I'm having my last wisdom tooth pulled tomorrow

[Ian Gills]

In England our wisdom teeth are not pulled until they need to be.

In America, not so. Dentists just love to get 'em out!!

Rather than do it the normal way, I decided to have one tooth pulled every year or so. I'm now down to my last one.

Wish me luck tomorrow.

Some of you may have noticed that my posts are not as "wise" as they used to be. Now you know why.

[master plumber mark]

nothing I would rather do than sit around all
weekend with a bottle of whiskey and a sore tooth..

good luuck with that

[Scuba_Dave]

Heck if you like torture that much c'mon over I have a good set of plyers

[FloridaOrange]

Wuss, you should've gotten them all yanked at the same time. Day or two an it's over, and doesn't mess up other teeth and don't have to worry about it for several years in a row.

I take it you have seen teeth of your countrymen's smile.....

[Cookie]

In England our wisdom teeth are not pulled until they need to be.

In America, not so. Dentists just love to get 'em out!!

Rather than do it the normal way, I decided to have one tooth pulled every year or so. I'm now down to my last one.

Wish me luck tomorrow.

Some of you may have noticed that my posts are not as "wise" as they used to be. Now you know why.

Wishing you luck, I know you will be fine.

But the reason it is adviseable to remove the wisdom teeth earlier in life is because of the nerves that can grow around the root as one grows older, and cause damage when removed when you are older.

[Ian Gills]

4 hours to go. I have the painkillers ready.

This is gonna hurt. The ones on the top are fine because nothing falls in when they are out.

But the ones on the bottom (where this last one is) are less pleasant. It took me more than one week to recover last time.

British teeth are so bad because the public option does not cover dental and there are very few insurance options available. So you pay full private cost.

Here my insurance covers $3000 worth of work every year, and covers 80% (I pay 20%).

During my first year in the US I ate through every penny of that $3000 on crowns and bridges.

Just imagine...

I like spending my health insurance because it pushes up your premiums. Thanks.

What do the 47 million (equivalent to the entire population of England) uninsured Americans do for dental?

[FloridaOrange]

They either have the cash to fix things or they end up looking like this.


By the way, googling "bad teeth" (images) brings up waaaayyyy worse than this. Almost enough to turn my stomach in the morning.

[Ian Gills]

I was hoping to do some electrical stuff on the house over the weekend but after this, and given what Mark said, I may not be in a fit state to do any real work.

I'll just have to do some plumbing instead.

[Cass]

Here you go if you would like to watch the procedure...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY459kTn32c

[FloridaOrange]

Definitely less dangerous if you're hopped up on drugs. Unless you're doing copper.


When I had my teeth yanked I would make a shake, carnation instant breakfast and throw all my pills in. Got the benifit of putting some calories in without eating and definitely made me feel good in about 20 minutes.

[Cookie]

4 hours to go. I have the painkillers ready.

This is gonna hurt. The ones on the top are fine because nothing falls in when they are out.

But the ones on the bottom (where this last one is) are less pleasant. It took me more than one week to recover last time.

British teeth are so bad because the public option does not cover dental and there are very few insurance options available. So you pay full private cost.

Here my insurance covers $3000 worth of work every year, and covers 80% (I pay 20%).

During my first year in the US I ate through every penny of that $3000 on crowns and bridges.

Just imagine...

I like spending my health insurance because it pushes up your premiums. Thanks.

What do the 47 million (equivalent to the entire population of England) uninsured Americans do for dental?

They go without dental insurance, and so many times without dental care, or make payments. That is why preventative maintance is very important to most. Get your teeth cleaned, brush, floss and pray.

[Ian Gills]

Thanks Cass but I am not having that done. My wife nearly had to because some of hers were well below the gum line.

Mine are all above, so it's more of the pliers and less of the knife.

Perhaps this is a good time to ask whether this might be something a DIY could try?

Do these things come out like my windows did: an F150 and a bit of rope?

[Cookie]

I LOVE your images!

Did you know this? And here I thought it was my profession.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...t-suicide-rate

[Ian Gills]

Well I am back and spitting blood. There was a small complication in that the tooth had bonded itself to some bone on the tongue side of my mouth so they had to snap that out with it.

My tongue may be left numb, which will require some more surgery.

Let's just see when the jabs wear off.

[FloridaOrange]

Well I am back and spitting blood. There was a small complication in that the tooth had bonded itself to some bone on the tongue side of my mouth so they had to snap that out with it.

My tongue may be left numb, which will require some more surgery.

Let's just see when the jabs wear off.

At least part of it's over for now.
When I had mine yanked, the bottom two were impacted and required breaking and then removal. My dentist told me he could take them out. I asked if he could knock me out, he answered "no". I went to an oral surgeon, got knocked out and then had it done.