11/6  I have a pair of wisdom teeth that are bothering me. My surgeon
       recommended that I get all 4 pulled out because the other pair
       is horizontally impacted. But I have a feeling that he's just
       saying this to rake in some more money and not looking out
       for my own good. Anyone have any real information on this?
       \_ Duh, get a second opinion?
        \_ If you're getting two wisdom teeth removed, do it for all four.
       \_ Get them removed before you look like you grew up in England.
       \_ If you're getting two wisdom teeth removed, do it on all four.
          It's a painful operation, and you really don't want to go through
          it twice.  Plus, it's one of a handful of dental operations that
        \_ If your non-impacted ones are bothering you now, chances are your
           impacted ones will bother you later. If you feel like your surgeon
           is ripping you off maybe you're not comfortable with him and
           you should go with someone else. Avoid Western Dental or
           other wisdom-teeth-extraction-farms, they suck.
          many health plans cover.
       \_ Don't be lame.  He's not a car mechanic.  Just get all 4 done.
       \_ If the non-impacted ones are bothering you now, there's a good
            chance the impacted ones will bother you later. If you feel like
          your surgeon is trying to rip you off it doesn't sound like
          you're comfortable with him and you should go with someone else.
          Avoid Western Dental or other wisdom-teeth-extraction-farms, they
          suck.
       \_ It will save you the cost of getting anesthesia twice by having
          all 4 done now, and the surgeon will get more $$$ now. It's a
          win-win situation. You don't want to go thru the pain and hassle
          twice. - all-four-done-at-once
         \_ Don't call dentists "surgeon"s.
          \_ Ok. Clarification: at least in my case, my dentist referred me
             to an oral surgeon who did a fantastic job.
         \_ Getting all four done at once is economical because you don't have
            to repay for the drugs/getting knocked out/paperwork/etc. -4@1ce#2
         \_ Doing two at a time (one side at a time) would allow you to eat
           with one side of your mouth.  Also, sometimes not all 4 teeth
            with the other side of your mouth.  Also, sometimes not all 4 teeth
            have grown out of your gums yet, and it's more painful to
           whether you want partial anesthesia or full anesthesia.  I
           heard that pain-aversed American high school students usually prefer
           full anesthesia, which may result in decreased IQ.
            get those still inside your gums.  Finally, you need to decide
               \_ NOT true.  I had all four out before they erupted,
                  and it BARELY hurt.  I didn't bother taking anesthetics.
                  Instead, I played Robotron to distract myself.  --PeterM
                  \_ I think it's a case of everyone's different. I had two
                     taken out from the left, and it went fine. Three months
                     later, the other side was taken out (by the same dentist)
                     and it hurt like a bitch, both before and after, and I
                     bled for 8 hours.
          whether you want partial anesthesia or full anesthesia.  My dentist
          says that pain-aversed American high school / college students
          often prefer full anesthesia, which may result in decreased IQ.
               \_ IS THE Decreased IQ a temporary thing?
                  \_ Full anesthesia has a chance of resulting in permanent
                     decreased IQ, memory abilities, and a slight chance of
                     death.  I think the chance of death is something like
                     1/10000, but much less for young healthy people.
                       \_ If 1 in 10,000 died from a general then no one would
                          go under for anything less than a life or death
                          operation.  Maybe you meant 1 in 100,000 or 1 in
                          1,000,000?
                          \_ You are right.  My figure of 1/10000 is for
                             1970.  Today it's closer to 1/250000.
       \_ Here's a contrary opinion: don't get the other two removed. While
          he probably has your best interests in mind, this is strictly a US
          phenomenon ("wisdom teeth are bad mmmkay") -- in Europe doctors are
          much less prone to recommend surgery. It is painful and you'll be
          not happy for about a week afterwards. A friend of mine chose not
          to remove any after he saw that video; they just sprayed him with
          some local anesthesiac and after the pain went away, he was fine.
          \_ reason why europeans have crooked teeth and socialism.
       \_ My anecdote: several teeth were shifting and sore because my wisdom
          teeth were doing bad things.  I went to an oral surgeon who took
          out all 3 (not everyone has 4), using a local.  He sent me home with
          2 week's worth of pain killers.  I took 1 day's worth, slept a lot
          the first day and part of the second and ate a Bongo Burger for
          dinner the second night.  No pain, no misery, no sweat, kids.
           \_ until the bongo burger hit your digestive system.  -tom
     \_ I have a theory that, all other factors being the same,
        the more anesthesia you get, the less after-surgery pain
        you will feel.
        If you want to stay awake, make sure they also give you nitrous.
        And get your prescription beforehand and fill it BEFORE surgery.
        Afterwards is too late to fill and argue for better pills.
        Also, don't let them give you ibuprofen or that tylenol+5mg-codeine
        mixed shit.  Instead, make sure you get the powerful high-dose
        opiates or synthetics.  Also, if you only take 2/4 out now, you
        can get an extra batch of pills for the 2nd set of teeth.
        You will want all four out eventually because they just
        trap bacteria and cause infections and bad breath.
        And ask if you can videotape the surgery so we can post it in /csua/tmp
        If you want to be totally knocked out unconscious, don't
        be like my friend who woke up to find his shirt untucked,
        his belt-buckle undone and his fly half-way zipped up.
        Apparently Mr. dentist and his attractive young asian assistant
        were focused on more than just the patient's mouth.  I noticed
        this about him, but he was too groggy to complain at the time and
        to this day, he denies this was the case.