Ouch- Wisdom Teeth!

[DVC2004]

So I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed 10 days ago. Still, I am in pain. I went back to the oral surgeon last week so he could take a look. He said everything looked fine, no dry socket, but I still have the pain and some numbness (pins and needles sensation). The numbness is on the lower left jaw and extends to the middle of the bottom lip and some of my lower teeth.

He told me the numbness can possibly be permanent, but he gave me an oral steroid to take to see if it helped. I just finished that. It does feel slightly better so I am hoping it is working. It is a wierd sensation.

The other pain is in the mouth of course and then sometimes it shoots up into my temples. Not really at the surgical site but just an overall jaw pain. He had told me to take more pain meds, so I am taking quite a bit of advil (per his direction) all day to manage then the vicodin at night. I have stayed away from alot of foods and still am babying myself with a liquid and soft food diet. Nutrition shakes, overcooked pasta, etc. I did try eating some grilled shrimp the other day and that was ok at the time, but then the jaw was sore again later.

Ugh! I hope it gets better soon. I see him again in 1 week. I wish Ihad known all this beforehand, I don't know if I would have done it. I'm tired from the meds, hurting and can't really enjoy eating anything. :( It's really the pain that is the worst part. I am afraid of taking all these meds for so long, it can't be good for you.

[meldan98]

I would recommend going back to your dentist. I don't think this is normal. The shooting pain go be signs that you have dry socket. I've had dry socket and it is one of the worst pains ever. They can usually treat you for dry socket and you won't have to wait another week.

[BrerGnat]

I would agree that this does not sound normal. I had a dry socket, but it was not even as bad what you are describing.

Honestly, you might have nerve damage and if that's the case, it can take a LONG time (6 months to a year) to repair itself. Or, it can be permanent. It's one of the risks of any type of oral surgery. Sure hope that's not the case, but in the absence of infection or dry socket, nerve damage might be the culprit.

Do you still have swelling? That can also cause issues with nerve irritation, numbness, etc.

[DVC2004]

I do have some swelling still....been rinsing gently with warm salt water. Honestly it feels like a tension headache and then pain in the jaw, but not on the surgery site strangely. He did discuss the possibility of nerve damage with me, but he said that it had looked OK when he was working on me, that only one toot was below the gun line and it wasn't tangled with the nerve. Who knows though, it doesn't feel OK. I finished the steroids yesterday and the pins and needles sensation, though still there, did improve a little. I think I slept with clenched teeth last night too, which is why I think it's bothering me more today. Ugh! Well I will def follow up. I hope I feel like myself again soon.

[Belle of the Ball 051411]

I'm so sorry you're still in pain. This does not sound normal. I had all of my wisdom teeth pulled out several years ago, all was back to normal in 4-5 days.

[VWL Mom]

I'm sorry, teeth are the worst. My dentist once told me there's nothing more painful than something wrong in your mouth and tend to agree.

Feel better and I suggest sending someone out for a thick milkshake to drown your pain (just not ice cold).

[TinkerbellT421]

I agree with Natalie.
I used to be a dental technician. This pain you describe is definitely NOT normal. I would be concerned of an infection. Typically you do not receive pain from the wisdom teeth to the temple. Typically that's a pain you receive when the "eye" tooth, aka canine teeth are removed, that pain is caused due to the canine teeth being connected with the sinuses. That pain is not normal for wisdom teeth. Wisdom teeth pain should decrease dramatically by 48 hours. If impacted wisdom teeth then typically 72 hours or so, but definitely not like this. And as painful as dry socket can be, this is definitely not the symptoms of dry socket. I would either go to a walkin clinic, hospital or second opinion dentist. The sensation of pins and needles being across your jaw being "permanent", ummm definitely not! never should removing your wisdom teeth cause that type of symptom permanently if it was a good dentist. Only reason that would happen and cause that symptom permanently would be if a nerve was damaged during extraction. I advise a second opinion. And be very cautious of infection. Teeth infections can be extremely dangerous, causing heart problems, heart infections, brain infections and blood infections. The jaw is a direct connection to all major organs and arteries to your body. A minor infection can cause really bad complications.

[disney obsessed]

Yikes!
Have you talked with your dr about the possibility of TMJ? I had it secondary to a Streep infection and it sounds very familiar. The treatment involves muscle relaxers and Valium to take care of the tension causing it. Also, the longer it takes for you to treat, the harder it takes to subside.

Good luck!

[brivers222]

having just gone through my 2nd root canal in 2 years (yeah back molars were a pain to me!!!) I can say that some of the jaw pain might be caused from the prying open of your jaw to extract the wisdom teeth. obviously the numbing sensation is not normal and mine wore off within about 3 hours of the procedure... i will say that because the lower jaws nerve runs from the back all the way to the middle front tooth on that side.... it does make sense that you would be feeling that same sensation all the way down.

I discovered this out when my molar was "dying" and i was in sheer pain in the back but then my front tooth was also feeling some odd pain... i called it sympathy pains until i realized it was the ending of that same nerve so it was also feeling some pain.

I would keep checking with your dentist about the sensation.... Jaws with that type of surgery do take a bit longer to heal. Mine is just starting to feel better (a week later) and all i had was a root canal on the lower molar. extracting all 4 teeth (as i recall with mine) added a lot of extra pain to my jaw for a bit. I had all 4 teeth impacted and I was out of commision for almost 2 weeks with pains and what not.... i was in high school so i missed a lot of school and work. I would be fine but then it would start throbbing... even my ibu 800's wouldn't touch it.

when giving me the numbing shots in the back of the jaw my dentist would always tell me, "let me know if you feel a poke in your tongue" I never thought any thing about it because he was not really near my tongue... so after i asked him why he was worried and he said, "sometime if he hits a wrong nerve on accident he can semi-permantely numb stuff.... he said it would wear off eventually but over a long period of time.

[BrerGnat]

when giving me the numbing shots in the back of the jaw my dentist would always tell me, "let me know if you feel a poke in your tongue" I never thought any thing about it because he was not really near my tongue... so after i asked him why he was worried and he said, "sometime if he hits a wrong nerve on accident he can semi-permantely numb stuff.... he said it would wear off eventually but over a long period of time.

Yep, that's why I suspect nerve damage. I received nerve damage from a simple injection into my upper hip/buttock area for a migraine headache following gall bladder removal surgery. I couldn't lay on my stomach since I had had abdominal surgery 2 days prior, which is how they prefer you to be for these types of injections, so they had to do it with me laying on my side. The nurse hit a nerve. I had pain, numbness, tinling, etc. for 9 months...

[DVC2004]

Well I just got back. He said it's TMD. Keep taking advil, use a warm compress, keep eating softer foods. I go back in 2 weeks. The surgical sites look fine and I am past the point of dry socket.

The numbness/pins and needles sensation is improving. But I am no good without the pain meds because just like clockwork when it wears off, my jaw and lower teeth and temples just hurt. I'll do what he says...I hope this gets better soon. :( I know that I was clenching my jaw the other night in my sleep. So it's like a viscious cycle, I'm in pain, I clench my jaw at night from pain, then I wake up in more pain. Ugh.

[TinkerbellT421]

Well I just got back. He said it's TMD. Keep taking advil, use a warm compress, keep eating softer foods. I go back in 2 weeks. The surgical sites look fine and I am past the point of dry socket.

The numbness/pins and needles sensation is improving. But I am no good without the pain meds because just like clockwork when it wears off, my jaw and lower teeth and temples just hurt. I'll do what he says...I hope this gets better soon. :( I know that I was clenching my jaw the other night in my sleep. So it's like a viscious cycle, I'm in pain, I clench my jaw at night from pain, then I wake up in more pain. Ugh.

TMJ makes sense, it is very painful.
In the mean time I would recommend going to a local pharmacy, ie Walgreen, CVS, Walmart, etc and getting one of the temporary mouth guards to wear at night. It will help temporarily relieve the pain possibly caused at night by the jaw clenching/gnawing or grinding.

[PirateLover]

I really hope your nerve damage is not permanent. My husband has nerve damage in his left foot from a back surgery and that was almost 5 years ago now. He'd much rather deal with the numbness than the back pain, but it's not very fun for him. It has subsided, but the doctor said he could have some numbness for the rest of his life. I had a dog bite on my hand and lost feeling in a finger for about a month. I can't imagine having that sensation anywhere around my mouth. Good luck and I hope you find relief soon!

[BrerGnat]

Well I just got back. He said it's TMD. Keep taking advil, use a warm compress, keep eating softer foods. I go back in 2 weeks. The surgical sites look fine and I am past the point of dry socket.

The numbness/pins and needles sensation is improving. But I am no good without the pain meds because just like clockwork when it wears off, my jaw and lower teeth and temples just hurt. I'll do what he says...I hope this gets better soon. :( I know that I was clenching my jaw the other night in my sleep. So it's like a viscious cycle, I'm in pain, I clench my jaw at night from pain, then I wake up in more pain. Ugh.

I have TMD from grinding/clenching at night too.

When it gets bad, I need to take muscle relaxers at night. I use Flexeril and/or Soma. You should call the dentist and ask if he can prescribe this for you; if not, call your primary doctor.

You should also be fitted for a mouth guard to protect your teeth/gums from this. I learned the hard way that grinding can cause gum recession in addition to loss of enamel. I had to have gum surgery, which I DO NOT recommend. It was worse than any other oral surgery I've ever had.

There are some jaw exercises you can do during the day to alleviate the condition as well. One trick is to spend some time each day holding a pencil between your teeth EVER so gently, so it is barely being held in. This will condition you to keep your jaw muscles "loose" during the day , as you probably haven't realized that you spend a good deal of time during the day clenching too.

Finally...and this sounds weird, but it works, you can do trigger point massage inside your cheek. If you open your mouth, and stick your finger inside towards the back where your upper and lower jaw meet, you will feel a hard "line" of muscle. Open and close your jaw and use your finger to feel around until you can find what feels like a tendon. With your mouth open, push hard in a few areas up and down, until you find a little spot that may hurt a LOT when you press on it. That's the spot. Massage that area for 10-20 seconds at a time as much as you can tolerate the pain. Do this a few times a day and you will notice that all your face/jaw/temple pain slowly goes away. I read about this trick when I had a twitching eyelid for over a WEEK due to my clenching/grinding. I was shocked that this actually got rid of the eyelid twitch, and my jaw/face felt a lot better for awhile afterwards.

[disney obsessed]

I thought it was tmj.

You need to ask for the muscle relaxers!!!!!!!!

Flexaril is good for night. I have never had much luck with soma. When I get it really bad I have to take the flexaril and Valium 24/7 until it subsides. Sometimes this is 3-5 days. The specialist that diagnosed me told me that you usually have to treat for at least as long as you have had the pain.

See an ENT if you cannot get these meds from your dentist. I had my first occurance after a very painful srep infection and now it is recurrent. If I feel an episode coming on I can usually keep it from getting bad by taking a flex aril at night.

Good luck!

[Wolf]

I didn't have any issues with my wisdom teeth but I absolutely agree with others that this doesn't seem right, you need to get to that dentist or another one, that doesn't sound right at all..I think the heal time should be much quicker than that without the obvious remaining puffyness of course. I hope you feel better soon!!

[j2k]

I need to have my wisdom teeth removed and after reading this am more nervous about it. EEK! :confused:

[DVC2004]

I need to have my wisdom teeth removed and after reading this am more nervous about it. EEK! :confused:

Well, today is my 3 week mark and I feel alot better. I don't think my situation was typical. In most cases it's probably still the best to just have them removed if your dentist advises.

The numbness is almost completely gone and I am able to eat most food again. My surgical sites feel fine. Still having some minor jaw pain from the TMJ but not like it was. I go back on Tues for my last follow up and I will ask for the muscle relaxers just in case it flares up again. Wow, am I glad that things got better.

[NewDVCowner]

I need to have my wisdom teeth removed and after reading this am more nervous about it. EEK! :confused:

When I had my wisdom teeth pulled I had FIVE. That's right. I had an extra tooth in there. The surgery went fine. I took Vicadin one day and then switched over to Advil. I felt fine within a few days.

I just wanted to give you another side to the surgery story. They're not all horror stories.