I am going to the oral surgeon next Friday to have my 3 impacted wisdom teeth removed. I opted for the novocaine only. The oral surgeon told me he hopes I come to my senses and get the general anesthesia, but I'd like to remember what happened during that hour, so local is fine for me. I seem to have a high threshold for pain anyway, so I am not very worried about that. Has anyone gone through this procedure with only the novocaine? What did it feel, sound,
taste(?) like? How long afterward were you were able to talk and eat? Please tell me anything you know...
My dh did it that way. Midway thru, he became nauseous and began gagging for several minutes. When he came into the house afterward, he broke out into a sweat, was "heaving" and almost passed out. It was tough that first night.
However, he was fine in the morning, eating scrambled eggs and not having much problem at all. He was given a prednisone dose pack which really helped with inflammation and pain during the recovery phase.
I orginally opted to stay awake during the surgery, but then i changed my mind and decided to take the drugs and go to sleep. I'm SO glad i made that decision. My dentist reminded me that even though i won't feel anything, i will hear the drilling noise, feel a lot of pressure, and hear crunching, so i decided i couldn't handle that. Going to sleep was a much better idea, all i remember was talking to my mom, and then i was out, and what felt like five minutes later, i was awake again.
Well, I went in and had my wisdom teeth removed. Two were full bony impacted and one was partial bony impacted. The oral surgeon fought with me because he wanted me to be asleep, but eventually realized I was more afraid of going under than feeling pain from the procedure. He gave me a local anesthetic - not sure if it was novocaine or lidocaine. Whatever it was, it made my entire face numb. I felt like my face was huge, but of course it wasn't. The procedure lasted about 20 minutes. I didn't feel a thing, except when he pulled the two bottom ones out, it felt like all this pressure was taken off of my jaw. It was a great feeling! The noises weren't that bad at all. It sounded the same as when you get a cavity filled. So, if anyone has any fears of going under, I’d say definitely just get the local. You can't feel a thing. Right now - 3 days later - I am feeling fine. I am a little swollen, but it's not that noticeable. I didn't take any pain medication today. I can't eat solid foods yet, but I figure by the end of this week I will be. Also, when it's over, ice your face all day and all night. I think that's why my face didn't get very swollen. Good luck to the rest of you getting them out!! It's not so bad.
The Following User Says Thank You to tiggydunc For This Useful Post: penguin102 (11-09-2011)
Wisdom Teeth Extraction 
