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).
I had 6 teeth removed at once. I can remember the pain. I found crushed or blended ice was helpful and doesn’t have risk of getting stuck.
It will be okay. Setting your expectations will help mentally. It’s still really rough. Did they prescribe you anything in terms of pain management?
OTC: Tylenol didn’t touch the pain. Ibuprofen helped some but was still pretty mild.
fyi tylenol is a brand name drug of paracetamol (or in the US i believe acetaminophen)
i believe it and ibuprofen relieve different causes of pain, and in australia we’re advised that both paracetamol/acetaminophen and ibuprofen work well in conjunction
… also ibuprofen and caffeine are acrually a great combo for pain relief! so much so they they sell the combination as a product
I have no useful advice but much sympathy.
I’ve never gone through this exactly but have had stints of prolonged pain. I really hate painkillers. I try to meditate. I try to remove my self from the pain and see it externally. Not make it disappear, just see it as separate from myself. And I try to focus on the temporary nature of it. It will pass. In time, I won’t even remember how intense it was. The memory will be there, but not the detail.
Basically, one can avoid being traumatized by a thing by choosing to willingly embrace it.
Trauma comes when the mind is recoiling.
The pain will still hurt when being embraced, but it won’t “scar” a person the way pain experienced on retreat will.
I recently had to deal with a very painful tooth surgery. Unsafe amounts of combined paracetamol, ibuprofen and more did not help. It hurt enough that I considered grabbing pliers and pulling my teeth out.
Eventually I was given opioid medication. I did not remember much of my time on it, but that’s better than the pain
Try to get some prescription painkillers, ideally opioids. None of the over-the-counter stuff even comes close. Tramadol helped me manage pain after my surgery.
Diclofenac was my aid to sleep with a broken arm
DXM’s a decent anaesthetic, may be time for a trip
jesus christ
Weed.
ineffective for dental pain IMO
It was much nicer for me then opioids when I had a bicycle colision, planted my face firmly into the pavement and had to have a number of roots canals and 3 hours of buccal surgery.
For me it just made it hurt weird, it didn’t make it not hurt. Maybe one of those things where not everyone responds the same way.
That’s what opioids do to me; they just make it hurt weird in a way that doesn’t matter.
deleted by creator
You better not smoke it with 20+ open wounds in your mouth…
Well said. Edibles to the rescue if possible to obtain.
Drinkables would probably work better here tho.
good luck chewing toothless
There are other ways of consuming cannabis.
If you do this option, don’t smoke, find some edibles. I’m pretty sure smoking right after having teeth pulled is a really bad idea (not 100% sure, but pretty sure)
Suppositories sounds like the best option here.
You are correct. You don’t want to create suction in your mouth for a few days after having a tooth extracted. You’ll end up with something called a dry socket, which is far more excruciating than the initial pain of extraction.
Smoking can cause dry-socket which is also incredibly painful. I smoked anyway after my extraction because I’m a filthy addict, rinsing with saline after every puff and got away with it, but it’s a risk yeah
I had 8 teeth pulled at once, many years ago. I couldn’t take Tylenol 3s as they made me sick. I did my best with ibuprofen and acetaminophen (one Motrin, one Tylenol extra strength). My father kept me distracted as much as possible. His advice was to keep your mind distracted as it can help with the pain.
Yeah this is a good option - too much ibuprofen is harmful, as is too much acetaminophen. But you can take both together and get double the pain relief.
NO DO NOT TAKE THEM TOGETHER.
You need to alternate them. Taking them together creates negatively synergistic effects which ruins your health.
FOR ANYONE READING DO NOT MIX IBUPROFEN AND ACETAMINOPHEN
that’s SO wrong… in australia our doctors and surgeons FREQEUENTLY tell us to take both ibuprofen and paracetamol (which is what most of the world calls acetaminophen) together
perhaps you’re thinking of taking <brand name> and <other brand name or generic form of>
ie do not take tylenol and paracetamol/acetaminophen, since they’re the same and you’re double dosing
to add:
too much paracetamol/acetaminophen causes liver damage
too much ibuprofen effects your stomach, intestines, and kidneys
their overdose effects are different
As I said lower down, you can take ibuprofen and acetaminophen (paracetamol) together . It’s advised you wait an hour after you take one type before you take the other to see if the first medication works well enough. There are even medications sold as a combination of both. What detrimental “synergistic effects” are you talking about?
Did you and your doctor not have this conversation!?
Or are you more inclined to listen to the internet over the person who’s job it is to pull all your teeth out of your head?
Answer: Oxy.
Yeah first thing I thought, too. “Have you tried asking somebody who does this professionally? Like, oh I don’t know, THE SURGEON?!”
Entirely this. Where is your health care provider in this conversation???
You should have been sent home with antibiotics, pain killers, and a ream of after care instructions.
It was probably Aspen Dental.
Your comment made my teeth hurt. IYKYK.
+1 wondering why someone in their 40s had to have all teeth extracted. I’m really sorry.
I’ve had issues with my teeth almost since birth. My parents both had full dentures by ages 25 or so. It was definitely a combination of genetics and bad oral hygiene. I was actually glad to get them all out now because I’ve suffered from debilitating pain for weeks at least once or twice every single year of my life.
It was definitely a combination of genetics and bad oral hygiene.
I’m in the same boat. 35 and half of them are already gone, my mum had them all removed when she was 40. My dentist is not crazy enough to take them out all at once though, that sounds insanely painful. I hope you’ll get through it soon.
I feel you. I grew up on well water (no fluoride), have a generic predisposition for terribly crooked teeth, and wasn’t taught basic oral hygiene until I was legally an adult.
I’ve had several extractions but every time it has been either an abscess or an impacted tooth, so just the relief from that pain was almost like a drug itself. About half my teeth are fake at this point and the ones that are left are in pretty good shape because they weren’t too far gone when I actually learned how to properly take care of them.
fluoride in water doesn’t do much to prevent tooth decay.
the fluoride in toothpaste is what does all heavy lifting.
Fluoride in water can help if you’re not taught proper care and feeding of teeth, but you are right. The fluoride in toothpaste is what should be doing the heavy lifting.
Similar issues (no floride as a kid, natually crooked). I floated the idea of getting mine replaced all together with my dentist a couple months ago. She advised against it, said it would change the sense of taste / food taste. I dunno if that’s accurate, but it put me off the idea for a bit.
My brother had his removed a few years ago (he spent years dipping tobacco). He looked like he’d been in a car wreck with serious bruising under his eyes. I don’t know how long he had that look as I was visiting and didn’t see the full recovery.
I just replaced mine as they were abscessed or impacted and I didn’t notice a change, but that was over several years. I would have died in the middle ages.
If you can afford it I recommend getting the worst of them replaced with implants. If you can’t then get some partial dentures to replace whatever you’ve lost. It will help both your confidence and quality of life.
Thanks for sharing - I’m glad to know this is an improvement for you in spite of everything. I hope the pain eases soon!
I’m in a similar situation. Have tried to get where you’re at, but have been quoted in the $30,000 price range. There is no insurance that covers any of that cost, and they all want payment up front.
Any suggestions?
I’m so sorry to hear about the pain. Doctors don’t take oral pain seriously enough.
Don’t forget you can ice it too. Athena ibuprofen/acetominophen thing is your best bet outside of more serious pain meds, but ice is effective for numbing pain.
Neat whisky. You don’t need to drink it if you don’t want, just gently swirl it around your mouth for a while and spit it out.
Now this sounds like a good antiseptic but wouldn’t that be very very painful?
I was actually warned against this since it can apparently cause actual burns if the liquor is high proof.
Lol good, glad you’re getting some good advice. Sorry you are dealing with this op, i dunno what you had to do but i have had a tooth extracted at a dental ‘training facility’ and my body won’t forget that, ever
Do not actually do this, if someone is reading this. Alcohol after dental surgery is a risk, as it can mess with wound healing.
DO NO DO THIS; IT WILL DISSOLVE THE BLOOD CLOTS WHICH MUST REMAIN IN PLACE
Combined Tylenol and ibuprofen is probably your best bet otc.
Like Motrin.
No!
DO NOT MIX ibuprofen and acetaminophen!
You need to alternate these in schedule:
- Take 600-800 mg ibuprofen
- Wait six hours
- Take 1000-1500 mg acetaminophen
- Wait six hours
- repeat
Note that the upper end doses I mentioned are SHORT TERM dosages. Don’t do that more than a couple of days.
Where have you been told this? Are you perhaps confusing acetaminophen for something else? Doctors will tell you that you can take ibuprofen and acetaminophen (paracetamol) together . It’s advised you wait an hour after you take one type before you take the other to see if the first medication works well enough. There are even medications sold as a combination of both. What you shouldn’t take ibuprofen along with other Non-steroidal anti-i inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin.
You may be right. The combination of ibuprofen and aspirin might be the thing I was advised against by my doctor. It was back in 2019 that I had this event so my memory could be hazy.
On the other hand, when’s the last time you saw a box of Combogesic on the shelf?
chiming in again, because this is FLAT OUT WRONG
combining these is the instructions we are given in australia by doctors and surgeons. it’s not only okay, it’s RECOMMENDED to avoid needing stronger pain killers
Dude, meds. Just rejoice in all the medication possible. It wont last long, hang in there
Im assuming if op had to get all his teeth removed he also can’t afford the meds or the anti-drysocket paste that dentists should use to help with this pain. I could be wrong
I don’t know where you are, but if you’re in Europe I’d get my hands on some Novalgin (illegal in the US because it isn’t addictive) other than that there’s some kind of pads for jaw operations that you put in the freezer.
I personally find pain more bearable than the cold, so no ice and a lot of sleep for me
Word of warning. Novalgin (Dipyrone/metamizole) will completely fuck your white blood cells.
https://journals.lww.com/rca/fulltext/2019/06000/is_it_time_to_restrict_the_clinical_use_of.1.aspx
