A friend told me that there is a whole chapter of Moby Dick dedicated to describing how white the…read morewhale is. Apparently, he's right - chapter 42. I bring this up because I'm the type that will take something small and write a chapter's worth of text detailing it.
While not 100% perfect, all things considered, I had an excellent experience with Dr. Gu and the office at Oral Surgery South.
While I'm sure having wisdom teeth out is fairly routine for the office, for me, the word "surgery" is rather anxiety-inducing. Since I had five of the buggers, including one horizontal, it wasn't as simple as having your regular dentist grab the Novocain and a pair of pliers. A man can dream.
In my initial consultation, a panoramic x-ray was taken, I was then shown a video about wisdom teeth extraction which covered the procedure and some FAQs. After the video, Dr. Gu and a couple nurses/medical assistants came in to review the x-rays and answer any questions. I sit here now saying that all my questions were answered, and,\ Dr. Gu stood by his medical opinions (I've had Dr.'s lead with "What do you want to do"). The anxiety made it feel a little rushed, but again, no question went unanswered. Finally, I was given instructions to prepare for surgery and got a text from my pharmacy that the medication was ready before I left the office.
The surgery itself was thankfully uneventful. I don't remember a thing! I think the anesthesia given makes you forget everything, but you're technically still awake. The doctor apparently stopped in post-op, but I still under and didn't remember. Would have been nice if he also stopped when I had come to - but I realize this would be more for my psychological comfort than for medical need.
For the post-op experience, I felt a little ill-prepared. On the flip side, the office was been beyond wonderful and patient with my calls and answering any post-op questions or concerns. No waiting half a day for a callback, but answers in a minute or so.
First, loss of taste. I knew Novocain made you completely numb, but a loss of taste was rather scary. All it took was a call, I got to speak with Dr. Gu himself, and I was assured this was to be fully expected.
Second, A medication which **might** be needed post-op wasn't sent to the pharmacy the day of the surgery as I was told in the consultation. Thankfully I didn't end up needing it at all, and I'm sure all it would have taken was a call to the office. Still - if it is standard practice and I had needed it late that night, it would have been nice knowing when to expect it.
Then there were jelly clots. These are exactly as 'delightful' as they sound, and I won't go into detail in case some of you all are queasy. During the consultation, I would have liked to know these are a possibility and how to prevent or combat them. Still, I have to give the office massive props.
When I called with this problem, not knowing what it was, and thinking my gums had swollen over my teeth, they got me in that morning. Dr. Gu took a look to make sure everything was okay and answered a couple other small concerns I had. He did offer me to come in a couple weeks to laser off extra/slightly swollen gum tissue, but this ended up going away on its own, and no lasering was needed.
About a month after the surgery, I found I was no longer thinking about the missing teeth. Everything had more or less returned to normal. While the bone grows in, a tiny bit of food seems to have a tendency to pause in the empty space, but this is minor and increasingly rare.
