Wisdom Teeth

W

wingsofhonor

USAFA Class of 2017
5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2011
Messages
105
Hello everyone!

Next week, I'm scheduled to have my wisdom teeth removed. I know this is pretty close to the 6 week period of time between getting them removed and I-day, but I am doing it of course with the recommendation of my civilian dentist. However, I've run in to a little speed bump.

After the removal of my wisdom teeth, I will have to notify DoDMERB. After telling this to my friend, who is a veteran of the DoDMERB process, he recommended that I not have them removed and proceed to have them removed as a cadet. I, just like most of you reading this thread, know how tough DoDMERB can be. I don't want to get them removed and then get a letter from DoDMERB saying that I removed them too close to I-day, and therefore am now medically disqualified. I will be calling DoDMERB on Monday, but I am now debating to put off my surgery until I am a cadet. They do not cause me significant amounts of pain and are not bothering me, and I do not want to have any reason for DoDMERB to doubt my status. Then again, I do not want to have any setbacks while I am going through the standard medical processes at the USAFA. Does anyone have any experience in this particular scenario? Are there any recommendations? Will the representative at DoDMERB be able to give me an accurate prediction as to what my medical status would be after the surgery? Thank you all very much!
 
I had mine out exactly 3 weeks ago. I am fine now, just follow the doctor's instructions to a T. I would say proceed, if you have to get all four out you'll want to be sedated, the AF may not do that and a home recovery is much better than trying to recover in the cadet wing and missing all that class time.
 
if you choose to take em out make sure

1. to replace gauze as needed
2. Gargle a cup of salt water probably 4-6 times daily
3. take your anti-biotics
4. change your pillow case covering to a less appealing one since there will most likely be blood stains.

fair winds and following seas wingsofhonor.

Corpsman Up
 
So if I come to the Academy unaware of the state of my teeth and they turned out to be impacted, what happens? What if I find that some have broken the skin and can be taken care of hygienically, and the others are not a problem at this time (don't hurt not impacted)

Thanks to anyone who can help, I am a little confused with what is acceptable or not to show up with.

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Medical is the 'same' at any base. What I mean about that is they will tell you what is wrong, personally I always ask for their recomindation on what to do, after all, I never went to school for teeth (for example) why should dismiss their recomendation?
 
My wisdom teeth are schedule to be removed on the 17th of May and I called DOD MERB and they said this is not an issue unless infection sets in.
 
Ambition said:
So if I come to the Academy unaware of the state of my teeth and they turned out to be impacted, what happens? What if I find that some have broken the skin and can be taken care of hygienically, and the others are not a problem at this time (don't hurt not impacted)

Thanks to anyone who can help, I am a little confused with what is acceptable or not to show up with.

Sent using the Service Academy Forums® mobile app.
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If you have no clue what's going on with you teeth, that's totally fine. If after an x-ray they say that it needs to be removed, they will schedule the surgery. It's a pain in the ass from a time management standpoint though, because you might miss class - which is the reason why a lot of people recommend getting it done before inprocessing.

Sent using the keyboard on computer app.
 
PDub said:
If you have no clue what's going on with you teeth, that's totally fine. If after an x-ray they say that it needs to be removed, they will schedule the surgery. It's a pain in the ass from a time management standpoint though, because you might miss class - which is the reason why a lot of people recommend getting it done before inprocessing.

Sent using the keyboard on computer app.
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Is there any way you can schedule the surgery around your academic schedule?
 
wingsofhonor said:
Is there any way you can schedule the surgery around your academic schedule?
Click to expand...

It's tough to do. Many times people will get them removed on a Friday. They miss that day, but then have the weekend to recover such that they can at sit through class on Monday.
 
I had mine out at the Academy. I would say wait, unless your surgeon says they need to be out right now.

1. It's free at the Academy
2. You can go all the way under and not have to pay a boatload of money (or your parents I suppose)
3. Great excuse to miss a SAMI (I kid, I kid)

My surgeon was awesome... quick procedure (all 4 of them). I was never in pain, didn't have any issues after, and could eat solid food the next day. I was told this was a very uncommon thing, so maybe it's my superhuman firstie body.
 
packermatt7 said:
My surgeon was awesome... quick procedure (all 4 of them). I was never in pain, didn't have any issues after, and could eat solid food the next day.
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Very uncommon. Do a quick Google search and there's plenty of info on typical recovery periods. A reasonable expectation would be to not eat any solid food for 5-7 days after surgery.
 
Just got mine pulled today at 9AM, very quick and painless. The only issue I had was constant bleeding for three hours since I did not use gauze because I did not want to remove the clots after they formed.
 
Ambition said:
Just got mine pulled today at 9AM, very quick and painless. The only issue I had was constant bleeding for three hours since I did not use gauze because I did not want to remove the clots after they formed.
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Painless because you're still high. Have fun tomorrow!
 
In all honest, I dreaded going to sleep last night because I was afraid of what I would feel like when I woke up! Yesterday the pain meds made me so dizzy I ended up praying to the porcelain god once, but I think that also had to do with the excessive bleeding prior.

This morning I woke up without any recognizable (or feelable) swelling and no super-pain. If I move my jaw around a lot I can feel pain, but not just sitting there. Since I hate the power of those pain meds, I have those on stand-by now and replaced them with some good, classic Ibuprofen.

To add, I think my good experience so far might come down to the ability of my surgeon. From start of extraction to finish, I think it only took him 15 minutes. No numbness left over after the Novocaine wore off either!
 
I was reading through the Appointee booklet again and found this:

"The Academy staff expects that you will arrive at the Academy with no potentially disqualifying dental conditions. Examples of dental conditions that may prevent you from performing optimally include (1) the presence of wisdom of teeth, either erupted or impacted, that cannot be maintained in a state of health..."

Can an appointee be turned back on I-day for impacted wisdom teeth?
 
My DS wisdom teeth are coming in. Looks like he will have room for them based x-rays. Will the AF still require them to be removed?
 
My DS is a rising senior and the usafa dentists have determined that he doesn't need to have his wisdom teeth out. I think that the USAFA dentists will end up making that determination.
 
I think that it may depend somewhat on AFSC regarding if they absolutely HAVE to come out, for instance I think that I've read somewhere that those going to pilot training must have their wisdom teeth removed. I'm not 100% sure about that but I'll see if I can find that info again.

Here's where I read that information, looking back now I guess it's not 100% sure either way, but the information's there at least!
http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?t=29739&page=3
 
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