I was always someone that was reluctant to get my wisdom teeth removed. Both of my parents still…read morehave theirs and despite my awareness of potential issues that could arise, I always felt like I should only get them removed if absolutely necessary.
Well alas, the time arrived when these suckers needed to get evicted. While I've had sensations of gum tenderness from time to time over the years, it wasn't until last week when one shifted in such a way that made it difficult to eat or even open my mouth fully.
Because I wasn't sure how quickly my condition could worsen, I hopped on Yelp to find a top rated oral surgeon (even if not within my insurance network.) Since my family is in Montgomery County and would be helping me with pick up and recooperation after surgery, I was also looking for somewhere not too far from them.
After reading BCC Oral Surgery's reviews, I followed up with quick phone call where I peppered the receptionist with a ton of questions. Both times I called, the person that picked up phone was pleasant, patient and knowledgable. Plus, they had availability to perform the surgery the following week, where as the place my dentist referred was likely not to have an appointment for at least a month.
So instead of giving myself too much time for me to build up my anxiety further, on Friday I booked for wisdom teeth removal surgery for that following Monday.
The office sent me a new patient form to fill out online and was given instructions on how to best prep for my surgery in advance. On Monday morning, we gave ourselves plenty of time to get there with traffic and parking in mind. (There is a garage in the building but it fills up rather quickly.)Another bonus: There is a pharmacy in the building as well, so that is also something very helpful to know since that's where we ended up picking my prescriptions up from.
Upon arriving, they had to take some additional x-rays since Dr. Patel was a bit concerned with how close one of my wisdom teeth was to a nerve. When he came in to meet with me, he was cool, calm, direct and explained to me any concerns and risks. He was confident without being arrogant or without bedside manner and quite frankly, his whole team also reflected that.
The techs that took x-rays and administered the laughing gas were all so professional, sweet, funny and re-assuring. I was joking and laughing with them before the gas even hit me. Once I had a little laughing gas in my system, they then administered the general anesthesia and within seconds I was out like a light. ( I remember the doctor walking in and I said "What's up doc? Respectfully." Then I gave him he peace sign and I was a goner.)
When I woke up, I was sitting comfortably in the recovery room. I had very little discomfort, aside from some grogginess and a mouth full of gauze. But I was very present and aware despite it all, and I believe from start to finish it all took between 45-60 minutes.
After coordinating with my mom, they wheeled me down to where my mom would be pulling up with my car and I was on my way. Dr. Patel said that if I did feel pain, it would likely not be until later in the evening once the general anesthesia wore off, so I was ready to potentially experience some excruciating pain. But lucky for me, aside from swelling and some light bleeding the overall pain was minimal.
I'm now 48 hours post surgery and I've been able to to keep any pain at bay with over the counter painkillers (and of course, prescribed antibiotics.) But aside from the swelling, this has been the most unexpectedly pleasant experience after getting four teeth pulled, two of which were impacted.
Overall, I couldn't sing the praises of Dr. Patel and his team any further and am so glad that I found a total rockstar of a surgeon and team to make my wisdom teeth removal a top tier experience overall, with very minimal discomfort.
Thanks again, BCC Oral Surgery!