I'm on vacation in California, and three days before we're set to fly back, my wisdom tooth starts impacting. It's bloody awful. And I can't get anything done to it before I fly back home (for various reasons, half of which I understood). I've only got low-dosage drugs in me because the Urgent Care in Oakland we went to doesn't like to prescribe pain meds because, "you're in Oakland," says the NP, "and we can't give you what you're looking for." It was the weirdest code. I wanted to say, I'm not looking to get high, just to alleviate this eye-watering pain but all that came out was a whimper because this wisdom tooth is laying me low. I should have got all my wisdom teeth removed. Goddamn this sucks. And now a red-eye flight back to the East Coast. On the plus-side: my stockpile of badges is completely out because you guys have been on a roll with the good, long reads. Thanks flagamuffin and bfv.
That blows, I went through the same thing. I finally got some prescription pain meds and they completely worked, but I had to pay for a new full exam to get more every time they ran out. And I had to postpone my surgery like six months for money/time reasons. There were a lot of long fucking days that year, and a lot of unnecessary visits to the dentist. In the meantime I slammed OTC stuff. I'm sure you're already doing that.
You waited six months? You poor thing. I'm, thank-the-lucky-stars-but-fuck-the-system, still on my mother's really good health and dental insurance. So I've already scheduled a surgery for when I get back. But the interim is total hell. I half considered hitting up a high-end and trusted drug dealer in San Fran to properly medicate. I don't mean to alarm anyone with that: I don't have any addictions, and have at home unused painkillers that have sat for years without me even being tempted by them. It's just an indictment of the system. Now that I think about it, this is a really common Pubski topic with us. Everyone's got stories.
Can you describe what it was like? I had all mine taken out at 17 and I'm really, really curious what it feels like to be in pain from your wisdom teeth impacting. Is it a throb, or an ache, or is it stabbing pain if you try to chew or talk, or what? Does the pain become a headache-y situation that overrides most of what you can think about for the day? TELL ME
For me, sharp throb, like a toothache but worse. Wasn't 24/7, but mostly (except when I took pain meds). And I don't think all four of mine were impacting. I avoided chewing on that half of my mouth for six months and had to relearn that I could chew normally afterward. In the end, it was all an insurance "misunderstanding" and I would have been covered from day 1... and I'm still bitter that they wouldn't renew my prescription without me paying for a $70 dental exam at the end of which they were just like hey your wisdom teeth are still impacting -- every time.