These questions have come from my own personal experience and the search to understand my symptoms that came on after my operation. I have read many other people's posts in my search for help. Unfortunately the doctors I have seen were unable to provide any answers.
THE BIG QUESTION!!!!!!!
Is it really necessary, all surgery carries risk, even if it means you feel ill but are eventually OK. Will your wisdom teeth really cause infections, will they cause you pain? How can the dentist know if they will cause you problems... they can't know, everyone is different.
I decided to have mine out because the pain was horrible and constant so I don't regret it but it was not pleasant and I still feel ill 2.5 months on. I am gradually getting my life back and well enough to warn others :-)
IF THE ANSWER IS STILL YES TO HAVE THE PROCEDURE, then consider these questions:
1. Do you really think the dentist is the best person to do this? I have read and heard from my friends/family all the horror stories about a Dentist doing the procedure. Hence I was set on surgery, luckily my wisdom teeth were fully impacted so my dentist could not even suggest attempting it. My actual surgery lasted about 10 mins, as opposed to the hour long horror I have heard from other people. I am lucky to have private medical insurance, the cost was approx £1.5k. Rumour has it the NHS has put these operations on hold.
2. Before you go into have the procedure consider whether you really are at the peak of healthiness. That virus you had 6 months ago has that really gone? Are you really only tired because of work/family or maybe you have some other condition. Do you need a holiday before your operation? Maybe its not a serious reason for being tired, maybe its just a vitamin deficiency (you should consider vitamin D deficiency which you cannot eat your way out of, your dr will have to give you a blood test to find out). I am never one to advocate taking pills but maybe try to eat extremely healthy for the month before or if this is hard consider the pros and cons of taking multivitamins. The dentists and surgeons will tell you its simple procedure but its still a lot your body has to mend. Also as you can't eat properly afterwards you are likely to start suffering from vitamin deficiencies.
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
http://www.health-science-spirit.com/deficiency.html
3. Do you have TMJ? I had never heard of this but when I had issues and searched the internet I realised I possibly have mild TMJ. This is a disorder with how your jaw joint works and you maybe unaware you have any issues until someone yanks your mouth about!
http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/temporomandibular-disorders
The clue I got from researching TMJ is I remembered that when I chew chewing gum my jaws hurt like you wouldn't believe. So I never eat chewy things, chewing gum, toffee or crunchy things so I have forgotten these things cause me pain, I just assumed I had become a bit of a fussy eater! I am very calm but when I do get stressed occasionally I do clench my teeth at night. At my post operative appointment with my surgeon he agreed I potentially have TMJ. If you think you do you should tell your dentist/surgeon and hopefully they will be more careful with you.
Get a TMJ massage before the surgery to see if this helps. You can find specialist massures that do this.
4. Do you have neck/shoulder pain? When a muscle goes into spasm ie your jaw joint after surgery it may cause the muscles next to it to spasm. Therefore consider if you have TMJ again, and if not go and get a remedial massage (its like a sports massage) on your neck and shoulders so that they are OK before those dentist/surgeons pull your head about.
5. You could get BPPV (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo). The dentists/surgeons will never tell you that dental surgery is a risk factor for BPPV, they claim its something that just happens. But in the deep dark corner of the internet there is some medical research (who knows how good it is) that says that it is a risk factor. Vertigo is the worst thing I have ever had, the room spins at 1000 miles per hour and you literally cannot do a thing, you can't watch TV, you can't listen to music, you can't get out of bed, have a shower, make your dinner, make a cup of tea... absolute hell.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2640043/
6. Have you considered the long term effects of anaesthetic and sedation. It is rare but there is not much evidence to support how risky it is. With sedation there is a 1% chance of waking up (according to my surgeon). Those that wake up have 56% chance of getting post traumatic stress disorder. (you guessed it I did wake up and it was not nice to hear a drill coming at you whilst you cannot open your eyes).
http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jun/27/health/he-anesthesia27
7. Understand which is any antibiotics they are going to give to you. There are a type of antibiotic that has injured many people called fluoroquinolone antibiotics. The toxicity syndrome afterwards can be devastating, it damages central nervous system, connective tissue and more.
update 22.5.14: I got my medical records back, they gave me amoxicillin (penicillin derivative) which a few people have had reactions to, its important to know everything they give you just in case you do react to it.
http://floxiehope.com/
8. Re-evaluate the BIG QUESTION - do you absolutely have to have it done... if you do then I wish you well.
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