leading up to and recovering from wisdom teeth pulling

[josh wagner]

Any one have any suggestions on playing before and after? When i play it is about te most painful thing i've done with playing. any suggestions??

and does anyone have any pointers for getting back on the tuba after i get em pulled?? thanks

[Ed Jones]

My son had his out two months ago. He followed the oral surgeons instructons to the letter and was playing again in a week.

[Haugan]

I had four compacted wisdom teeth "dug" out and played a big brass ensemble concert the next day. Not exactly wise, but I needed the money and really WANTED to play that particular concert. It is really amazing how fast oral tissue heals. Actually it's sort of a biological necessesity - it is probably the fastest healing tissue in our bodies. As for my healing, one day was obviously not enough time and though I [seemed] to be blowing a lot of blood (a little blood goes a long way when mixed with water) out my spit valve by the end of the concert, it was apparent that the healing process was well underway from the relative lack of pain. It still hurt, and I wouldn't recommend anyone else do what I did, but it gives you a bit of an idea as to the "gravity" of your upcoming situation. Depending apon how fast you heal (I've been told I am a remarkably fast healer) and the extent of your surgery, you may be "back in the saddle" in as little as 4 or 5 days. I took about four days off after that "next day concert", and was pleased to observe when I resumed playing not only that I bled no more, but that getting rid of the wisdom teeth gave me some tubaplaying benefits that I hadn't counted on. With those rear teeth gone, I had much greater freedom to move my jaw laterally, and the extra space created a larger inter-oral cavity that improved my resonance overnight. It was a marked and welcome improvement. I would issue one cautionary note: Make sure your oral surgeon knows you play a brass instrument before the operation. Sometimes (though not frequently) the nerve pathways that control the muscles used in playing can run close to the offending teeth. It is probably a good idea to have your oral surgeon take another close look at your X-rays to make sure you are not under any risk of damaging your playing capabilites. Also, armed with the knowledge that you're a brass player, he may take some alternative steps during the procedure in order to insure that the nerves don't get damaged. Statistics are really strongly in your favor that the operation will be routine and smooth, and I for one would be really interested in hearing from you AFTER the operation as to whether you notice the same "benefits" I experienced after my operation. If anyone else out there has had some form of [radical or otherwise] oral surgery that has benefitted playing, it would be interesting to see some posts over the subject.......

[Leland]

And I thought I was pushing it by waiting ten days after the operation...

I'll suggest waiting longer than you think might be necessary, then when you do start up again, make sure that you're under no influence from pain medication. You want to feel absolutely everything that's going on inside your mouth. If it hurts, or feels "stretchy", then stop and wait another day. All it takes is one *pop* to reopen the wounds.

And, again, listen to what your oral surgeon told you (assuming he's good, anyway). Mine was recommended to us by our regular dentist, who was very happy with the work done on his own son's wisdom teeth -- he knew his stuff.

[Haugan]

It seems that there is a really great range of response to "wisdom tooth" surgery and the pain involved therein. IowegianStar writes: "pain is bad". Yes, but without it we would REALLY be in dire straits, not knowing when we were "abusing" our own bodies. Ask any diabetic who has lost sensation in their feet or legs how much they wish they could experience pain again in those regions, and the steps they have to go to to protect themselves from harming themselves further. Pain is your "friend". Without it, we would never learn valuable lessons that keep us from harming ourselves in the future. If anyone is out there experiencing chronic pain or unexplained pain, this statement may seem just short of heresy. My apologies in advance. Your suffering may be unrelated to anything you have any control over whatsoever, and I recognize the gravity of your situation and the frustration accompanying your condition. It is my hope that anyone going through this surgery have similar results to my own; Healing within a week or so without complications, and actually benefitting BEYOND simply the removal of the offending teeth.