Got some bad news when I got my dental X-Rays the other day. My wisdom teeth have to come out. It's been something I've put off for about ten years (since they are all impacted and have never caused a problem) but now the Doc says they have to go.

Can anyone tell me how much time I will need to take off work? The top ones are deeply impacted, and I believe it will take a full on oral surgery to remove them.

The oral surgeon told me I would be ok to come back to light duty (whatever that means) after 3 or 4 days. He seemed unsure, however, how the pressure changes inflight would affect me.

Thanks for the help!

If they are impacted, it means they are going to be a b!tch removing. I went down the same road. Get your yourself knocked out and spare the aroma of hearing a bone cutter hack into your jaw and seeing bits and pieces of jaw bone, gum and teeth flying out of your mouth.

Well I wasn't nervous about it...thanks for the advice though!

Your going to need at least a week for that type of oral surgery. Also be careful what you take for pain too, take that into consideration before returning to work.

It's been so long (late 80s?) - had 3 removed by an oral surgeon. Don't be surprised if small pieces of tooth/bone still work their way out in the months after. It was not bad at all - I wanted to go to work a few hours after resting at home - but I was still feeling the happy juice/pills. I definitely needed the weekend.

I'm not a Dr., but the amount of time off work will depend on the complexity of the removal and your age -so it's a crap shoot. I probably had mine done on a Friday and was back on Monday cube dwelling in my computer programmer gig.

Good luck!

I wanna say the feds recommend that you wait at least 24 hours to fly after you take one of the more powerful pain pills like vicodin or percocet. But you will be out of work for more than a day anyway.

I had four removed the same way. I stayed doped up on pain pills and slept for 2 days straight. woke up on day 3 feeling pretty good and could have gone to work. surgery wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated and I had put mine off for about 10 years s well. I wouldn't recommend being awake for it, i would have probably had a stroke as I'm scared t death of the dentist.

I really don't think that's common, although I'm certainly not an expert. Was your dentist's name "Doc Holliday"?

Had mine taken out and felt great a few days later. It will just depend on how bad yours are.
On a side note, a friend of mine just had 4 removed and is now suffered a numb tongue due to the proximity of the nerve to the tooth. Now he is on high dose steroids to help calm it down.
As you can see, it will just depend on how your surgery goes. Good luck! As for how long after taking the meds, call your union's medical dept and ask them, that's what you pay dues for!

Dr. Nick, actually. Any surgery for 19.99!