EDIT; I can’t reply to everyone individually but thanks for all the suggestions! Opiates are out of the question, doctors here will only prescribe those in terms of absolutely extreme suffering or end of life care. I also don’t particularly feel interested in developing a hard drug habit. Diclofenac and such are available but also only on separate prescriptions, I’d have to visit another doctor for that. I’m well stocked on paracetamol & ibuprofen, and apart from that, lots of ice cream, pudding & soup :)
Also, since a fair few people seem to doubt the veracity of my story, here’s the 22 extracted teeth (the other 10 were already gone in previous extractions).
Wash your mouth out with salt water, worked a treat when had my wisdom teeth removed.
Just avoid vigorous rinsing, because you don’t want to dislodge the blood clots
If you can get your hands on some old viox that would help. It was amazing for tooth pain.
Diclofenac was my aid to sleep with a broken arm
Those rocket icecreems Cold pack
Eat stuff you don’t have to shew… So you don t open the wounds again.
2% betadine mouth wash… Not against pain but to keep more pain away.
I love the 1000 paracetamol with codeine alternated with brufen 600.
In a day or 2 it will be beter. Hang on.
most people dont develop an addiction to opiods when taken as directed by your doctor.
speaking of, go to urgent care or your PCP if they can fit you in for a perception. a dentist is going to be worthless for anything other than the mouth bones.
Weeelllll….
At the end of your bottle, if you’re taking them as prescribed, which is usually every 4-6hrs? Do that for a week and your body would be addicted. A full bottle + a refill, even two? It’s not about taking them recreationally. Your body and brain get addicted when they’re in your system regularly. I would know, got hit by a car, I think I only had one refill, and I was going through withdrawals at the end. I wasn’t even taking them as often as prescribed, mostly “as needed.” That was still regular enough.
I had a friend do this. It was utter misery for over a year. Most of his teeth were shattered, so he had to wait for a lot of fragments to expel naturally.
Do not discount pain management that involves opioids. Not saying to use them for weeks nor do I know your personality for bad habits, but if it gets bad please don’t suffer for no reason. Getting ibuprofen or acetaminophen with low dose codine may be a good middle ground and is even available over the counter in some countries. Extended pain is mentally exhausting and isn’t worth the hit on your mental health.
f you are struggling taking pills, get liquid ibuprofen. Sometimes you can get a chemist to make a suspension for you, otherwise get childrens. I do that if my throat gets too infected and I am unable to swallow. Honestly, it works far better than the pills and I needed a lot less.
Best thing is to be honest with your doctors, even if you do not want anything stronger. Be sure to communicate any discomfort due to ill fitting dentures. Ask questions if anything unexpected comes up. My friend’s doctor was super shitty and didn’t even tell him about all of the left over fragments that still had to come out on their own.
Not sure what’s available where you’re at without a prescription, but I recommend Orajel or any equivalent ulcer/tooth ache gel.
In addition to the other things you’re already using, you can steep black tea bags in warm water and gently bite on that. The tannins help with bleeding and inflammation.
A mouthwash or spray with Cetylpyridinium Chloride in the ingredients list will help with healing, but don’t buy a mouthwash that has alcohol/isopropyl in the ingredients. Dentyl, Oral B Gum detoxify, Parodontax, Biotene Dry Mouth Spray are all good.
I had several teeth removed from my inside my jaw that never came out and had a bone graft placed in the area that had to heal for 6 months before dental implants were placed. The mouthwash definitely helped me heal faster from that surgery than when I had my wisdom teeth out the year before and didn’t use any. Just do a gentle rinse dont swish it around hard! You don’t want to disturb the blood clots and get dry socket.
I hope you start to feel better soon!
Omigod you poor thing.
Just had mine yeeted 3 weeks ago… and the pain was a relief compared to the pain I was in before… I got by the first couple of days with the oxcodone the doc prescribed in addition to 800mg ibuprofen. After 2 days or so I stopped taking the oxy and took the ibuprofen only for the next week until the big pills were gone and then periodically just taking 400mg as needed for pain. 3 weeks later and there’s no more pain at all and I have started eating things a little more solid woth the dentures I got…
It once worked magically for me to watch television.
Hi. You’ve gotten a lot of comments already. I hope this one is not lost in the pile.
When I was 39 I had all my remaining teeth extracted in one go. There were somewhere between 12 and 18, since many were remnants and not whole teeth.
Due to the fact that previously in my life I had addictions of many kinds, mostly alcohol and meth related, I was not prescribed opiates. When the procedure was done, I was awake and given only a local anesthetic.
After they were removed, I was given Amoxicillin (antibiotic) and Prednisone (steriod). They recommended I take Ibuprofen and to avoid acetaminophen (same as paracetamol i think). The latter due to many over the counter versions of it have caffiene. That brings me to my first advice.
Avoid caffeine at all costs. It will increase your pain, make you edgier and you may grind your gums in your sleep. Check your paracetamol packaging, make sure it does not have caffeine. You might want to avoid it regardless because it can irritate your stomach lining and you’ll be swallowing a lot of blood which increases your chance of vomiting.
If you vomit, you will almost certainly get dry socket.
You do not want dry socket.
Ice cream is painful. Anything too cold or too hot is painful. Soup should be room temperature.
Bouillon cubes aren’t bad, if you can get liquid soup stock or broth, it works better.
Do not eat breads for at least a week or two. It sticks to you clots. That can easily lead to dry socket.
You do not want dry socket.
Same thing with (american) bananas. They might seem perfect but they can cause dry socket potentially from their stickiness.
I have had dry socket. Once from smoking cigarettes. Once from being clumsy with a spoon. It was the worst pain of my life until I had to pass a few kidney stones.
Avoid foods that require cooking. You don’t want to cook.
One a day shakes should be your new best friend. Meal replacement shakes. Here in the states they come in chocolate and vanilla and don’t taste terrible. Brands include Ensure, Boost, Slimfast and a ton of others. They are packed with protein. They often have vitamins in them too. You can just pour the shake right into the back of your gullet. Bypass your gums and tongue entirely.
Another medication to consider is sleeping pills. I’m spelling them wrong but see if you can get Amitryptaline or Tramadol. Sleep as much as you can while your body heals.
Water, water, water.
Drink at least 2 liters a day. Never drink more than 1 liter in an 8 hour period because water poisoning is very uncomfortable. If your pee is clear, you don’t need to drink water for awhile. The better hydrated you are, the faster you will heal. Drink a lot of water after drinking one of those meal replacement shakes if you can find them. Your body will absorb the water better. Same applies to the soup stock.
On that note, shower. If it is too painful, take a bath. Again, this helps you stay hydrated, plus is will improve your mood possibly, which in itself can ease the pain.
Move. Walk around the block if you can. You want to get your heart rate up and keep it up for about 15 minutes, twice a day. Again, this helps your body heal faster. Walking is great unless you are a daily runner, in which case run. Walking is enough for most people.
A perfect routine would be:
- Wake up. Drink some water.
- Drink a protein shake and some water. Take your medications with them.
- Walk around the block. Or if unsafe or to pained, walk in place. Get that heart rate up.
- Shower or bath.
- Go back to sleep.
- Repeat 3-4x per day, depending on how much you can sleep. It gets harder to sleep the more your do it. The exercise helps a lot.
I am not a dentist or medical professional.
I am not a professional of any kind.
This advice is all from personal experience.
Here’s some useless personal information that can be skipped:
December of 2021 when my teeth were all removed. Since then I have gotten dentures. They didn’t fit and hurt to wear and needed adjustments, but the dentist that made them quit the business a week after I got them. Other dentists would not take my insurance or work on them for liability purposes. Sucks being in america. I opted to get implants instead. I’m supposed to have a full set of teeth in about a month, at age 42, for the first time in my entire adult life.
Good luck. May dry socket never happen to you.
Thank you for the advice, you’ve made me realize I’m unintentionally given myself a dry socket.
Can not 2nd how much pain I was in, you wish the pain were so intense you’d simply black out. You won’t though
I read all this. God damn, I thought root canal procedure was a pain…
Fantastic writeup!
A teeny tiny correction, taking a bath will in fact dehydrate you (only a small bit, unless you have a Swimmingpool and move, then it’ll dehydrate you much more)
Fantastic advice man, best of luck for your implants
I also realize that taking so often or much of some medicaments could harm your liver.
So I would recommend to see if you can reduce the dosage after week or so when the pain finally reduces a bit.
I am also unsure how much liver damage you can get, maybe I am just paranoid and its not that severe.
Flanders, Belgium
Y’all got any more of them poppies?
Your doctor will only prescribe opiates in the most extreme cases? I’m not buying it at all. Getting all your teeth removed is under no uncertain terms a MAJOR case of extreme pain and precisely what they should be used for. Also, you’re a fool thinking that taking them after a surgery like this will lead to a “hard drug habit.” Also, no mention of any antibiotics? Sounds like you don’t want to fall into a hard successful recovery habit either. And last but not least… An oral surgeon removing all teeth at once!!!
I also read your comment about this being because of free healthcare and I call bullshit on that as well. There’s only two possible explanations for this predicament you’re in. The first is that this is a completely bullshit story which I’m leaning towards. Second is that you went to a unlicensed and illegal place that did this procedure. This would make the most sense with your admission of a complete lack of communication and proper prescriptions.
Weed and ibuprofen is how I got through my tooth extraction. Mind you, it wasn’t as severe as yours. But I took a large enough (but still reasonable) dose that I kinda just conked out after
You probably know this and we’re referring to gummies or something, but it needs to be said that smoking is not advised after a tooth extraction or pretty much any dental work. Not a great idea before hand either as the weed (in any form) can make the drugs that the dentist gives you less effective and coming down from a large dose of those can be a worse pain than the stitches in your mouth.
