<p>My soon to be Senior daughter just came back from the Oral Surgeon and was told she needs to have her wisdom teeth extracted. They are not moving her other teeth but the doctor's concern is as they break through the gum infection becomes a high risk. I had hoped that we could wait until the Spring after all her Music Auditions are complete. But I wonder if we should just do it now,as in this week, giving her 4 weeks until school starts and 6 weeks until community orchestra practice starts. Also, I would hope, giving her enough time to recover before college auditions. In searching online it seems recovery is quick for the young but then I found the rare risk that a nerve ending is damaged creating a long term numbness in the lips, not what a flute player needs!!! Anyone out there have any advice for a nervous mom?</p>
<p>DS (trumpet) had his wisdom teeth remove during Christmas his freshman year...the first day he was home. He had to play less than two weeks later. He did it...but it was rough. </p>
<p>You are doing the right thing if you have six clear weeks right now!! Talk to the oral surgeoun about your concerns.</p>
<p>S2 had his wisdom tooth (only one) out a year and a half ago, at Christmas. He is a horn player, so he used more pressure to play, but he could not play for a long, long time. I can't remember how long, but I think he may have begun playing for very short periods about two weeks after. When the discomfort wouldn't go away, he went back to the oral surgeon, who said everything looked fine and was healing nicely. He was unhappy for awhile - wasn't willing to "play through the pain" because he felt it was messing with him embouchure, etc. It did eventually heal. I think he arranged in advance to skip his winter semester audition, and requested to not be staffed in any January productions.</p>
<p>D, who is a violinist, had two wisdom teeth out, nearly 2 weeks ago. She had no pain, swelling, or bruising. She had them out on a Wednesday, and the doc said she should be able to hold her violin by Monday. (Violinists use their jaw to hold the instrument, in case that doesn't make sense to someone.) She didn't play Wednesday or Thursday, and by Friday couldn't stand it, so picked up her violin again. No problems whatsoever.</p>
<p>Long way of saying, every kid is different!</p>
<p>As far as waiting .... with a musician, there's always something. If you wait till spring, you may be jeopardizing summer programs. Or her teeth might start bothering her in the middle of audition season. </p>
<p>My only other advice - we took an out-of-network doc (for out of network prices!) because we wanted someone very, very good. I don't believe musicians always have the option of taking the lowest bidder. (Of course, if you have someone in network that you know and trust, go for it!)</p>
<p>Just returned from the oral surgeon yesterday for the consultation before extraction of both my kids' wisdom teeth next week. He specifically addressed the lip numbness question. </p>
<p>On the x-ray, he pointed to a nerve that runs directly below the roots of the teeth as the one that, if bruised, may make lips numb. He said that it happens to about one in 200 people who are having their wisdom teeth extracted, and that the numbness, if it happens, will go away in a vast majority of them within a day or two. In extremely rare cases, the numbness doesn't go away; the case where it happened in his practice (one person in 19 years) was one where the roots of the tooth sort of hooked around the nerve, causing him to tug on it during extraction.</p>
<p>I don't blame you for being cautious or nervous. It did sound to me like it's a real long shot for any long-term numbness to end up in the lips. All the best!</p>
<p>My D, a singer, had hers out 3 weeks ago - all four. She had no problems and a quick recovery.</p>
<p>Oh another thing with the recuperation. DD only had two wisdom teeth, but uppers (so less affect on jaw movement). She was offered a local anesthetic and did that. Her recovery was very brief...two days maybe. She couldn't really play her oboe for a week, but after that she was fine. BUT only two upper teeth and local.</p>
<p>DS had all four wisdom teeth pulled and had a general anesthetic. He was really down for the count for three days or so...then he was slow moving for another three days or so. Then he had the stitches removed. He couldn't really play his trumpet at all while the stitches were in. But the second week he was able to do so for a short period of time. Full recovery for him was about six weeks.</p>
<p>My daughter, a flute player, had her wisdom teeth out in June. They were not bothering her but they were impacted and her orthodontist was very concerned about them pushing on her perfectly straight teeth. She had all four out on a Friday. She went back to work on Monday. She practiced for the first time on Tuesday with the help of a couple Advil. Did the same on Wednesday and Thursday. After that she was absolutely fine.</p>
<p>Thanks to the OP for starting this one. All posts were helpful! I hope all prospective surgical candidates have a quick recovery from the procedure. DS needs to have his pulled soon and he is going to have audition in mid-August for orchestra....hope it goes well!!!</p>
<p>Thank you all for your responses and advice. After reading your responses we finally got the chance to talk to my daughter's flute teacher.......she had been out of town the past 2 weeks. She strongly advised to get them out now and not to wait until the spring. She had hers out when she graduated from undergrad. and ran into complications. But she was able to recover and continue to play her flute before school started. Her concern was if complications occur during auditions then my daughter would really be at a disadvantage. She also added that since school is not in session my daughter would have a more stress-free recovery period.........no homework. She would also have a good 6 weeks before community orchestra practice begins. </p>
<p>So she is scheduled for surgery Monday morning, all 4 teeth. The 2 bottom ones have begun to break through the gums, the top 2 are impacted. I will be saying a lot of prayers! Thanks!!</p>
<p>Good new is that, since the bottom ones are through, they will probably be much easier to deal with. Bottom impacted are the toughest. Those are the ones that cause the most grief, pain, and swelling. So if you had to choose which ones to be impacted, you chose good!</p>