Is this normal?

[brandienee]

My sister got one of her wisdom teeth extracted today. She doesn't have insurance so she went to the county dental office. It is a little more cost affective for her.

She just told me that they didn't suture her wound... like there is just a big open hole in her mouth where her tooth used to be.

I am absolutely horrified. Is this normal? Is this safe? When I got my teeth out, I definitely had stitches. She has to make another appointment to get the other three out, I am kind of freaking out that she would have these open wounds in her mouth for so long...

...aaaahhhhh!

Am I freaking out for no reason?

[beans]

I had four out and no sutures, And I think I had pretty good insurance at the time, so I doubt it was that. She does need to keep them cleaned out. My dude didn't give me a squirter thing, and I was in pain so I went in. He was like "oh yeah, here's this, it should help" stupid guy.

[brandienee]

How did you keep it clean for so long? All I can think of right now are the nasty mouth infections that could happen.

[brandienee]

Did you ever get the "dry socket" experience?

Where do you get those squirt bottles?

[brandienee]

Can she get one of those things at a place like Walgreens? They never gave her one of those.

[brandienee]

I had some nasty man breath when I got my wisdom teeth out too. But I was chomping down on teabags most of the time to ease the pain a little, because I couldn't take the narcotics without getting really motion sick.

I had stitches on all four "holes" so this is all new to me.

[pennylane]

I had mine out in April. No sutures. I was in pain for a couple weeks and really struggled with eating. I don't think it's completely done healing and it's now what, 4 months later? However, I will say my surgeon sucked, and it was a horrifying experience because I was completely conscious the entire time.

I didn't get a syringe, but at about a week afterwards I gargled salt water a couple times a day to rinse out the holes.

[brandienee]

Sept 6, 2012 21:13:04 GMT -5 killercupcake said:

I'm not sure. I would have her call the place she got it done at and ask them about it. They should be able to point her in the right direction.

Does she have any follow up visits scheduled?

HA! No, their follow-up consists of putting your name in an "appointment lottery" and she gets a better chance at an appointment every month they don't pick her name.

I guess that is the downside to really affordable dental care. She is having trouble scheduling her next surgery to get her other teeth removed. It's a crazy system they have.

[basilosaurus]

I did have stitches with all 4, but I also had severely impacted teeth. One took 45 minutes to remove apparently. I even had stitches for a more recent extraction, although that was subsequent to another surgery, and doc was preparing it for an implant, so healing was of utmost importance.

I'd think she could get a squirt bottle or a large syringe (without needle of course). My most recent oral surgeon gave me a syringe. Honestly I don't remember far enough back to my wisdom teeth to know what I did then.

I wasn't eating, so food wasn't an issue.

[verycontrary247]

I had all 4 out, no sutures. No dry socket. I pretty much ate nothing but applesauce and mashed potatoes for a week and a half. Rinsed it nightly with a salt water mixture.

[kpol]

This whole post makes me nervous and I'm not a dentist fearing person. I have all of my wisdom teeth and can feel them come in every few months but my dentist says I can keep them. I hope he never changes his mind!

[blueshirt2003]

I had all 4 out. Two of them were impacted but I don't recall sutures. Also, I didn't have a squirt cleaner that others are describing.

[basilosaurus]

kpol, I think grandma still still has her wisdom teeth. It can work!

[erin2903]

Yep I had all four out at once and none were sutured.

[decemberrain]

Sept 6, 2012 21:29:50 GMT -5 verycontrary247 said:

I had all 4 out, no sutures. No dry socket. I pretty much ate nothing but applesauce and mashed potatoes for a week and a half. Rinsed it nightly with a salt water mixture.

H just had his out a couple weeks ago and this is exactly what he did too.

[kpol]

Sept 6, 2012 21:42:02 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

kpol, I think grandma still still has her wisdom teeth. It can work!

My parents still have theirs too but this post still makes me nervous! Ha!

[beachy]

I had all 4 taken out together and I never had sutures, or a syringe. I left with gauze on the areas and some extra gauze to change it a few times til it clotted. The ortho-surgeon just said to chew in the front of my mouth, don't use any straws or smoke, and rinse with salt water after eating and/or drinking. The salt water rinse was supposed to be really gentle at first, and then after a week or so I could rinse like normal.

[brandienee]

Thanks, Ladies. I feel much better.