REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

Wisdom Teeth

939 Views 15 Replies 15 Participants Last post by MTB1986, Dec 14, 2005

HatTrick

Discussion Starter · Dec 13, 2005

Hello, I am a college racer; as such, winter break is crucial for training for the spring road season. I say this because I also have to get my wisdom teeth removed this break. Not one, two, or even three... but all four. I was wondering how long I could expect to be off the bike for. I've talked to some people who have had one or two pulled out and they said they were able to get back on the bike in a couple of days. However, I also hear that getting all four out at one time is a whole different story and to expect a week to a week and half of down time in order to let the wounds heals and to avoid "dry socket". Any thoughts or comments are great - perhaps there is a biker here who is also in dentistry?

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archer

· #2 · Dec 13, 2005

Depends on what has to be done to get them out and how good the dentist is as well as your recovery ability and pain threashold.

I had mine out in high school and never had anything but a local. They weren't rooted to the point of busting them to get them out however. Within a couple days I was 100% back up but I was pretty out of it the rest of that day.

One of my buds had to have his busted and another got hooked on perkaset from the pain.
Another gent I know had a bad problem, seems the dentist didn't get all the chunks from one of the uppers he busted and it migrated into his sinus causing infection and had to be retreived in a later surgery.

Dude

· #3 · Dec 13, 2005

about a week

I had all four of mine pulled at once and I recall about a week of no activity to avoid any problems....

formica

· #4 · Dec 13, 2005

if you go with a good oral surgeon ( ask around) and there's no complications, I wouldn't expect you do be down for more than a couple of days, at the most. My two teen sons bounced back incredibly fast, and they both had all four out at once.
formica

dir-T

· #5 · Dec 13, 2005

It depends on your age too. I was told that things get tougher (longer recovery) as you get older, particularly over 25 years of age. The only people I've known who've been laid up for a long time were in their 40s-50s. Dry socket is a big concern if you smoke regularly or have other bad oral hygene habits but otherwise I think it's not much of an issue. My guess is that, barring any relatively uncommon and unforseen complications like the other poster mentioned, you'll be fine in a couple days.

I do remember hearing something about heavy breathing not being a good idea for some period of time - ask your dentist about that.

For what it's worth, I speak from some 2nd and 3rd hand knowledge because me wife used to be a dental assistant and our friend is a dentist.

jlang002

· #6 · Dec 13, 2005 (Edited)

HatTrick said:
Hello, I am a college racer; as such, winter break is crucial for training for the spring road season. I say this because I also have to get my wisdom teeth removed this break. Not one, two, or even three... but all four. I was wondering how long I could expect to be off the bike for. I've talked to some people who have had one or two pulled out and they said they were able to get back on the bike in a couple of days. However, I also hear that getting all four out at one time is a whole different story and to expect a week to a week and half of down time in order to let the wounds heals and to avoid "dry socket". Any thoughts or comments are great - perhaps there is a biker here who is also in dentistry?

i'm a general dentist...i think one of the few on the board. there are many variables to be considered in your recovery time. a lot depends on the complexity of the extractions and whether the teeth are impacted (bony or soft tissue) and require surgery. actually, if the teeth are fully impacted in the bone, you won't have an issue with dry socket because the surgeon can close the tissue over top the socket. dry socket is most prevalent in smokers and those who don't follow post-op instructions. the skill of the surgeon also has a good deal to do with your post op pain and discomfort. the less trauma the surgeon incurs to the soft and hard tissue, the faster your recovery. individual reponse to third molar extractions also varies widely. i've seen people come back looking like chipmunks and others with no swelling or pain after the same type of extractions. you will most definitely not need a week and a half of recovery time, probably more like a couple of days. if you're worried about dry socket, they occur about 48-72 hours post-op...after that you're pretty much golden.
i've extracted a lot of third molars myself and people are usually pain free within a few days and back to their regular activities.
-jon

ps enjoy the percocets!!

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shiggy

· #7 · Dec 13, 2005

I rode my bike home from after I had two removed...then took 2-3 days off. I was riding 50-80 miles a day then. The wisdom teeth had become so painful could not ride much. That affected my training much more than the few days off the bike.

SHIVER ME TIMBERS

· #8 · Dec 13, 2005

Hopefully your teeeth are not impacted because then it is a mess (longer down time)

all you have to worry about is the bleeding with a higher heart beat rate from riding...I would wait 3 days and start riding light...if you taste blood then quit right away

Call_me_Clyde

· #9 · Dec 13, 2005

Rode home?

shiggy said:
I rode my bike home from after I had two removed...then took 2-3 days off. I was riding 50-80 miles a day then. The wisdom teeth had become so painful could not ride much. That affected my training much more than the few days off the bike.

When I had mine done, the Dentist insisted at the time I made my appointment that I make arrangements for someone to drive me to and from the appointment. Given what I remember about how I felt when it was over, I'm glad I did.

Thanks, dad!

Bob

shiggy

· #10 · Dec 13, 2005

Call_me_Clyde said:
When I had mine done, the Dentist insisted at the time I made my appointment that I make arrangements for someone to drive me to and from the appointment. Given what I remember about how I felt when it was over, I'm glad I did.

Thanks, dad!

Bob

I lied. I also sat in the waiting room for an hour before I left. Only a flat 2 mile trip home.

Lucky

· #11 · Dec 13, 2005

jlang002 said:
if you're worried about dry socket, they occur about 48-72 hours post-op...-jon

And for this reason, have them done on a Monday or a Tuesday. I had 2 impacted lowers extracted when I was a teen, late in the week and got a dry socket in one over the weekend. Not to scare you, but it was one of the most miserable and painful experiences I've ever had, and I've broken a dozen or so ribs, a wrist and a collarbone and had pneumonia. My father, who grew up on a farm in the middle of the depression, wouldn't take me to the ER over the weekend, in spite of my fever. (This man found out at 60 that he had fractured his spine in his 40's, but never saw a doc. He didn't think you needed a doc unless you had a bone sticking out somewhere, or were gushing blood like a Texas oil well.) Waited until Monday to take me back to the dentist. I thought I was gonna' die.

So, I hope you sail through with no problems, but in the unlikely event you do, an extraction early in the week will let you get back to the dentist the same week. Good luck!

Kathy

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carl1266

· #12 · Dec 13, 2005

Before you get them pulled make sure to get a second or third opinion to make sure they really need to be extracted. A few years back my dentist wanted to pull mine. Turned out I had sinus trouble.

Hecubus

· #13 · Dec 13, 2005

I had all 4 taken out at once about 2 years ago. I was pretty much like nothing had happened after the surgery and felt perfectly fine the day afterwards. Recovery was only a few days. I was recommended to have them all 4 removed at the same time and I'm glad I did. I think its better to go through the process once and get it over with than have to go back again later and go through the surgery and recovery all over again.

toothpuller

· #14 · Dec 13, 2005

Wizzies

I'm a dentist and also had my wizzies taken out. I've removed a lot of wizzies. Most of the time they come out with no complications. If it is really surgical then I refer to the Oral Surgeon. I reccomend IV sedation. It's not really an experience you want to remember. I did mine without and looking back on it, wish I had. As far as post-op pain and swelling. That same night I was out at a Christmass party. I was sore for about two weeks and swollen for about a week. Not the end of the world. You'll be off the bike for a few days but not much longer. As far as dry socket is concerned, the two biggest risk factors (as stated by John) are smoking and poor oral hygiene. The mandibular or lower sockets are more at risk. As long as you take your reccomended antibiotics afterwards you should have little to no complications. Good luck. You'll be glad you had them removed.

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duc135

· #15 · Dec 14, 2005

I had all four of mine pulled out on my way to a volleyball game. I originally only had problems with one tooth, but my dentist told me that I should consider pulling them all out since he said they were hard to keep clean and were not that essential. He wanted to pull them on seperate visits, but I insisted on all at once.
I just kept my mouth shut biting down on the gauze the whole time and replacing them in between games. I have been told that I do have an unusually high tolerance for pain though. This was many years ago and I don't have any problems that I'm aware of. YMMV. I wouldn't suggest anyone do this. Just sharing my experience for your reference I guess.

MTB1986

· #16 · Dec 14, 2005

I had all four out at the same time and I was back at work the next day. The empty tooth sockets can be quite painful the first few days, exsp.if the sockets gets infected which happend to me. Just take it easy the first day or two and be sure to clean the tooth sockets out with water a few times a day.

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