Sounds like someone saved some money on nitric oxide at the expense of your comfort, Nate.
I'd be pissed too.FWIW.
I'm gonna kick someone's ass over this.
"I'm gonna"? I'm gonna?!
Pussy.
This post couldn't start any way other than some variation of; "I kicked the dentist's ass today...."
At 2:00pm I had an appointment to have my wisdom teeth removed. They finished up around 3:05 or so...
posted by Nate : 1:39 PM
----------------------
Did you write the post before the surgury? :D
Hubby had his removed and it took about a half hour after they finished to become alert again. He even jumped out to fill up the car with gas on the way home. He took one vicodin (sp?) and didn't like how it made him feel and that's all the pain killer he took.
I got mine out about three weeks ago.
Didn't take the gas, I had them do a local.
Drove home, the local wore off, and I started drinkin.
Didn't feel a thing.
I think it affects everyone differently. My cousin and I are roughly the same size and weight, but he is 18 years younger. We had similar dental work a few months apart. I was dead to the world for the rest of the day. He was groggy for a couple hours and then wanted to go fishing that afternoon.
Wrote the post as soon as I got home. I don't know about the folks saying they had it done with only local... I had local and a combo of fentenyl and versed... but when I woke up they were still workin, and I could pretty much feel everything they were doing.
I've had teeth pulled with just local before... no big deal.. but taking out 4 at once... I'd say that's a bit psycho.
Woke up during mine too. Took a lot of squid docs and nurses to hold down this pissed off Marine.
I have no idea what specific drug they used to put me under but it seemed to short circuit my frontal cortex and make me mean. I was not a nice person in the hours after I woke up.
Woah...sorry to hear about that.
Athor Pel, look on the bright side. For those few hours, you had something in common with the average woman on PMS.
Don't know what they gave me when they yanked mine, but I was fine afterward, too.
It was the next night, when the socket dried out and the codeine dried up, that I was in really, sad shape. Don't smoke your cigars yet, Nate.
Damn the errant comma!
A bit psycho, huh...? I don't trust any dentist to put me under general. Even with my particularly bad situation (the upper left wisdom tooth had grown into it's neighbor and cracked i), I still made the call to stick with local. Something about going under just doesn't sit well with me. I generally hate going unconscious for any reason. Which is probably why the occasional insomnia...sigh.
I happened to recover just a little too fast from the local, as usual, so I got to feel that needle stitching me up. The only Star Trek line I ever bother to remember is Spock saying "Pain is simply another sensory input which the well-trained mind should be able to handle". I tend to quote it to myself in situations like this. (Yeah, I know... GEEK; But at least I'm a 6'2", 215lb geek who plays a mean guitar.)
Tell me if this is normal...
I just realised this was the title. You know you're setting yourself up for yankee spam right there.
Had mine done in the army. Local only. Hurt really bad. Threatened to take the Major doing it out back if he didn't straighten up. He did. Stitches ripped out of one hole. Everything works fine now, though.
Ry
its extremely wise to refuse to let a dentist apply general anethesia. As you know, anesthesia is administered by anesthesiologists... who are MDs.... not dentists... who failed out of medical school and swapped over to something easier.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience, man. It don't hurt to ask for 'extra' before having an unpleasent procedure. Seriously, I don't think anybody would think less of you as a man.
As a kid, I was a square as they come. Didn't drink, didn't smoke...was afraid to take aspirin. Nancy Reagan would have been proud of me.
My thoughts have changed slightly with age and a couple of surgeries.
I went in for the big 'V' a couple of weeks back...and made damn sure the doctor was crystal clear on what I expected; i.e., I didn't want to feel anything below the waiste (or above if possible) during the surgery. AND I wanted an ample supply of something GOOD to get me through the weekend.
My doctor came through for me. Why hurt when you don't have to? Maybe the DEA cuts urologists some slack. The majority of DEA folks are probably men, after all.
I think it was one of those times when being married to an anesthesiologist does more harm than good.
Most people don't realize how often dentists and oral surgeons kill people by administering anesthesia without anyone to monitor it.
He likely was well aware that if anything happened to me... he'd lose every dime he had as well as the potential to make more.
We both made it clear that we felt the practice was unsafe... but in the end because she was so close by... we went ahead with it.
In the future we will not.
Is it considered poor form for an anesthesiologist (I'll trust your spelling on this one, Nate) to put out a tip jar?
There wasn't an anesthesiologist involved in my sedation since it was an outpatient procedure and I wasn't totally 'out'. They just gave me a pill, hooked up the IV and sent me to my happy place.
Mrs. PORCUS, who works at the hospital next door, wasn't too pleased that the old gal measuring out the medication said, "I'll give you just a touch more, hon". I couldn't have been happier. Pill me up and get me good an numb.
Like I said...she needed a tip jar.
I don't know about the Big V hoss... I'm skeptical of needles around the sack.
Anything near the sack is crazy talk, you know how many medical accidents occur in the operating room? HELL NO. Hell no.
I've got a co-worker they call 'Uno'...on account of some post operative complications; so, yeah, there was some anxiety before hand.
But Mrs. PORCUS and I are getting on in age, and her last two pregnancies took a toll on her (she's got back issues). It seemed like the gallant thing to do.
I told her I'm getting a sports car out of this.
its extremely wise to refuse to let a dentist apply general anethesia. As you know, anesthesia is administered by anesthesiologists... who are MDs.... not dentists... who failed out of medical school and swapped over to something easier.
That was my exact train of thought when he asked which I'd prefer.
Damn, that sucks.
I had mine taken out this summer, but I had a good surgeon who gave me a shitload of good stuff.
I wasn't coherent at all for about 24hrs after the "procedure." That tells me they did a damn good job.
It's so awesome to be awake during oral surgery. I was a 16 year old girl when I got all my wisdom teeth out in one appt, and have had two molars pulled at one time since then. (I don't believe in root canals) It really is a rough business, muscles straining, tiny hammer and chisel, head jerked all around, stitches. I even opened my eyes to see my blood splattered on the dentist's shirt and mask! It is so cool. I wish it was possible to be wide awake like that during every surgery. I've never had a c-section but I would totally want to watch all of it if I could.
If you think you saw a lot of straining during a tooth extraction... you aint seen nothin'!
Some OB's insist on tearing open the female... not cutting... because they think that tears heal better. So they make enough of a cut to get their hands in... then literally two adults grab you and pretend your belly is a wishbone.
No fun.
Some OB's insist on tearing open the female... not cutting... because they think that tears heal better. So they make enough of a cut to get their hands in... then literally two adults grab you and pretend your belly is a wishbone.
Reason #8,984,621 why I'm glad I'm a man...
I've never gotten along well with dentists. Goes back to my childhood (I'm thinking I was about 5), when some antisocial jerk was drilling my tooth so hard I literally smelled smoke, and finally had to cough. Of course, because he was bearing down so hard, the drill jumped and dug straight down into my lip. Do you think the guy apologized? No... he just started cursing me out, until my mom heard the noise and came in to tell him off.
I swear, some of them are just bitter maladjusted souls who like causing pain. The guy who did my wisdom teeth seemed almost disappointed that I handled the pain so well. When it was over, and he had seen hardly a wince from me, I thanked him and said he did a good job. All he did was sniff and turn away like some prima donna.
(Hey hey now... if you're a dentist reading this, relax; you have a chance to be one of the good ones)
I've seen some very violent births on documentaries. If I'd seen those things before having children I'd have probably run away to become a nun. I've also heard so many horror stories, mostly come as a result of inductions done for no other reason than a date on the calendar has passed.
Anon,
I'm a big fan of both inductions and c-sections. Term is term. As far as I'm conserned every woman should be induced at 37 weeks and if junior hasn't popped out after 2 90 minutes of pushing... c-section time!
The female of the species is simply not rational about child birth.
Some OB's insist on tearing open the female... not cutting...
I did not need to know that. OK, maybe I did, but... eww. I thought the idea of cutting was bad enough.
Nate,
The irrational part was the 4 at once. My anesthesia administration experience is from working for an oral surgeon-- the only difference here is that he was also an MD. So you had IV sedation, and it's not uncommon to wake up, chat, forget what you said (versed talking), and so on. The oral surgeon I worked for would only do 2 at a time. Did they let Dr. Who in the room with you? I guess I would have insisted in your position, but perhaps they didn't like the thought of being observed by someone who might know what they're doing....
That is very compassionate of you Nate. I don't know of any father and husband who does not say much the same.
Buf,
I don't mind 4 at a time.. in my case it was 5... the problem I have is IV sedation without an anesthesiologist present.
Its insane.
DrWho went back and discussd the matter with the surgeon, who is an MD as well... but he basicly said he had allowed someone else to observe and it was a poor practice decision.
I'm guessing it made him nervous and he screwed up.
I wonder how he thinks real surgeons handle it?
The truth is oral surgeons risk patients lives every day... and no one says anything about it.
Pisses us off.
Anon,
I'll never understand the super-mom complex... the one that basicly makes women feel superior if they had a "natural" child birth or if they breastfed until the kid was 6 years old...
Some women go truely psycho...
It doesn't make me angry, just very leery. There were very few generals, but when someone's gums are rotting away and they need a full mouth extraction, not much choice. I must say, the surgeon is yanking away at the teeth and the LPN (at best) is assisting, which leaves the unlicensed person in the room (myself) to use the amboo bag if necessary. Now THAT'S what's scary to me. I guess the other side of the coin is more highly regulated healthcare, which we don't need. If I had to have any surgery (oral or otherwise) that required general anesthesia I would insist upon a hospital or surgery center setting where there is an actual anesthesiologist present.
So they make enough of a cut to get their hands in... then literally two adults grab you and pretend your belly is a wishbone.
yagh!!! Never, ever do I want a c-section, but you have given me another reason right there.
when some antisocial jerk was drilling my tooth so hard I literally smelled smoke,
Rycamor, I've had a lot of fillings, and that has happened to me more than once. A little blue vapour would come up, too. Very disconcerting when that happens. It was so bad once, that both the dentist and the assistant laughed as even they were coughing. Apparently, I'm supposed to lay there and not wonder about these things.
My new dentist, though, is much better (as in, more communicative to the patient), although one time he got impatient (he was supposed to wait for the filling to set a little bit) and broke one of my fillings, but he didn't charge me for refilling it, so that was fine, although I know every refilling damages the tooth so..oh, well.
I told him I don't make a lot of money, and he didn't charge me for a couple of the things they did (like the X-ray they did). I was there all morning that particular day, and pleasantly surprised at how cheap it was compared to what I expected (it was still hundreds of dollars, though).
He was very reassuring, too. They were talking about unscrupulous dentists in the industry while he was doing my teeth with the assistant there. Now, usually the dentist and the assistant will talk as if I'm not even in the room, but not him and not this assistant! Throughout the whole thing, they were very considerate to my..well, existence. I didn't feel like just another job to them.
They were talking about people in the auto industry who cause more car problems so that the client will come back, and they can sponge more money off of them. It's always been a question in my mind about dentistry, because how are we supposed to know (other than the really obvious dental errors) whether a problem in a filling is because of something we did wrong or the dentist trying to sponge more money off of us through succeeding appointments? More than once, I've thought of going in for a second opinion on my teeth.
They were also talking about a dental assistant doing dental work on a patient somewhere else without having the required training; it was quite alarming to hear.
But, he told me, "Don't worry. We won't do anything like that. We're good people here."
I like the guy, so I hope he's telling the truth. He has done charity dentistry work, so maybe he's alright. But yikes on both things!
I was 12, may 13 when I was having a filling done. They had needled me pretty well and my gums were numb.
The guy drilled and drilled and at some point hit the nerve, which was far from numb.
I grabbed his arm, looked him in the eye and said, "that will be quite enough".
He looked at me a bit oddly, put down the drill and proceeded with the filling.
I don't think anyone had ever done that to him before.
I had 11 teeth removed when I was in junior high and I still have my wisdom teeth - I'm keeping them. I hate going to the dentist enough as it is. It would take something drastic to get me to have mine removed.
Forgot to mention this:
when I got my wisdom teeth (all four of them) removed, there was a small fragment of tooth left in one of the cavities. It took 5 weeks for it to work itself out of my gums. Talk about pain.
Weird, Josh; I had the same thing. It only took a couple weeks to pop out, though, and it didn't hurt at all.
The guy said he pulled two teeth whole, but had to break up the other two. I don't know how he could have missed this piece, it was like a fingernail clipping.
It would take something drastic to get me to have mine removed.
Spacebunny | 12.06.07 - 5:44 pm | #
Yeah. I've only had one wisdom tooth pulled and only because it was 75% through the skin. My dentist pulled it with local anesthetic (he used a lot!) and all in one piece. I don't intend to to have any others pulled unless they do the same thing.
I had my wisdom teeth removed about a month and a half ago. I didn't have a choice, the bottom two were only partially erupted, and were getting cavities. The oral surgeon had a fellowship in anesthesiology and only did sedation, not anesthesia in the office. I took pain meds the first day on a schedule, only at night for the next two, then quit. It made me dizzy and groggy and I hated it, so I quit. A couple tylenol and I was fine.
I truly cannot imagine anyone enjoying the sensation of being on pain meds. Yuck.
P.S. Once the sockets have started to heal, USE the little syringe they give you to clean out the holes every time you eat anything, and use warm water.
Trust me on this.
Commenting by HaloScan
