You might want to refrain from drinking with a straw as that may cause a dry socket or, in your case, dry sockets.
They did mention to avoid drinking with straws. I figured it was because of risk of choking being numb and all.
Its hurting like a MF at the minute. I just know I’m not sleeping tonight.
Well, after the teeth have been removed you need to rinse your mouth with medicated mouthwash about 3-4 times a day for the first couple of days. Also make sure you get some extra long tooth picks that you can use to dig out bits of rice etc from the holes (no joke).
I guess I was lucky as mine came out easily, despite being half covered by skin and as such had become half decayed already.
My ex boss back in the UK had to have 3-4 operations to get his out, as they were bent, so the first time they didn’t get all of it out and he had to go to a specialist…
Now that’ isn’t normal though.
Tell the local quacks to sod off and go to Thailand. Make an appointment at Bumrungrad (make a phone call, and talk directly to a dentist so that you can get a binding commitment – the idiots who answer emails are useless), get an assurance that s/he will use general, and then pick up a cheap ticket on JetStar or KLM.
I realize that many of you from socialized-medicine countries think that Taiwan has great doctors, but my experience was that the TW healthcare system sucks donkey balls, and that to get any real care, you have to leave the country. This may surprise those who just hear from the media how much the U.S. healthcare system sucks – it does, but it sure as fuck is better than the socialized systems. But anyway.
Bumrungrad is great, quite reasonably priced, and they will do what you ask them to do without any bullshit.
For hotels, the Parkway Inn on Sukhumvit is close, cheap, and decent. Or you can stay at the Bumrungrad Suites if you want a high-priced but really nice room.
I’m 31 and had been told by my dentist for at least 10 years that I needed to have my wisdom teeth removed. I procrastinated because they never gave me any pain. I went back in to the dentist late last year and they told me that they were causing cavities to form around the teeth in front and that eventually I could get an infection, which would be bad. I finally bit the bullet and scheduled to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. I must admit that it was very nerve wracking heading up to the appointment. Long story short, they gave me general anesthesia and it was the most simple procedure ever. After arriving at the office for the oral surgeon, they sat me in a chair, put some gas on my nose, and put an IV in my arm. They told me to think good thoughts and before I knew it I was completely out. That’s the last thing I remember. When I next woke up, I was in a wheelchair in the waiting room with my mom (who drove me there, because you can’t drive home after having general anesthesia), and I was happy as a clam from being so drugged up. They gave me a hefty prescription of Vicodin (yay!) and after a week I was fine.
Then last week I got my first ever root canal. I was pretty nervous about that too, but it turned out to be no big deal either. I didn’t feel a thing and the only pain was on the hinges of my jaw from having it propped open for the procedure. All of this was done by dentists/oral surgeons here in Southern California, so your experiences may vary in Taiwan. 
[quote=“CastleBravo”]I’m 31 and had been told by my dentist for at least 10 years that I needed to have my wisdom teeth removed. I procrastinated because they never gave me any pain. I went back in to the dentist late last year and they told me that they were causing cavities to form around the teeth in front and that eventually I could get an infection, which would be bad. I finally bit the bullet and scheduled to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. I must admit that it was very nerve wracking heading up to the appointment. Long story short, they gave me general anesthesia and it was the most simple procedure ever. After arriving at the office for the oral surgeon, they sat me in a chair, put some gas on my nose, and put an IV in my arm. They told me to think good thoughts and before I knew it I was completely out. That’s the last thing I remember. When I next woke up, I was in a wheelchair in the waiting room with my mom (who drove me there, because you can’t drive home after having general anesthesia), and I was happy as a clam from being so drugged up. They gave me a hefty prescription of Vicodin (yay!) and after a week I was fine.
Then last week I got my first ever root canal. I was pretty nervous about that too, but it turned out to be no big deal either. I didn’t feel a thing and the only pain was on the hinges of my jaw from having it propped open for the procedure. All of this was done by dentists/oral surgeons here in Southern California, so your experiences may vary in Taiwan. :P[/quote]This is why it is absurd to get difficult dental work done in Taiwan. The dentists don’t want to give you enough - or any - painkillers. Get root canals and wisdom tooth extractions done back home.
Sandman - you are getting caps. I thought you were married though.
I’m so envious of CastleBravo. I laid in bed last night recollecting the absolute torture I went under in the dentist’s chair yesterday and I couldn’t sleep for the longest time, tensing up and freaking out again. A slightly overlapped dose of painkillers got me off in the end though.
Next time I think I’ll trust my own instincts which I seem to ignore way too often and I’ll insist that I don’t have any more crappy local anaesthetics any more. I just knew it was going to be a problem yesterday but I told myself not to worry.
Oh, I can’t believe what I am reading.
C’me on guys, you have anibiotics here, fine hospitals, cheap painkillers.
Me? Third world, 60 year old dentist -treated my mother when she was a teenager- did the whole 4 sides with local anestheitic only.
First, he used a knife to open the gums further.
Then he hammerred.
He yanked.
He hammered and yanked some more.
When he was done with the lower side, he asked me: do you want me to stop and then you come back any other day for the rest?
I replied: Finish the job! (Hell if I was going back! If I left the building, I left the building.)
Like 4 hours of having my mouth open.
I sh** you not, we had to take the bus home.
The day after, my face was so swollen I looked like the guy from Mask (the movie with Cher, I mean).
I hereby decided that I would make enough money so that I would never, ever, have to go through substandard care again.
I had all four wisdom teeth out under general anathestic just prior to coming to Taiwan.
Having witnessed my friend’s purple and blue haster cheeks following the same operation a couple of months earlier, and knowing that I bruise incredibly easily, I took an arnica tablet everyday for about two weeks prior to the op. I’d asked the dentist what he thought, and he said it couldn’t harm.
After the op I had minimal swelling, and no bruising to speak of either.
I was also advised that it would be best to brush my teeth with bottled water for a couple of weeks while the wounds healed up, and was given one of those syringe tubes without a needle (whatever they’re called) to use to flush out any debris from the sockets too, again using tap water, possibly with salt in it, I forget.
Good luck.
And if I were you I’d get some codiene or something sent over from home. That’ll make the after effects much more tolerable.
Tell the local quacks to sod off and go to Thailand. Make an appointment at Bumrungrad (make a phone call, and talk directly to a dentist so that you can get a binding commitment – the idiots who answer emails are useless), get an assurance that s/he will use general, and then pick up a cheap ticket on JetStar or KLM.
I realize that many of you from socialized-medicine countries think that Taiwan has great doctors, but my experience was that the TW healthcare system sucks donkey balls, and that to get any real care, you have to leave the country. This may surprise those who just hear from the media how much the U.S. healthcare system sucks – it does, but it sure as fuck is better than the socialized systems. But anyway.
Bumrungrad is great, quite reasonably priced, and they will do what you ask them to do without any bullshit.
For hotels, the Parkway Inn on Sukhumvit is close, cheap, and decent. Or you can stay at the Bumrungrad Suites if you want a high-priced but really nice room.[/quote]
Plus you’ll get proper pain control post-op in Thailand which you won’t here. Just wait until that GA wears off and they start giving you Panadol! :fume:
I had all four of my wisdom teeth out at the hospital in Xinyi about 6 months ago. I thought the level of care was great, even a bit excessive. Of course they were shocked when I told them that I wanted general and all 4 out at once, instead of getting local and two teeth out at a time. But when I told them how the local really didn’t work for me, they seemed ok with it. They made me check into the hospital the day before my surgery, I guess so they could monitor my vitals or something, and they wouldn’t let me check out until the day after and they had seen me eat on my own. The nurses in the hospital were nervous about having to speak English with me I guess, so they brought over the head of the nursing school to check in with me every few hours.
Overall I felt the care was great there, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to get them out. Oh yeah, and no bruise on my chest and the surgeon got each tooth out in one piece, so no risk of having little bone fragments still in there!
Grumble. And now it’s my turn. I’m off to the dentist to find out why I broke a molar in my sleep, fer chrissakes. I don’t know what he’s going to need to do to repair it, but it’s starting to hurt.
Plus you’ll get proper pain control post-op in Thailand which you won’t here. Just wait until that GA wears off and they start giving you Panadol! :fume:[/quote]
Do they give you Panadol (tylenol/acetaminophen) in Taiwan, or in Thailand, or both??
As long as you’ve gotten a commitment from the dentist who will be working on you in Thailand, I reasonably believe that they’ll do whatever they’ve promised. I never had any problems with them. Keep in mind that I’m talking about Bumrungrad, not some cheap clinic in Chiang Mai (some of which are excellent, but I wouldn’t know how to find them, or how to communicate with them if they don’t speak decent English).
You just can’t believe anything that Bumrungrad’s email-answerers and frontline phone idiots say over there, because none of them have a clue about what they’re talking about, and most don’t speak adequate English to understand what you’re asking anyway. That’s the one thing I truly hate about Thailand – the low-level staff everywhere (waitresses, hospital staff, hotel staff, “entertainers”, cabbies, whoever) just nod and go on with whatever they think is meant (or what is usual practice), rather than stopping and making sure they understand what is being asked.
Talk to the doc, make sure s/he understands and commits, and you’ll get what you were promised – as long as there are no valid medical reasons not to do so, of course.
Easy answer: you’re grinding your teeth. Nightguard, dude. That’s my bet, anyway.
I’m getting Ponstan 500mg. Tons of the things. Work very well. Dentist is very gentle. Nurse is hot. Facilities are FAR more modern that anything I’ve seen in the UK. Seriously? You’d take a plane to Thailand for dental treatment? God, and I thought I was phobic!
Bababa, yeah, caps and bridgework is what I’m getting. Just now trying to persuade the wife to let me at least ONE gold one. A wolf tooth with a rhinestone in it. No dice so far. 
I’m getting Ponstan 500mg. Tons of the things. Work very well. Dentist is very gentle. Nurse is hot. Facilities are FAR more modern that anything I’ve seen in the UK. Seriously? You’d take a plane to Thailand for dental treatment? God, and I thought I was phobic!
Bababa, yeah, caps and bridgework is what I’m getting. Just now trying to persuade the wife to let me at least ONE gold one. A wolf tooth with a rhinestone in it. No dice so far. [/quote]
No way! I must have just had bad luck in Taiwan. I walked out of three places before finding one that wasn’t visibly dirty and scary looking. Saw a brilliant dentist in Oxford a few months ago who was great. Admittedly, I’ve never had anything actually done to my teeth in either country, but I’ve been well impressed by my woman in the yook. Not that expensive, either.
sandman, if I had the cash, I’d never see a doctor other than in Bumrungrad. In addition to having a funny name, it’s just the best place I’ve been to. My dad took me there when I cut my leg open on a rusty thing and was refusing to see a doctor (yes, I WOULD rather die of tetanus, thank you very much.). Nothing scares me more than surgery in Taiwan.
Way! I’ve walked out of FAR FAR more than three scary nasty grimy weird-looking dentists in Taiwan. FAR more! This one is nice though. Fluent Englishee, including the nurse/assistant, spotless, latest equipment, good manner with scared apprehensive morons… having said that, I have to go back again in an hour and the shitting-myself stage has well and truly kicked in again. God!
Way! I’ve walked out of FAR FAR more than three scary nasty grimy weird-looking dentists in Taiwan. FAR more! This one is nice though. Fluent Englishee, including the nurse/assistant, spotless, latest equipment, good manner with scared apprehensive morons… having said that, I have to go back again in an hour and the shitting-myself stage has well and truly kicked in again. God![/quote]
Oof, I should have asked around more when I was there. Hope it’s OK, sandman. As I said, I’ve never had the slightest toothache in my life (erm, I’m forensic about the toothbrushing shit) but I can compare it to the worst rational fear I’ve ever had and it’s not much different in intensity, so I can sympathise. Once it’s done, you’ll feel better, and other non-helpful platitudes…
Speaking of clean dentists with great tools, that’s why I chose this ShinGwang hospital in Shilin, next to the science museum. They really do have all the kit it seems and aside from my horible experience yesterday, do seem to know what they are doing.
The thing I was most impressed with was the small things. They have sticky bags on all their equipment which they remove for new patients meaning that the handles stay clean.
I thought it was the other end that was important that it was clean 
And I can’t believe that Mr Sandman is afraid of the dentist, bah, humbug, that’s just not on, I thought you were a true Scot with hair on your arse and all that…