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Chloe Hollander
Ms. Paula Rolim
EN-100
27 October 2016
Wisdom Teeth: A Horror Story
My mom nudged me hard in the back and I responded with a groggy moan. Slowly
opening my eyes, I realized the sky remained covered in a dark blanket and I hit the switch of the
old, flowered lamp on my nightstand. Swinging myself up right, I put one foot after the other as I
shuffled my way over to my vanity and plopped down in the cold, leather seat. I pried my
squinty eyes open and put my contacts in, opening up a whole new vision for me as I saw the
messy array of clothes strewn across the hardwood floor. I threw my favorite Harry Potter t-shirt
over my bedhead hair and slipped on the usual pair of black leggings along with my weathered
converse.
From downstairs I heard my mom yell, Chloe Therese do not forget a jacket the doctors
office is like an icebox!
To this I responded with the typical teenage eye roll and ripped the thinnest jacket off its hanger
and fumbled my way down the stairs. Awaiting on the 20 year old kitchen table was the upmost
gourmet breakfast I could have dreamt for; three pancakes stacked high next to the still steaming
eggs and perfectly cooked bacon strips. It was my last grand meal for a while before the horror
story of a surgery occurred, wisdom teeth removal. To many it was looked at as just a minor
surgery that healed within a week, however going without good solid food for a week might as

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well have been a death sentence to me. My mom proceeded to rush me and bits of syrup and
bacon dripped on to my lucky t-shirt. Flustered, we hurried to the car and that is when the panic
began to set in.
Never having a surgery performed on me in my life, my blood pressure rose to unhealthy
levels. I sat shotgun in the new, grey Honda Civic with my fingers rapidly searching worst case
scenarios on google. I gathered that the procedure was going to leave me swollen and with dry
sockets in the worst cases. After a tooth is pulled, blood clots form to preserve the bone and
nerves underneath. Sometimes the clot can become dislodged leaving the bone and nerve
exposed to air, food or fluids. This can lead to a dry socket, an infection with severe pain (What
is Dry Socket? Symptoms and Treatment). I did my very best to not overthink the simple
procedure and almost had my head cleared right when my mom decided to arise my worst fear.
Are you nervous to get the IV? When I had to get IVs they could never find my dang
vein and just stabbed me repeatedly, she rambled on and on.
The only needles I had previous experience with were flu shots, I never gave blood or underwent
any prior surgical operations. This topic of discussion arose my fears all over again and I
returned to WebMD to further my research on the surgery. I learned the most common reasons
for removal included: theyre impacted, they come in at the wrong angle, your mouth isnt large
enough, and you have either cavities or gum disease (Wisdom Teeth Removal: What Adults
Should Expect). My oral surgeon informed me that my wisdom teeth were sideways and were
pressing against the backs of my current molars. WebMD read that the surgery wasnt going to
take much longer than 45 minutes, and this put my nerves at ease.

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My mom whipped into the closest parking spot to the entrance of the hospital and
reluctantly dragged me inside. Overwhelmed by the immediate wave of anesthetics and
cleanliness, we hurried to Dr. Parsons office. After about five minutes of staring at the pale pink
walls and fiddling with my sweaty palms, my name was finally called. A young, brunette nurse
led me to a far back room with a tan dentist chair placed in front of a small monitor. She handed
me the remote and I was instructed to watch a 15 minute informational video on how the process
was going to occur. It began with explaining the three different types of anesthesia. Local
anesthesia is provided through injections into your gums where the removal occurs, sedation
anesthesia is provided through an IV, an intravenous line, typically in your arm that suppresses
your consciousness during the procedure. Lastly there is general anesthesia where you lose
complete consciousness, having no memory of the operation (Wisdom Tooth Extraction).
During the procedure the surgeon makes an incision in the gum tissue to expose the tooth and
bone and then removes bone that blocks access to the tooth root. Sometimes the surgeon decides
its easier to divide the tooth in sections to easily remove the tooth. They clean the site of the
removed tooth and any remaining debris, stitch the wound to promote healing, and place gauze
over the extraction site to control bleeding and the formation of a blood clot (Wisdom Tooth
Extraction). Nearing the end of the video, my nerves were beginning to calm, it didnt seem so
bad after all.
Dr. Parson entered the tiny room and introduced himself.
Do you have any remaining questions that the video didnt cover to ask me? Id be
happy to answer any and all concerns, he reassured me with a soft tone.
I responded with a simple, No, I think Im just ready to get it over with.

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A different nurse led me back to a surgical room where they hooked me up to a few different
machines to monitor my heart rate and blood pressure. She then inserted the IV into the bend of
my right arm. I was shocked when I realized that I didnt even know she had done it already. Dr.
Parson reentered the room and explained that the mask he was going to place over my face
would put me to sleep almost immediately. I was instructed to count backwards from 10, and I
think I made it to about 7 before I blacked out.
I awoke in a different leather chair in a much warmer environment to the nurse shaking
me awake once again like the previous morning instead of my mom. My mind was a blur and I
had little to no clue as to where I was. She helped me to my feet and tried to escort me to the car.
I felt like a one year old child learning to walk for the first time as I stumbled and clung to her
for dear life. My first instinct when I was returned to the comfort of the passenger seat of my
moms car was to open Snapchat and check out my face. Petrified at what stared back at me, I
couldnt fathom the size of my cheeks. I tried to move my tongue and touch my lips, but could
feel nothing. Upon returning home, I immediately fell back asleep on the leather couch for what
seemed like hours.
Waking up, my mind appeared to be less fuzzy than earlier, along with this came a
stronger sense of pain. Lazily I flipped through the pamphlet of post-procedure information that I
assumed my mom brought home for me. I learned to expect a lot of blood the first day and it was
necessary to frequently change my gauze to avoid infections. For the first 24 hours I was only
permitted to eat soft foods, had to drink a lot of water, and wait 24 hours to return brushing your
teeth (Wisdom Tooth Extraction). I closed the pamphlet, immediately put ice on my cheeks,
took ibuprofen and called it a night for the third time that day.

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Works Cited
"What Is Dry Socket? Symptoms and Treatment." WebMD. Ed. Michael Friedman. WebMD, n.d.
Web. 27 Oct. 2016
"Wisdom Teeth Removal: What Adults Should Expect." WebMD. Ed. Michael Friedman.
WebMD, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
Staff, By Mayo Clinic. "Wisdom Tooth Extraction." What You Can Expect. Mayo Clinic Staff, 31
Mar. 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.