OT - Wisdom Teeth

my sister was 35 and had her 2 bottom wisdoms removed everything went fine.

i was 24 i just dreaded the nap. i am grouchy when they wake me.

so they say.

Which two do you have left? The upper molars are a breeze compared to the lowers - the bone is much denser in the mandible (lower arch) and the malpositioning of the molars tends to be more challenging. Try to be sure you are going to a Board-certified Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and you should have no worries. You are not significantly older for this procedure - now 70, yes, that's a factor. At 45 or at 25 or 30 it's mostly all about the teeth and their position (ie., soft-tissue impaction, full horizontal bony impaction, no impaction, etc). 

Good luck!

Lisa, RDH

Carol, speaking of safer--are you on AI and thus on Fosamax or etc?Because THIS definately needs to be reported to your dentist.

My mouth was "too crowded", I had my lowers removed in my twenties.Jeeeesh!One root was, as if twisted around my jawbone, had to  be dug out!Ugly.

My uppers were taken out in my 30s.As Lisa said the uppers are a piece of cake! My dentist popped them out by pressing them in the right place with a "stick"!It was so easy I brought my then-seven-year-old to see the second extraction (and learn non-fear of dentists).

But DO tell him if there are biophosphanites in your retinue.

Believe me, I am in the same boat! I had 2 of them (both uppers) extracted in my teens but the rest 2 were still there. I had a lot of bad teeth but since I was doing chemo, I wasn't able to get them treated. In October of 2007, I finally decided to go to the dentisit. It was 2 month prior to my 42nd b'day. I sure made them aware that I was a BC survivor, did chemo, rads and have been on Tamoxifen and Lupron. I also asked my oncologist before I went to the dentist if it was OK to get my teeth treated or extracted. All he said was "be prepared, it hurts like hell to have your lowers extracted! When I did, my face swelled like a baloon".

Well, I had one of my lowers extracted in October 2007. It was not fun at all, my oncologist was right to say that it would hurt like hell. It hurt so much when the local anesthesia started wearing off, but the pain meds did a great job. I had no complications nor infection. I will have to have the rest one removed sometime soon and I am not looking forward to it. But I know I will make it through OK.

Hugs,

I dont want to worry you, and since Im always the one with a wierd side effect it's prob. just me...but make sure you have an oral surgeon who had some understaning of chemo, bisphosophates etc. Back in 04 before my diagnosis, I had a root canal that I had prob with. I had a reaction to the material, so it was left with an alternative. So far so good...it would bother me on and off but nothing significant. During my treatment it began to bother me slightly more...fast forward, treatment over and it gradually got worse but I had another surgery coming up so when all was finally over I thought might as well get it out and get an implant...big mistake. That seemed to trigger a chain reaction that caused one heck of a dormant infection to take off. I now have a jaw bone infection and have been dealing with that for a year now(incl 3 tooth extraction and 5 jawbone surgeries and biopsies since then ). Given that this is an upper tooth, and they have actually found tissue necrosis which is very rare in the maxilla the only explanation either of the surgeons I have seen can think of is chemo and its effect on my immune system. My oral surgeon who is handling this is totally puzzled because he only knows of these cases which have resulted from bisphosophates(i havent taken them) This dental crap has been absolute hell, and strangely enough in some ways worse than the bc. I know that sounds strange but at least with my bc treatment since I havent(knock on wood had to deal with mets) I knew when it would all be over. With this I have no idea when or if it will ever get under control(Ive been on antibiotics for a year now  ) From what Ive been subsequently told, before any major dental work anyone who has had any cancer treatments needs to have a very good panorex taken and a very complete dental exam. And make sure, as I said , that the oral surgeon(note I said oral surgeon, not dentist....it doesnt matter one iota if your dentist feels he can do these wisdom teeth easily, if you've been on chemo, and you've been on bisphosophates you need an experienced oral surgeon) knows about some of these wierd things that can arise...my first one didnt and just kept looking for the typical dry socket....which of course wasnt there .

 Actonel is a bisphosophate(sp)....and there are a number of studies suggesting that one should not have extractions while taking these since it can lead to osteonecrosis, albeit not frequently..which is fine unless you're the one who has the problem..do a google search and check it out before you do anything....trust me you do not want to have to deal with this .