On Friday, February 27, I had three wisdom teeth pulled. I wasn't at work for most of last week because the only time I have felt relief was when I was doped up on prescription pain killers. I also have been taking two Advils every four hours.

Last Friday, which was exactly one week later on March 6, the stitches finally dissolved. I was thinking I was going to feel a big relief once they dissolved because one of my jaws was sewed down to my bottom gum. However, once they dissolved, the pain still exists because my jaw seems to be hanging down to my gum where it was previously sewed down for one week, and what really hurts is, if I put my finger in my mouth and stretch my jaw open in that area, my inner jaw in that area feels soft and puffy and I can see something that looks like a little white bump (maybe a blister? I don't know?).

I have a follow-up dentist appointment this Wednesday but has anyone been through this before? Am I almost out of the woods and on my way to healing? When is this damn pain going to either end or get better?
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[Edited 3/9/09 12:17pm]

I'd say that one of the first steps on the long road 2 recovery would be... Stop putting U're manky finger in U're mouth where U've just had surgery. Just my opinion... My first thought, if U will.

wow...does not sound good. Five years ago I had all four of mine removed on a Friday and was back to work on Monday. Only took one pain pill on Friday and then just some regular over the counter pain reliever for the weekend.
It is a good thing they are going to check you out on Wednesday.
I cannot give you any advice, sorry, mine was not nearly as painful as I expected it would be.

Hope you feel better soon.

That's what everyone keeps telling me. I've tried keeping my finger away as much as possible. Now if I could only stop sticking my tongue back there because it feels so awkward.

Oh, I could have been back to work on the following Monday but I would have been miserable all day and would have made my co-workers' day as miserable as mine was going. I may be 41 years old, but when it comes to even the least amount of pain or discomfort, I'm the biggest baby you'll ever want to see. I think that just goes with the territory of being a man because women can tolerate pain a lot more than we can.

I just called my dentist's nurse while ago. She said the little white bump I am seeing is where they stuck the needle in my jaw while I was asleep to deaden it. She said it's painful because it's still sore and may be sore for another week. She said from my descriptions, it sounded like everything was going normal. My concern was taking all these Advils each day because the bottle warns against taking them for more than 10 days. She said they are required to print that on the bottle but I would be safe taking them for almost a month before they would start doing damage.

Interesting...You shouldn't be in pain.

The day I got mine pulled I took lots and tylenol and I had pizza the same day. (Not good I know. I was on a diet at the time and I was going mad! I wanted some freaking pizza.)

vainandy said:

I was 32 yrs old when I had mine removed. I went to an oral surgeon that removed mine really quick. When I had my tonsils out at age 20, I had a horrible pain in my jaw from the blocks they held my mouth open with during the surgery.
I was miserable for weeks.
I am hoping that women tolerate pain better because they give birth.

I have had several surgeries in my life so I guess I am used to pain.
I am glad that nurse said everything sounds normal.

I've been on a diet since the first of the year and this experience is just blowing my diet to hell and back since I've been practically living on scrambled eggs and cheese for the last week. The most painful experience was trying to eat some harder food last week. Even though I was chewing it from the other side of my mouth (where only one tooth had been pulled) it was hurting like hell on the side I wasn't chewing from. Little did I know at the time, that my jaw on the other side was sewed to my bottom gum and all that chewing was just streching it.

I'm a heavy smoker also so I know that may be irritating it also. I wasn't supposed to smoke for 24 hours after the surgery. Hell, after about three or four hours, I had a cigarette in my mouth trying to take extra small puffs. An addiction is a hell of a thing.

vainandy said:

I almost asked if you were a smoker. A friend of mine did not stay away from the cigarettes and suffered after the surgery.

I've been lucky so far because I've never had any type of surgery whatsoever in my entire life until now. I guess the worst is being afraid and not knowing what to expect. I worried about that surgery for a week and half prior to it. When I got in the chair and the dentist put the needle in my arm to sedate me, I was nervous, squirming, and raising hell. I remember the doctor asking me a few questions and the very next thing I remember was them placing me into my sister's car afterwards. My sister said I was only in there for maybe 20 or 30 minutes. The worrying about the unknown is a lot worse than the experience itself.

Women definately can tolerate pain a lot more than men though. My boss, who is a woman, tells me all the time that I remind her of her husband. She even gets mad at me sometimes and accidently calls me by his name.

vainandy said:

I had pain from my wisdom teeth for ages but was too afraid to have them removed. I feared the unknown. Then a friend went to the oral surgeon and loved him so I decided to see him too. When he saw them on the x ray, he scheduled me to come in the next day to have them removed...before I changed my mind.
Fear of the unknown.


I know all about that.