[Armadillo Roll]

If you did I was wondering what kind of sedation did you have? IV sedation, general anesthesia, nitrous gas, or any other? I'm more nervous about the sedation than the pain. I never have taken any meds before so I'm not used to the effects drugs have on the body same goes for alcohol and illegal substances never have taken them.
So how do I "prepare" in a way? What will I experience?

[Apathy123]

I had them taken out when I was a teenager. I had IV, gas and pain killers. "Laughing gas" made me cry. I'm not sure you can prepare for them, I would just make sure you have someone to drive you to and from the appointment as you probably shouldn't be driving yourself.

[gayleggg]

I had a general anesthesia when I had mine taken out. It's been a long time since I had mine taken out, but I don't remember anything in the way of preparing for it.

[Slamjammer]

I've had them all removed, at different times. The first was removed using sodium pentathol, a general anesthetic injection. No big deal whatsoever. The other 3 were removed over a period of several years, just using novacain or whatever, a local anesthetic. Again, no big deal.

[Umbral_Seraph]

I had IV sedation and was given a prescription for some antibiotics. My prep was simply that I couldn't eat 12 hours beforehand.

[coyotee]

I just had one taken out actually. Also I had two pulled a little over a year ago. Both times just local anesthesia. So I was awake for it. It wasn't so bad, you can feel pressure, but not any pain, they'll poke you a little bit just to make sure you're not feeling anything in the area you're getting the extraction. You see the dentist with his tools working on the tooth, so it's a little out of the ordinary, a little out of the comfort zone, to be expected of course, but really not so bad, and it's really all pretty quick.

I'm like you too, the idea of sedation kinda scares me, but really, in retrospect, it wasn't awful at all. And you'll feel a whole lot better when they're out. I had such horrible pain with a cracked wisdom tooth, it was such a huge relief to get it taken out.

The dentist or oral surgeon will give you info about what to expect and how to take care of it afterward. I honestly probably could have driven afterward, but I took a family member with to drive me home, just in case.

If you're not so good with medicine, again like me, I would still recommend you take pain killers after. They really help. Probably make you a little loopy, but they'll help you rest. And if you're worried, just have an honest talk with the dentist to come up with something you can tolerate.

[Raindropvampire]

I had general anesthesia. I'm terrified of IVs so refused to let them do anything like that. They told me not to eat for 12 hours and to stay hydrated. When I got there they put cotton swabs with numbing gel in my mouth and made me sit there for 3-4 minutes. Then they gave me the shots.

The only bad thing were the top wisdom teeth were impacted so he had to cut into my jaw bone and take a bit of it with them. Since it took longer I could feel when he started on the next tooth so had to have more shots.

Word to the wise: DO NOT CHEW ON YOUR LIP WHILE NUMB. I have a bad habit of chewing on my lip when nervous. Well I couldn't feel a thing and wound up really biting my lip. It was swollen for almost a week. Other than my face was completely numb I really didn't feel out of sorts or feel drugged.

[thinkandoer]

I might have to do it too. Make sure you have a good doctor. That's a very important procedure. Personally I,d prefere general anestesia, because I wouldn'n want them to get any close with their needles to my trigeminal nerv in the lower jaw. although I don't know all the details about the procedure, I didn't research it yet.

[magical loser]

i was supposed to get them all out with a local anasthetic but i got 1 out + hated it, i actually started screaming. so i had to go back and be sedated to get the other 3 out. for the next 2 days i was half unconcsous most of the time and had to stay at my parents house and be "looked after" and i couldnt eat proper food. not something i want to go through again, but at least i didnt see/feel anything happening, or know anything about it

[jaynedough]

A Very Long Time Ago, I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled. IV sedation. They told me that I would probably cry when I woke up and I did sob for a bit. I've had to have several other teeth pulled over the years and for those, they just used local anesthetics.

[Blue_Bird]

I had all 4 taken out at once when I was 17, they weren't even coming in yet but the xray showed that if they came in they would mess up all the work my braces did for me. I know I had IV sedation, and they had this mask on me too, plus they gave me painkillers (percocet) with a prescription for when I went home.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I had all 4 removed the same day (all boney impactions) I guess under IV sedation. I was terrified as they hooked me up to heart montier, pulse ox, bp cuff and oxygen. But it turned out fine. I don't remember anything and had little pain. I took pain meds for a few days and I was fine!

[tealBumblebee]

Hi there. I had mine removed at the end of last year I believe, and they gave me laughing gas and let that sit for a while. Then, once I started to "feel it" they gave me an IV. I didn't know I was getting the gas, but I didn't mind.

I have taken both "alternative" substances as well as these things and I wouldn't compare the two. The "laughing" gas actually calmed me down. I didn't get sad or anything, it just made me (naturally talkative) very chill and quiet. The nurse asked if I was okay, and I was like "yep, just saying a quick prayer..." she was like good, good. Lol.

When they gave me the IV they did my hand because they couldn't find a good vein in my arm. I remember he told me to make a fist, and once he was in he told me I could release it. I remember there seeming to be a quite noticable delay between me knowing to unclench my fist and actually doing it, so I think the gas made my reflexes slower. Once the IV was in, I was out in a few seconds really.

When I woke up from it all, they told me to lay down because I pretty much popped up and was ready to go haha. The only "after" effect I had was that I was cold. I was talking and laughing, alert and hungry. They were kind of surprised that I wasn't groggy.

I took maybe two pain pills the whole time just because they said to, and used the ibuprofen as directed (every 4-6 hours) even if I didn't feel I needed it because it helps reduce the inflammation. I also kept the icepack on consistently for a little over 48 hours (be careful not to freeze/damage your face, the thing they gave me was apparantly thick enough that it didn't bother me). I also was very strict on my diet (pureed everything and only ate the broth from the soup for at least a week). I also laid down for the week until I was bored to death.

In the end, I was very specific about my aftercare but had no swelling, no dry socket, no pain, etc. I'm sure every body is different but the only thing I can say to prepare yourself is to buy the foods, wash your sheets and load up a list of movies that will keep you in bed. Also, take your anti inflammatory, keep it iced and stay in bed and if you have my luck, it should be a relativity smooth experience.

... I mean maybe the dental team was kind of awesome too but, haha. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Good luck!