All Four Wisdom Teeth Out Before Giyus

Quick answer: If wisdom teeth are going to cause trouble, it is far better to deal with them before enlisting than during basic training. Removing all four in one visit is routine, and most people are functioning normally within four to five days.

The call

Shimon, 18, from RBS Gimmel, with a giyus date in eleven weeks. His mother phoned. He had had one episode of pain around a lower wisdom tooth over the summer and she wanted to know whether to deal with it now or wait.

The answer, in his case, was to deal with it now. Not because everyone needs their wisdom teeth removed — most people do not — but because of what the x-ray showed and what the next three years of his life were going to look like.

What we found

A panoramic x-ray showed all four wisdom teeth. The lower ones were mesio-angular impactions, tilted forward at about 45 degrees against the second molars, with the crowns partly through the gum. Classic food traps, classic pericoronitis candidates — and he had already had one episode.

The upper ones were erupting but had drifted down past the level of the lower teeth, biting into the gum below and traumatising the very flaps that were getting infected.

The roots on the lower teeth were about two-thirds formed and well clear of the nerve canal. That is close to ideal timing. Roots that are two-thirds formed give a good grip for removal without being fully developed and wrapped around structures, and healing at 18 is faster than it will ever be again.

The circumstantial factors mattered too. Pericoronitis in the middle of basic training means limited access to dental care, no soft diet, no rest, and an infection that will not be dealt with promptly. Getting an infected wisdom tooth treated on a base in the middle of a tironut is a considerably worse experience than having it removed electively at home with a fortnight to recover.

What we did

All four in one appointment, under local anaesthetic, about an hour.

The uppers came out simply — a few minutes each. The lowers each required a small gum flap, removal of a little bone, sectioning the tooth into two pieces so it could come out through a smaller opening, and a dissolving stitch.

Doing all four in one visit is standard when someone is fit, young and healthy. The alternatives — two visits, or one side at a time — mean two recovery periods rather than one, and for a healthy 18-year-old there is no clinical advantage.

He was given written aftercare, ice packs, and both painkillers to take before the anaesthetic wore off rather than after.

The outcome

Day one and two: swollen and uncomfortable, managing on regular painkillers, ice on and off, soft food. Day three: peak swelling, which is normal and always alarms people who expect steady improvement. Day four: noticeably better. Day six: back to normal food and out with friends. Two weeks: fully healed.

He enlisted on schedule with nothing in his mouth to worry about.

What to do if this happens to you

1. Get a panoramic x-ray taken well before your giyus date, not in the last fortnight.
2. Allow two weeks between surgery and anything demanding.
3. Take the painkillers before the numbness wears off. Staying ahead of the pain works far better than chasing it.
4. Ice for the first 48 hours, twenty minutes on and twenty off. Then warm compresses.
5. Expect day three to be the worst for swelling. That is normal, not a complication.
6. No smoking, no straws, no vigorous rinsing for the first 24 hours. That is how you get dry socket.

Wisdom teeth to sort out before giyus? Book an assessment at Ramat Beit Shemesh Urgent Dental Care with time to spare. 055-985-8845 · WhatsApp https://wa.me/972559858845 · Harav Kook 28/1, Beit Shemesh.

Based on real cases treated at the clinic. Names have been changed.