Braces.

[Christopher]

Once you get used to the pain and can eat normally without having to take painkillers, thats when they tighten them up!

[Silja]

I've had something kind of like THIS. A facebow, had it on at nights. Didn't hurt too much, only when they put the rings onto my upper jaw teeth the first time.

Aha, I had that thing too. It sort of pulled on your teeth and made them feel a bit loose, but other than that it was okay. (And I would usually wake up with a spot of drool on my shirt. Heh)

I know what you mean, but instead of having that spot on my t-shirt I would have lots of spots on my pillow eww.

Also, Ammer, no anesthesia (needle)=horrible, godforsaken pain and agony. I mean, imagine it, a small part of your body is being literally pulled out, and that pesky little tooth is connected to a crapload of nerves which will be pretty messed upp after it all. I'd choose a small, almost non-existing sting

[SpiraLethe]

Yeah, I'm talking about wisdom teeth. I thought that was what Ammer said the procedure was. *goes back to check* Yeah, that's what he said would be done that and various other teeth, so I'm sure they'll knock him out for that.

Oh, then definitely. Of course, you can request to not be knocked out. I have a friend that made that request. She was fully conscious throughout her procedure. I'm a total wuss and mine were impacted so that required the breaking apart and lots of digging. I didn't want to be awake while that was going on.

If it's wisdom teeth, the surgeon should tell you exactly how he/she will do it and what you'll be going through. Each surgeon has their own preferences. Mine gave me sleeping pills and a pill to stop me from vomiting to take an hour before the surgery. The sleeping pill relaxed me so the IV didn't hurt at all (the IV will be very small, anyway). The next thing I knew, I was being led to a resting area, then I was sleeping the afternoon away on my couch at home. The worst part of getting your wisdom teeth out isn't the actual procedure, it's the week after. You can hardly eat anything. It's very annoying. The pain killers they give you might also make you sick. I don't recommend taking too many opiate based pain killers. You'll throw up. If your surgeon used traditional stitches, you'll have to go a week later to get them removed. I had ones that didn't require removal. I didn't even get to see what they looked like since I couldn't open my mouth too wide for the first few days.

[Sapphire Faerie]

For me it was like this:
I came in and lay down on the chair. They gave me a nice pleasant mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide, which made me very happy (once that laughing gas hits you, you're not gonna be too bothered by the next bit). Then next my left arm was laying out on the arm of the chair, and they put the needle at the inside of my elbow, and told me to think of something happy.
And then I was out, so I didn't have to worry at all about feeling the needles in my mouth, or the incisions and the literal breaking and removal of four teeth.
But they only give you enough anesthesia to keep you barely asleep, so once or twice during the procedure, I was vaguely aware that I was in the chair and being worked on, but I couldn't feel anything, and they quickly gave me more to put me back under.
Next thing I knew I was awake, my mouth was full of gauze, and I was being helped out of the chair by a nurse.

The week after is way worse than the actual procedure.

[Rivvie]

I can say I have a lot of experience with braces and teeth being pulled. My teeth were seriously messed up and they had to do a lot of work to make them look the way they are now.
They started very early with me, I think I was about 9 years old and they had to pull a lot of teeth. I had 8 babyteeth and 4 normal removed, to make room for the new ones since my jaws are quite small.
They say that removing babyteeth is a lot less difficult, but mine still had all of the roots, so it wasn't any different from normal teeth...
They don't "knock you out" here in the Netherlands, unless you go to special dentists, they just numb your jaws.

Having your teeth pulled isn't a very pleasant experience, but I think the needles are the worst, they seriously hurt. After that has been taken care of it's just a weird experience, all the pulling and all, you can hear crunching and stuff. They didn't stitch me most of the times, I just had to bite down on bandages for a few hours.
I never had any wisdom teeth removed, my sister has. One piece of advice: put ice on it as soon as you can! It definately helps to reduce swelling and pain. Sometimes they say it isn't necesary, but I can tell it really makes a difference.

As for the braces, it doesn't hurt when they put them on. It only hurts afterwards, when you feel the pressure on your teeth. It depends on how much your teeth have to be corrected though, when it's only a small bit they can take it slow and don't put that much pressure on them, so that it doesn't hurt that much. I would advice to take pain killers a few days after and eat soup and other soft things as it can really hurt when you bite down on something.
After a few days the pain should be gone and you won't notice the braces, you get used to it. When I had my braces removed it felt really weird to have a smooth surface again

My teeth were very "stubborn" and after about two years after I had my braces removed, they were already messed up again. It was not as bad as the first time, but I chose to take braces again (I was 14 years old then). After they removed those they glued a small steel wire behind my teeth to prevent them from moving again. The wire broke off after a few years, but now I can say my teeth finally have a fixed position. I still have an overbite, but my teeth are in line an I don't feel like having an operation to correct the overbite, as it cannot be corrected by braces anymore.

I'm happy I went through all of this though, as it looks a lot better. It isn't always a pleasant experience, but it does pay off in the end.

[happysmileyfungirl]

You don't see the needles. You close your eyes before hand and then you don't feel the needle(I know people always say that but this time it is true, I wondered when they were going to put it in, then the dentist said he was done)

your needles didn't hurt? I had to get five injections and each one hurt more than the last. That was by far the worst part. The pulling of the teeth wasn't bad at all just wierd. They pull them out with pliers and you feel a kind of pressure then a pop and it's out! Not sure if that's how it works with wisdom teeth though...

[Christopher]

You don't see the needles. You close your eyes before hand and then you don't feel the needle(I know people always say that but this time it is true, I wondered when they were going to put it in, then the dentist said he was done)

That be lies I tells ya.

[Rivvie]

You don't see the needles. You close your eyes before hand and then you don't feel the needle(I know people always say that but this time it is true, I wondered when they were going to put it in, then the dentist said he was done)

That be lies I tells ya.

definately lies, they really do hurt a lot. I remember the one time I had another dentist and he really screwed up, he couldn't do it right, he missed the nerves and had to repeat the series of injections twice! Man, that was the worst time...

[Ammer]

Some of these stories are freaking me out while others are making me feel better. I hope I don't go through what Rivvie went through! And honestly, I won't be able to put up with needles. I just want to be knocked out and if I can't get knocked out, I won't do it. It may sound childish but I just have a real phobia of needles.

*prays to have the same experience as Chass*

Last edited by Ammer on Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Rivvie]

Some of these stories are freaking me out while others are making me feel better. I hope I don't go through what Rivvie went through! And honestly, I won't be able to put up with needles. I just want to be knocked out and if I can't get knocked out, I won't do it. It may sound childish but I just have a real [i]phobia[i] of needles.

*prays to have the same experience as Chass*

I have a phobia of needles to (really), but being put under wasn't an option for me. I hope you have that option If you don't, it is unpleasant, but you will benefit from it in the end.
I had my mother with me at those times and I held her hand and squeezed them when it hurt. It was nice to have someone with me at those times to comfort me.
Just let yourself be pampered afterwards to make you feel better as you do deserve it

[Brian]

getting teeth pulled isn't bad, they numb you up and put you on laughing gas, and you feel pretty much half asleep. Afterwards it kinda hurts and you have to bite down on gauze where the teeth were to stop the bleeding.
eat soft things like ice cream.

[Silja]

Some of these stories are freaking me out while others are making me feel better. I hope I don't go through what Rivvie went through! And honestly, I won't be able to put up with needles. I just want to be knocked out and if I can't get knocked out, I won't do it. It may sound childish but I just have a real phobia of needles.

*prays to have the same experience as Chass*

You know, you could just ask your dentist to not let you see the nasty things. Usually when you have your head tilted back in that chair you won't really notise what they put in your mouth. This way the small sting would probably not even feel like that much, as you are not even aware of what is happening.

Feels really like an awful waste of time knocking out a patient completely to just make a small part of his or her mouth numb

[Squinchy]

Wow--I guess I'm glad that I was only four when they pulled out a bunch of my teeth. I don't remember a thing, except the doctor asking me what I thought her rubber glove felt like. I said it was like a balloon.

In my experience, only the first several tightenings of braces are painful. I think my orthodontist did something so that after the first few months, he'd only adjust the braces to be tight in one side/hemisphere of my mouth, so I'd always have a non-painful side to chew with. When it does hurt to chew, try gnashing your teeth from side to side, like an herbivore.

[Kuri]

Some of these stories are freaking me out while others are making me feel better. I hope I don't go through what Rivvie went through! And honestly, I won't be able to put up with needles. I just want to be knocked out and if I can't get knocked out, I won't do it. It may sound childish but I just have a real phobia of needles.

*prays to have the same experience as Chass*

That's exactly how I felt too, when I was going to get my wisdom teeth out. I requested to be knocked out specifically because I don't like the dentist and I'm a coward. The hardest part was getting the IV, but that wasn't too bad, it only took a second. They told me to count backwards from 100 and then the next thing I know I was awake and my parents were trying to get me coherent enough to go home.

I'm sure it will be fine!

[Brian]

Some of these stories are freaking me out while others are making me feel better. I hope I don't go through what Rivvie went through! And honestly, I won't be able to put up with needles. I just want to be knocked out and if I can't get knocked out, I won't do it. It may sound childish but I just have a real phobia of needles.

*prays to have the same experience as Chass*

That's exactly how I felt too, when I was going to get my wisdom teeth out. I requested to be knocked out specifically because I don't like the dentist and I'm a coward. The hardest part was getting the IV, but that wasn't too bad, it only took a second. They told me to count backwards from 100 and then the next thing I know I was awake and my parents were trying to get me coherent enough to go home.

I'm sure it will be fine!

You had to go on an IV? for me they just strapped some laughing gas tube on my nose and started talking about how nice my eyes were and then I felt someone poke inside my mouth, and some pulling, and it was over.