Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Moogie]

Hey all. I'm hopefully soon going to be recommended to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed under general anesthetic. I have a question that my Google-Fu skills have been unable to answer.

I'm not really worried about this, just curious: when they put you to sleep during this procedure (or any oral surgery), how do they block blood from spilling down into your airway? I know they might intubate, but I don't think that would form a seal around the airway, so they must do something else?

I've watched a few teeth removal procedures (mental preparation, lol) and there is usually a fair amount of blood spillage. When you're awake, you can consciously block your airway with your tongue. Not so under GA.

Anyone know? I'm oddly looking forward to this. I know recovery is going to be horrible, but I'll be so happy to get these teeth out. They've caused me nothing but misery. My upper two are decayed (difficult to brush, impossible to floss), my lower right is severely impacted, and my lower left chews the skin of my cheek, causing sores and bleeding.

[Grek]

They have a little vacuum to suck the blood and saliva out so it doesn't go down your throat.

That said, wow. General anesthetic for dentistry? That seems a tad excessive. When I had my wisdom teeth removed, they just injected me with some local and I was all healed up in about three days.

[DeKaFu]

I had my wisdom teeth out under general anesthetic. It was pretty interesting, since I'd never had GA before.

You get very, very sick of the taste of blood over the next few days though. I had a particularly horrible recovery, since my body didn't like the painkillers they gave me afterwards so I had a few days of nonstop puking before switching meds. :/

[Moogie]

They have a little vacuum to suck the blood and saliva out so it doesn't go down your throat.

That said, wow. General anesthetic for dentistry? That seems a tad excessive. When I had my wisdom teeth removed, they just injected me with some local and I was all healed up in about three days.

Right, that's what they use when you're conscious. But I don't think the vaccuum would be able to catch everything immediately when you're unconscious and not blocking your own throat with your tongue. When they're levering the tooth out of the socket, there's no room for the vaccuum because there's too many tools and hands in the way. I've watched videos (with conscious patients), it's pretty gross.

It's fairly common to go under GA for this here in the UK, as I understand it. If you're just having one or two taken out, then yeah, local is enough. But all 4, plus an impaction? Fuck that noise, heh. I'd rather be out!

I've been under GA once before, as a kid. I had my tonsils removed. No side effects that I can remember, besides a sore throat.

[Levi]

GA is awesome.  The one time I had it done I didn't even remember falling asleep.  I was all like "What do you mean you are done, you haven't started yet!".

[Shakerag]

Hopefully you don't react badly to GA.  My significant other had all 4 removed and it was hell.  She was sick as a dog and I had to all but carry her from the car.

Also, after it's over, they are not fucking kidding about dry sockets.  Whatever they tell you to do to avoid it, do it.  I think my SO was taking 800mg of Advil and it barely put a dent in the pain.  I think she even had some prescription pain killer (codeine?) and that only partially helped. 

[Moogie]

Oh, rest assured, I've heard the horror stories about dry socket. I plan to sleep, sip diluted juice, and eat mashed potatoes for an entire week before daring to chew anything. No talking, either. Though that bit won't be too difficult.

No ideas about how they protect the airway? I read something about an 'inverted mask' thing that goes into your throat, but I wasn't able to find any more info about that. I'd love to see what it looks like. I'm imagining a dish-shaped piece of plastic that sits behind the tongue and seals the passage, but that's just a guess.

[ChairmanPoo]

You're probably thinking of a laryngeal mask. They look like regular masks only smaller and at the end of a long tube. If I had to bet I'd lean on regular intubation though.


Why dont you ask your anesthesiologist straight out though¿

[Knight of Fools]

Honestly, I went through the same procedure and I don't remember how they stopped the blood. I'm pretty sure there was gauze and the little vacuum hoses dentists use, but I'm a lightweight so my dad ended up having to half carry me to the car afterwards. I do remember waking up a little after they'd taken the third tooth out and hearing a sucking noise. When I tried talking they quickly put me under again. I didn't feel anything, so that was good.


The advice I can give? Enjoy the sensation those prescription meds give, and by that I mean don't fight them, not abuse them. I fought against them the first time I got Vicadin and I was miserable. I recently got prescribed Vicadin again and decided to enjoy it. This decision was followed by the most chill Christmas I've ever had, and no laws or directions were disobeyed.

[Moogie]

Why dont you ask your anesthesiologist straight out though¿

I haven't met him yet. But yeah, I'll no doubt have plenty of questions to ask them when the time comes.

The advice I can give? Enjoy the sensation those prescription meds give, and by that I mean don't fight them, not abuse them. I fought against them the first time I got Vicadin and I was miserable. I recently got prescribed Vicadin again and decided to enjoy it. This decision was followed by the most chill Christmas I've ever had, and no laws or directions were disobeyed.

I'll do my best to enjoy them responsibly. Do they make you groggy, or swimmy/drunk?

[Knight of Fools]

It varies between people and the drug, so it's hard to tell. Vicodin, the first time I took it and fought it, just made me half aware, groggy, and clumsy. I was pretty miserable and switched to Ibuprofen as soon as I could.

The second time, when I decided to enjoy the experience, I felt really chill. I was still a little groggy and my attention span was shortened, but I didn't experience the negative side effects like the first time around. Nothing really bothered me, in the sense that my inhibitions disappeared. I'd say stuff I normally wouldn't say (And it was actually kinda funny sometimes), and I even told off some douche that was smoking in front of the Walmart I worked at because he was smoking right in front of the doors. I felt like a boss and it taught me to relax more after I stopped needing the medicine.


Speaking of which, tell your employer/teachers that you're on moderate pain meds. Depending on your weight and your reaction to them, they can affect you in various ways, but generally you'll still be able to function. Just don't plan on doing anything that requires mental dexterity while you're doped up.

[Moogie]

So I just got back from a chat with the dentist. They don't want to remove my impaction or the other lower tooth, but do want to remove both uppers.

She said it will be a quick procedure if she just uses local, but I spent such a long time convincing myself about GA... Now I feel really conflicted. GA for just two teeth seems small, but I'm still very apprehensive about it.

The extractions are set for this coming Monday. Is it dumb to still want GA...? The thing is, all my dentists have had a real hard time numbing the right side of my skull. Even if they poke the gums and they're numb, is the nerve in the tooth going to be numb? How can they tell?? What if she starts removing the tooth, and suddenly it hurts?

Ugh, I feel like this has been a big failure. I wanted all 4 out, now I'm only having 2... I wanted GA, but now I can't really justify it. :/

I have til Monday to decide...


Edit: Oh, and I just found out that upper extractions will require injections through the palate (roof of the mouth). These apparently hurt quite a bit. Joy...

[ChairmanPoo]

If you're worried about it ask them for input. They might offer you alternatives that you had not considered.

[Moogie]

The options are 1. Local, 2. Funny gas, 3. GA. I've considered them all and find the gas (light sedation) to be the worst possible option. I either want to be in control, or totally not in control... not half and half with a diminished ability to tell them when it hurts or remember what happened later on.

It's looking more like I'll go with the local option. I feel defeated, but not terrified.

[mastahcheese]

When my wisdom teeth were removed, (I only had 3 wisdom teeth, they said this was normal, but one of them was coming in sideways, which was the biggest issue.) they gave me an IV and put some numbing solution through that, I figured that an IV was less painful than just straight up injections into my gums, and by the amount of times they had to inject me, it was a good decision. The local anesthetics they injected me with only stung slightly on the first two times, because of the IV, but then I didn't feel any pain, only a very hard pressure.

I was awake the entire time, and was actually coherent enough to talk with the dentist while he was removing the teeth (not when he was actually pulling them out, but inbetween). There was not very much blood at all, for me. They just used that little hose and some gauss.

Actually getting the teeth themselves removed didn't hurt. The anesthetic didn't make me act drunk or anything, just a little wobbly. I could still talk and think perfectly clearly.

I went under GA once as a kid when I had to get my adenoids removed, and I was under and it was done before I even realized it.

Either way you go, good luck. And since you seem to be getting local, ask about getting a numbing agent through an IV first, it really helped me.