I had a wisdom tooth removed last week. It was pretty infected and after a very short round of antibiotics and even IV drip antibiotics, they removed it whilst there was still inflammation going on.
I’m a week post-op now and they tried to remove the stitches but I had to stop them before they could finish because it hurt so bad. They were kinda laughing at me and saying it’s normal. Ive had stitches removed before and it was painless. I don’t know what I should do. I’m supposed to go back next week but they haven’t prescribed me anymore antibiotics to deal with the ongoing inflammation.
I feel like general attitude towards pain here is that it’s something you need to get over, and it’s kinda fucking with me tbh.
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Don’t think the anaesthetic is very strong in Japan in my experience.
It sounds like you have a bad dentist. Maybe worth switching after you have the stitches removed.
How bad is the inflamation? Unless the wound is still open, there may not necessarily be a need for antibiodics (regular pain killers, even OTC ones should be fine if you are in pain.) Though it is slightly odd that they didn’t give you any despite your saying you were in pain. So, again, all signs point to bad dentist.
You should find a new oral surgeon. I’ve had work done in Tokyo and Hokkaido and found it to be generally painless, and I’m an average size Western male and bigger than the average Japanese male. The anesthetic used is typically administered with greater precision, and they have always prescribed appropriate levels and duration of antibiotics. You need to go somewhere else. Part of medical care is having confidence in the provider, which is clearly missing here.
Yall might shit all over the USA here but damn at least when I had my wisdom teeth out they used dissolving stiches amazed that’s not standard. Made things so easy
Get a new dentist. My wisdom teeth were quite compacted and I also had stitches and inflammation. Painless. I started to feel something midway and he took a break to inject another dose of anesthesia.
I’ve learned over time that when anything medical/dental will involve cutting, pain, etc I always make it clear and ask what kind of pain relief will be provided during and afterwards. Fuck that ganbaru on Ibuprofen for 4 days after double wisdom tooth removal.
I’m sorry about your current situation. If possible, for any future dental care you might need, you might want to consider finding a dentist who has studied in the US or Europe. In my experience, they won’t leave you in crazy amounts of pain and use enough anesthetic (I’m someone who tends to need a lot and if I went to a typical Japanese dentist I’d probably not be given enough). I had an oral cyst removed by a guy who studied in the US in Tokyo and he made sure I was comfortable during the procedure – I had local anaesthetic, laughing gas and some anti anxiety pills. I live in Osaka now but if I needed anything like that again I would 100% travel to Tokyo to see him.
My dentist was like that when I lived in a small town in the mountains. Now in a city, my dentist keeps reminding me not to gaman.
Really sorry you’re in so much pain.
I have a high tolerance to anaesthesia and I knew this bc previously when I had gotten my first wisdom tooth removed I needed an extra dose. When i got my 2nd one removed at a different clinic, I informed both the nurse and doctor of this beforehand. During the procedure I still felt a bit of pain and raised my hand to inform the doctor. He said I shouldn’t be feeling anything bc gave me enough meds 😒 so I just tried to tolerate it but the moment he started tugging at my tooth to pull it out the pain hit me like bricks. It was such a shock i raised my hand and smacked his face as a reflex. the mofo then gave me an extra dose.
Some doctors here really need a lesson on bedside manners and to listen to their patients.
There are a LOT of bad dentists here unfortunately, and some scams seem to go big here too. I went through hell too, it was awful. Check out Trust Dental if in Tokyo, get that infection treated asap, get away from that quack.
Stitches? I had this dentist on the countryside of fukuoka use the one that just dissolves over time.
Also he would listen when I grunt and mumble ‘tetetetete’
Japan’s pain control is quite poor. The strongest I can get for popping my L4 hernia(loxoprofen), and when I needed more, they just double the doze. Which is concerning.
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But.. wisdom extraction sucked, the pain is so “close” to your “self”. But by the second week it was better. My dentist is exceptionally good though, well, at least compared to all the other places I have been to here.
i think the high number of dentists in Japan … there must be 15 or so within 10 minutes of my house means so means some are better than others… I went to 5 before my current dentist, who’s one of the best I’ve been to…. it sounds like you need a new dentist.. I had an impacted wisdom tooth removed last January and the medicine was weak( the tylenol I brought from the states was stronger). it hurt for about 2 weeks… and the surgeon had wanted me to stay in the hospital for the weekend but I refused…
You have a shitty dentist……when I had my wisdom teeth removed…..they didn’t even use stitches…..
They put a collagen filler to help the blood clot and I was pretty much able to eat properly in a few days …..
You need a new dentist…..
Where abouts are you?
Bad dentist I think. Just finished having four removed over the course of six months. Needed stitches for one.
The doctor asked me several times while he was cutting and pulling if I feel even a little pain. I said yeah once and he immediately squirted more anesthetic. Problem immediately solved.
I also told my dentist that I seem to have a slight resistance to pain killers. He said ok and offered an extra type of pain killer administered in an IV to be used during the procedure. Insurance covered it – think it ended up costing an extra ¥1,200.
My doc also called to ask me if i was feeling any pain right before the removal of stitches. He mentioned that he wanted to delay the removal for another day if there were pain present.
Also, during the one week between extraction and follow-up check, the dentist always mentioned to call to get more meds if I ran out of pain killers.
So yeah, it looks like luck wasn’t on your side with this one.
Just a note – antibiotics are for infection, not for inflammation.
I had a very bad wisdom tooth that had to get removed. The pain got so bad that I had to keep an ice cube in my mouth at all times to stop the blinding pain. It happened on the day we moved to our new house in a rural part of Osaka so I had no idea what to do. Coincidentally, we moved within walking distance of a University Hospital. We walked in and were seen immediately. The doctor in charge evaluated me and had a student do the removal. It was the most painLESS procedure I have ever had done to me and I couldn’t believe how smooth it was. They even had to get multiple people to try and pry my tooth out because it was so difficult, but I couldn’t feel a damn thing.
They stitched me up and gave me admittedly sub-par meds afterwards, but I only had about an hour of pain when the anesthetic wore off. Everything was fine after that. I went back a week later to get the stitches removed in less than 5 min.
My point is that going to a hospital, even a university hospital, might be a good alternative to a private practice if you are having issues. My insurance didn’t cover as much as it would have at a private practice, but I still paid less than $150 for everything.
Yeah you have a bad dentist.
Anesthesia in Japan is quite mild. My dentist tells me always tell him if it hurts and not to がまん. Because the dose for Japanese and other nationalities are quite different.
You should find another dentist op.
Japanese doctors prescribe very little in general. Most foreigners are able to buy paracetamol over the counter, eat 500mg ~ 1g for a headache no problem. In Japan you would be lucky to be prescribed 300mg. 300mg does nothing for us. You might have the same problem with the antibiotics (too low dosage maybe why its not going down fast enough)
But your dentist seems like a terrible dentist
My husband is supposed to have his wisdom teeth removed because they’re putting pressure on his other teeth. At his first extraction the dentist tried to remove it twice before the numbness medication kicked in. Now it’s been a year and he’s afraid to go back. He can’t change dentists because it’s the one arranged through his work insurance.
Your dentist is bad. I’ve had that too where I had an infected tooth and I couldn’t sleep for 2 weeks. I went back to him and he just kind of pulled it out and covered it in a plaster. It still hurt so bad I couldn’t sleep. I went back the next day and he told me to just wait another week. I honestly believe i would have killed myself if I waited any longer. I went to another dentist immediately after leaving his, and they immediately took out the root and numbed the area. I have never slept so well in my life.
As for your inflamation have you tried rinsing with salt water?