointment for some time, but I finally went today to get the verdict on whether I would need my wisdom teeth extracted or not.

After filling out forms about my health history and insurance information, after a short wait, I was called in by one of the nurses. They did a panoramic X-ray of my entire jaw (the X-ray machine that spins around your head while you stand there absolutely still, not moving a muscle). I was then led to a surgery, and they pulled up the image of my jaw on a computer screen (it was fully digitized, unlike my general dentist which still used the big X-ray tube and film- although he unfortunately passed away recently, a new dentist took up residency there and the entire place was renovated). What I saw confirmed my fear. I knew what he was going to say right then and there.

Looking at the X-ray image of my jaw, I saw that my bottom wisdom teeth were growing in sideways. They were literally almost at a 90 degree angle from my other, normal teeth. If action was not taken soon, my molars would be pushed together by the wisdom teeth, and I would have a crowded jaw. I am already experiencing sporadic, on-and-off pain when I chew food on my molars. Well, let's see what the oral surgeon says, I thought. He IS the doctor, he will have the word on whether I would need an extraction or not. (My upper wisdom teeth were growing in normally, but they seemed to be coming up under the upper molars, so they were also of concern as they could push up on the upper molars and crowd my upper jaw as well.)

After another short wait, the doctor came in. We did our obligatory introductions, and he then proceeded to look at the x-ray. He asked me a few questions about my mouth, whether I have any pain (on-and-off on my molars when I eat), how long this has been going on (a few months) etc. He then wanted to visually inspect my teeth, so I opened my mouth and allowed him to shine the light in it and observe.

He then delivered the verdict. I knew it.

All four of my wisdom teeth were impacted. I would need all of them removed.

I have had tooth extractions in the past, but only with local anesthetic. I have never had any sort of general anesthesia before, but I have worried over the years about if and when I would need to get it. He confirmed my worst fear:

In order for my teeth to be removed, he would need to put me under with IV general anesthesia.

I knew it all along. This would finally be the time I would need to face my fear.

I did read stories of anesthesia online, and talked to a few people who have had it, and they all seemed to suggest it would be like the blink of an eye. My oral surgeon said it would be like falling asleep at night, only more pleasant. He said that it feels very pleasant to be put to sleep with IV sedation/GA, so based on all of the input I received, I trusted him. Even though I would need to be sedated/put to sleep, I still felt a little less anxious because of the overwhelmingly good things I have heard about it (it is completely safe, it is like the blink of an eye- you never even feel/know that time has passed, etc.)

I then went to the front desk to work out the financial aspects and costs of the procedure. In total, it came out to $2630 for all four teeth to be removed + GA/sedation (he didn't tell me which one he would be using, he only said he would "put me to sleep" so I'll assume GA). I had also asked him what drugs he would be using, and he said he would use a mixture of Versed (Midazolam) and Propofol in the IV.

I currently have a tight school schedule, with the summer courses I am taking 4 days a week and move-in to my dorm on August 20th, so we were unable to make an appointment for the actual procedure (I was with my father). We would need to work it out privately and once we had a date, we would need to call them to make the actual appointment. After we took care of this, we left the practice.

After the appointment, I took a nap and surfed the internet for a bit. It is now 7:15pm as I type this, having just taken a shower. The only question that remains is exactly when to have the procedure done.

I know this is a long post, but I like to explain certain things in detail so please bear with me. Thanks for reading this post as I know it is long, but it is a significant event for me to have to be put under GA and have my wisdom teeth removed. If you have any questions or would like to share your experiences, please post a comment. I will be blogging about my general life starting with the next post, and after I have my wisdom teeth pulled, I will also go through that experience in detail. Again, thanks for bearing with me and offering your support (if you wish)!