Double tooth extraction.

[KingConn]

How long after must I wait to play again? It's only been one
day and I am going crazy!

[dingfelder]

depends on where the teeth were lol... im picturing the loss of the 2 front top teeth... would feel wierd playing like that

[jazzbluescat]

How long after must I wait to play again? It's only been one day and I am going crazy!

'til you don't spit blood all over the reed.

[mike]

Ask your dentist/oral surgeon for their advice.

According to my dentist, he THOUGHT there might be a slight chance of developing what is called "dry socket," where the gum around where the tooth was extracted becomes inflamed. This can apparently be quite painful and slows healing. The reason he wasn't sure is that playing exerts a positive pressure on the oral cavity and dry socket usually results from negative pressure (sucking on straws, smoking, maybe doing the Larry Teal reed seating test...). His recommendation was 1 week with no playing.

Having said that, I know a couple of folks who claimed to have been out gigging the same night they had their wisdom teeth extracted.

[dingfelder]

put a slightly used tea bag on the extracted tooth area... the tannin can help sooth the inflamed area.

my dentist told me this after a quadrupal wisdom tooth removal

[Vortex]

Ok, I'm gonna revive this thread with another dental issue of mine.

I'm having all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted within the next couple of months. They're still contained inside the gums (guess my age) and haven't taken root yet, so it should be relatively easy. Anyone have a guess as to how much this will affect my playing? I'm a hardcore player and want to take off as little time as possible. The dentist mentioned it could be as much as a week before I could get back to playing, but then he doesn't know much about sax playing except that it involves your mouth. I'm mostly worried about how much (in the short term, I know it's good for the long-term) this will mess with my embouchure and whether or not I'll be popping tylenols every 20 minutes in order to keep playing.

(insert Bugs Bunny line here) Is there a d(entist) in the house?

[bluesaxgirl]

'til you don't spit blood all over the reed.

Definately. Don't try eating a sandwich either. Oh, and there's nothing better than a bloody saxophone. (SRCSM) Advice: Sleep it off, at least you can dream of playing your saxophone.:D

[Canadiain]

Ok, I'm gonna revive this thread with another dental issue of mine.

I'm having all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted within the next couple of months. They're still contained inside the gums (guess my age) and haven't taken root yet, so it should be relatively easy. Anyone have a guess as to how much this will affect my playing?
I had mine out in my thirties. Didnt affect my playing at all, but you will be sore for a day or two, and should lay off playing for a while cos dry socket Im told is even less fun than the wisdom extraction.

Count on not wanting to play for two or three days...the back pressure will make it painful anyway, and then not playing for a few days after that.

Enjoy:)

[bari_sax_diva]

Depending on how impacted the teeth are, there may be additional reasons to wait. My top two wisdom teeth poked into my sinus cavity, and the surgeon was adament about me not playing, as it could result in air being forced up into those holes.

It was only ten days, and I recovered--just use the time to work on your piano chops or something.

-Leanne

[saxophoniste]

I had impacted wisdom teeth also and their removal was no fun as my gums required stitches after the teeth were taken out. I tried playing two days after the procedure and it just felt "weird"--my attention was so much on how my mouth felt that the quality of my practice greatly suffered. I'd advise to lay off the horn and shift your attention to listening. Sometime I find that I hear, or notice, other aspects of the music I'm studying simply because I can't play my horn. Or like bari_diva said, spend it on the piano or doing some ear training.