“A wisdom tooth or third molar is one of the three molars per quadrant of the human dentition. Wisdom teeth generally erupt between the ages of 17 and 25. Most adults have four wisdom teeth, but it is possible to have fewer or more. Wisdom teeth commonly affect other teeth as they develop, becoming impacted or ‘coming in sideways.’ They are often extracted when this occurs.” Here at Wahlert we have had a recent outburst of people getting their wisdom teeth removed.

Maddie Strand, ‘17

“I got mad at the nurse because she wouldn’t let me walk alone. I was so scared for the IV that I fainted. I kept trying to find my tongue because I thought I had lost it. I was way out of it until a couple hours later when I remembered all the extremely weird things I did.”

Gretchen Swift, ‘17

“I was not put under for my teeth being pulled out. Instead they just numbed the gums and pulled out the teeth while I listened to music. I also only got my bottom two teeth out because they said that the top will most likely not have to come out. I was scared and I just closed my eyes because I did not want to see what they were doing. I could hear them working on the teeth, and I could tell when the tooth was gone. It was very strange.”

Carlie Noel, ‘17

“Well, the day was Friday, April 17th, 2015. I woke up at 7:30 in the morning and arrived at the office around 8. The sun was shining, and it was a really nice day outside. I entered the office and it smelled like plastic gloves and it made my stomach turn. I wasn’t afraid of the surgery, but I was afraid of getting the IV put in me. After that was over, I was out before I knew it. My parents told me that I was only in surgery for 20 minutes and that the doctor said it was a very good surgery.

When I began to open my eyes, everything was spinning and I heard the nurse say, “Okay, let’s walk to the recovery room now!” I felt like I was flying when I walked to the recovery room. When I got there, my mom was in the room and I suddenly became very tired. My mom took videos of me doing crazy things because of the medication they gave me. Some of the things I did were complain about my teachers, sing the song “Chandelier,” describing that I was a flying unicorn, and saying hi to my “fam” or my closest friends.

When I got home, I felt less loopy and spent the entire day eating ice cream and watching tv. I fell asleep several times throughout the day and only had bad pain for about 2 hours. Other than that, I had very little pain. Later that night, my friends came over to visit me and cheer me up. The next day, I had some jaw pain but went outside and actually did things. Today, I have completely recovered and have no problems, except for the embarrassing pictures that I unknowingly sent to people.”