wisdom teeth woes

I'm going to have to go to the dentist next week. I've been putting off
going since last March (yes - an entire year) first because I was
pregnant, and then because I was exclusively breastfeeding. I'm still
exclusively breastfeeding, but I have a stash ( by no means huge) built
up - so if I have to have general anaesthesia (sp?) and can't
breastfeed immediately afterward, I suppose I can dip into the stash
and compensate for missed feeds.

My question is:
Has anyone ever gotten their (partially) impacted wisdom teeth removed
when breastfeeding ? The dentist refused to Xray / (and/ or) extract
last year when I (suspected I) was pregnant. I'm a little apprehensive
of dentists in general, so that may be adding to the anxiety. Will
opting for a local anaesthetic help ?
TIA
PK

"PK" wrote in message
ps.com...
I'm going to have to go to the dentist next week. I've been putting off
going since last March (yes - an entire year) first because I was
pregnant, and then because I was exclusively breastfeeding. I'm still
exclusively breastfeeding, but I have a stash ( by no means huge) built
up - so if I have to have general anaesthesia (sp?) and can't
breastfeed immediately afterward, I suppose I can dip into the stash
and compensate for missed feeds.

My question is:
Has anyone ever gotten their (partially) impacted wisdom teeth removed
when breastfeeding ? The dentist refused to Xray / (and/ or) extract
last year when I (suspected I) was pregnant. I'm a little apprehensive
of dentists in general, so that may be adding to the anxiety. Will
opting for a local anaesthetic help ?
TIA

1 and a half weeks weeks ago, I got 3 wisdom teeth and 2 molars removed and
I was also wondering the same thing. When I asked the question to the
anaesthesias (sp?), he said that is will be safe to Breastfeed my 10month
old, and it would be the same as having a glass of wine or gin etc.
When I had the teeth out ( under a general) I expexted to have some pain
afterwards, BUT other than the numbness I had no pain at all. It was
amazing.
I hope this helps :-D

Sindy (in Australia)
Mummy to Cooper - my little 10 month IVF bubba

PK

My question is:
Has anyone ever gotten their (partially) impacted wisdom teeth removed
when breastfeeding ? The dentist refused to Xray / (and/ or) extract
last year when I (suspected I) was pregnant. I'm a little apprehensive
of dentists in general, so that may be adding to the anxiety. Will
opting for a local anaesthetic help ?
TIA
PK


It seems absurd to me in hindsight, but I had all four of my wisdom teeth
extracted when my little one was 3 weeks old. Why? Because my insurance
coverage was ending, and it was really good insurance. I was able to nurse
about two hours after the surgery, which was about the same point that I was
able to walk steadily and focus, etc. I had one bottle pumped and ready,
but it ended up being unnecessary.
I'm not sure the type of anesthesia really matters - general can be used for
c-sections, and come to think of it I also had a general when I had a
postpartum hemorrhage the week before the wisdom teeth were removed. In
that case I was able to nurse immediately after I came out of surgery. It's
more about the specific drugs and painkillers that are used. Someone here
will be able to look up which drugs are best, but it's definitely doable.
Gosh, I had totally forgotten what a wild month it was.
Hope all goes well! Things got much better in my case once I remembered I
could use arnica cream on my bruised and tended jaws.
Hannah

1 and a half weeks weeks ago, I got 3 wisdom teeth and 2 molars removed and
I was also wondering the same thing. When I asked the question to the
anaesthesias (sp?), he said that is will be safe to Breastfeed my 10month
old, and it would be the same as having a glass of wine or gin etc.
When I had the teeth out ( under a general) I expexted to have some pain
afterwards, BUT other than the numbness I had no pain at all. It was
amazing.
I hope this helps :-D

Sindy (in Australia)
Mummy to Cooper - my little 10 month IVF bubba


Phew, I'm so relieved I'm not the only one that has to get their teeth
extracted while breastfeeding ! To tell you the truth, I'd rather
prefer a general, because I'd hate to see the dentist coming at me with
thse plier-like thingies :-)
Thanks for the info.

PK

It seems absurd to me in hindsight, but I had all four of my wisdom teeth
extracted when my little one was 3 weeks old. Why? Because my insurance
coverage was ending, and it was really good insurance.

That must have been terrible. All 4 in one go - ouch. I know what you
mean about the insurance though. I'm added on to Dh's insurance and he
may be switching jobs - thats partly the reason I'm going to have to
get the tooth extracted.

I was able to nurse
about two hours after the surgery, which was about the same point that I was
able to walk steadily and focus, etc. I had one bottle pumped and ready,
but it ended up being unnecessary.
I'm not sure the type of anesthesia really matters - general can be used for
c-sections, and come to think of it I also had a general when I had a
postpartum hemorrhage the week before the wisdom teeth were removed. In
that case I was able to nurse immediately after I came out of surgery. It's
more about the specific drugs and painkillers that are used. Someone here
will be able to look up which drugs are best, but it's definitely doable.

Hopefully it won't be too bad. I hope I can make do with Tylenol.

Gosh, I had totally forgotten what a wild month it was.

I can only imagine. I can't believe you went ahead and had the teeth
extracted anyway - even after the hemorrhage !

Hope all goes well! Things got much better in my case once I remembered I
could use arnica cream on my bruised and tended jaws.

Thanks !
PK
Hannah

PK wrote:

I'm going to have to go to the dentist next week. I've been putting off
going since last March

I did that, too, for the same reasons. But,
I did have all 4 wisdom teeth removed when
Pillbug was 4 months old. The anesthesia was
lidocaine (I would never go under general
unless absolutely necessary!) and I nursed
with no problems.

-- Anita --

My question is:
Has anyone ever gotten their (partially) impacted wisdom teeth removed
when breastfeeding ? The dentist refused to Xray / (and/ or) extract
last year when I (suspected I) was pregnant. I'm a little apprehensive
of dentists in general, so that may be adding to the anxiety. Will
opting for a local anaesthetic help ?

yes, not only was I breastfeeding I was also newly pregnant! I did have the
x-rays before I fell pregnant, but whilst breastfeeding. It was totally
fine, pregnancy is far more of an issue than breastfeeding. I had surgery
earlier on in breastfeeding and there was no problem at all, I chose not to
breastfeed straight after due to the timing of the surgery, but no other
reason.

Anne

If it's any consolation, you might not see the dentist coming at you. I
had all four of mine out at once when I was a teenager, and I don't
remember anything between getting the drugs to when I woke up on the
sofa in his office.

I still wonder if I actually told my parents "this is just like being
stoned" or if I just thought about saying that...

As I was both pregnant and breastfeeding, we had quite a big discussion, it
seemed that actually the amount of tranquillisers they would give you to get
at an impacted wisdom tooth with a local anaethsetic were actually much more
worrying for both pregnancy and breastfeeding than knocking you right out.
The main concern the anaethetist had was sickness, what he would give if
that happened. As I'd only been sick once after a GA and that had been for a
much longer operation we were fairly sure that wouldn't happen.

Anne

That must have been terrible. All 4 in one go - ouch. I know what you
mean about the insurance though. I'm added on to Dh's insurance and he
may be switching jobs - thats partly the reason I'm going to have to
get the tooth extracted.

actually it's fine, or at least it was for me, I had 2 partially erupted,
but because they weren't fully erupted they were starting to decay, so those
needed to come out, one was partially impacted and sore and intermittently
infected, which was the most urgent one. None of those really hurt after
surgery, it was the one causing no problems that was deep within the jaw,
threatening to cause problems in future that was most painful afterwards.
I'm glad I did it all in one go.


Hopefully it won't be too bad. I hope I can make do with Tylenol.

They actually gave it me intravenously, but immediately post op it wasn't
enough, but only because of the deep one, I don't think I'd have even needed
tylenol in the following days but for that one and tylenol just didn't kick
it with that one and I ended up having a dressing places directly into the
socket that was fab!

Anne

"PK" wrote in message
ps.com...
I'm going to have to go to the dentist next week. I've been putting off
going since last March (yes - an entire year) first because I was
pregnant, and then because I was exclusively breastfeeding. I'm still
exclusively breastfeeding, but I have a stash ( by no means huge) built
up - so if I have to have general anaesthesia (sp?) and can't
breastfeed immediately afterward, I suppose I can dip into the stash
and compensate for missed feeds.

My question is:
Has anyone ever gotten their (partially) impacted wisdom teeth removed
when breastfeeding ? The dentist refused to Xray / (and/ or) extract
last year when I (suspected I) was pregnant. I'm a little apprehensive
of dentists in general, so that may be adding to the anxiety. Will
opting for a local anaesthetic help ?


Yep, I got all four of mine taken out when my daughter was four months old.
Mine were difficult extractions, several had extra roots and one had to be
broken before they could get it out. It was a day surgery procedure under a
GA, and my daughter took a bottle or two of expressed milk while I was
waiting, in surgery & recovering. I made sure to tell everyone I spoke to
that I was BF. In the end, I went without the pre-med at the anaesthetist's
suggestion - and did fine without it, despite my apprehension. Afterwards I
had morphine, then mainly panadol for pain relief since I'm allergic to
ibuprofen. I came out of surgery just after three, and would have fed my
daughter at about 6-7.

The biggest problem for me was finding an antibiotic that would be
compatible with BF, as I have a previous suspected allergic reaction to
penicillin. I ended up with two infections, the second I was nearly admitted
for - had I not had a funeral to attend - which were incredibly
uncomfortable. I know you run the risk of thrush, but if the extraction is
difficult I suggest you agree to a course of BF compatible antibiotics
post-op. My situation is hard to compare, since we found out later I had an
infection, which is what caused the pain - but I found it very hard getting
up in the night to a young baby when I was popping so much panadol (tylenol)
just to be able to sleep through the pain. If you can have someone bring the
baby to you at night, it'll help. I was also shocked at the amount of
swelling - it was hard work getting enough to eat and drink when I couldn't
open my mouth more than a couple of centimetres. Aside from the infection,
it wasn't pain so much as a sensation of extreme pressure. My partner had
his done a few months later, and he didn't go through a fraction of what I
did.

In hindsight, it didn't affect BF, but it was an uncomfortable experience
for me with a young baby. Like you though, I'd put it off a long time, and I
didn't want to lose my place on the waiting list since I didn't know when
another opportunity would come up.


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/