Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Wisdom

Another typically American AskMeFi question

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:34:13 -0800

In the Boston area, what should one expect to pay to have two wisdom teeth removed? There shouldn't be any complications. I just need the two back ones removed because I can see that they've turned black and I was so ashamed I finally went to the dentist yesterday. He gave me a referral to an oral surgeon, but I didn't have time to call for an appointment yet, much less ask for quotes. I should prefer to pay for a good one, rather than shop around too much, but I'd like to know what's reasonable. I don't have dental insurance, but I have some money, and I've been putting this off long enough.

I'm bleeding!

crazylegs — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:59:07 -0800

how much bleeding is normal after a wisdom tooth extraction? I just had a wisdom tooth removed this morning. There isn't much pain, for which I'm grateful, but I appear to be bleeding like a stuck pig. The tooth was taken out 6 hours ago. How long is this supposed to go on? I keep putting gauze pads against the hole left by the tooth and they keep coming out completely soaked in blood. Is this normal? Anything I can do to keep my blood inside of me?

list of wisdom nuggets?

k7lim — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:12:07 -0800

is there a thorough list of basic life things that adults should know? (e.g. go to the dentist twice a year, get your oil changed every __ miles, send thank you notes after interviews). not sure if these qualify as etiquette, common wisdom nuggets, or rules of thumb... but basically i want to make sure that i know what the average wise adult does.

i spent some extra years in grad school, with video games, in the dorms, and want to do a sanity check on my basic American practical knowledge (I understand there's some cultural bias to this; I didn't grow up with the full complement of American Values and Wisdom).

i've seen some books to this effect, but they seem too "self help" or "for dummies." perhaps something a bit more like the rules for my unborn son blog. i've seen rulesofthumb.org and found it a bit meandering and unfocused.

More like I need widsom insertion, amirite?

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:23:27 -0800

Talk me down: Wisdom teeth removal and utter terror. I have to have all four wisdom teeth removed. Due to the particulars of at least one of these teeth, I will need to undergo general anesthetic to have the procedure done. I am terrified -- so much so that I have put off having the surgery for almost a year even though it means that I am living with some level of constant pain.

Part of the fear is due to the fact that I watched the horror movie the dental surgeon's office shows to all their prospective patients -- the one showing exactly what could go wrong and listing all the terrible possible side effects (like permanent lack of sensation on the face, etc). But part of it is because I have never had general anesthetic before. Beyond being scared by stupid Dateline stories about people undergoing general anesthesia and being paralyzed but fully conscious of their pain, I'm also scared about complications, and worried about how I'll respond. Also, the last time I was given serious pain medication (percocet), I had a very severe reaction, and I don't want to experience that ever again.

Can someone talk me down? Has anyone had all four teeth extracted under general and emerged more-or-less unscathed? Does having had a psychotic reaction to percocet predispose me to a bad reaction to general anesthesia?

(This anonymous due to shame...)

Help me find wisdom!

big open mouth — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:52:04 -0800

MeFi virgin here, can anybody help me find wisdom? Years ago during a bout of depression I began examining myself. Some things I liked, some things I didn't. I set about fixing myself, as it were, and that has led me to where (and who) I am now. After years of intensive self-improvement I am no longer ignorant to my true feelings and motives. In short, I am happy as myself and have nothing left to fix.

Go figure.

My problem is this; I'm used to fixing myself, and need something to do with all the energy I usually direct towards improvement. For a while it only made me incredibly critical of myself and focusing on myself all the time was leaving me weary, so I had to quit.

So, I'd like to learn about philosophy. I'm a full-time college student and I unfortunately don't have time in my schedule to take additional philosophy classes, but I'd like to embark on my own personal religion/theology/philosophy research.

What books should I read? Any movies? Important quotes? Who should I learn about? I took some world religion classes in college and plan to visit certain churches and sacred places in the travel I'm planning for post-academic life (including the Ganges, the Parthenon, the Dome of the Rock)... anybody have any places I should add to that list?

Thanks!

Wisdom tooth chip right after my insurance ended. D'oh

special-k — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:28:52 -0800

I seem to have chipped a tiny bit of my upper-left wisdom tooth. My dental insurance also ran out a month ago. Now what? This evening I was trying to dislodge a piece of food but instead took out a tiny chip off my upper-left wisdom tooth. It doesn’t hurt but I can feel the jagged edge with my tongue. My dental insurance also ran out a month ago and I will not have one until I start a new job (January at the earliest, possibly as late as March).

What should I do? Is this something that needs to get fixed immediately before it gets worse? Or can I just be extra careful, taking all preventative measures to prevent bacteria from accumulating there until I have the insurance to cover this? I am not broke and can spend a few hundred bucks to fix this (but I fear that wisdom tooth removal may be in the thousands).

I live in the bay area if it matters.

Do wisdom teeth really need to come out, or is my dentist trying to hustle me?

katala — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:51:21 -0800

Do wisdom teeth really need to come out, or is my dentist trying to hustle me? My question, dear MeFites, is... do you really need to have your wisdom teeth taken out if they're not causing you any pain? My question, dear MeFites, is... do you really need to have your wisdom teeth taken out if they're not causing you any pain? I mean mankind has lived with these things in their head for thousands of years before modern dentistry and health funds made it "compulsory" to have them removed haven't we?

I have always had good strong straight teeth. The last time I saw a dentist was when I was 12 years old for a general checkup. I am now 30, I've never seen a dentist since as I've never had any trouble with my teeth, but I thought it was about time for a general checkup (I was not in any pain btw).

The dentist today took some xrays and did an examination and told me I need to have all 4 wisdom teeth out asap due to cavities and then probably a filling or root canal on one of my back molars. I won't bore you with the details but I really got the "used car salesman" vibe - scare tactics, time pressure tactics, etc.

Now my stance on wisdom teeth has always been that I wouldn't have them out - while the expense doesn't really bother me I'm not interested in the pain or the risk involved in being anesthetised.

My question then is - do my wisdom teeth really need to be removed if they're not causing me any pain, provided I learn to clean them better and just get the cavities filled??

Has anyone been in my situation and ignored the dentist with dire consequences??

I'd be very grateful for any advice you can give me and my "teef" :) Thank you :)!

A bober election day is hard to accept

Epsilon-minus semi moron — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:57:33 -0800

I'm getting two wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow(top and bottom on the same side) I've never had a tooth pulled. It is my tradition to drink while watching the election results. I know my dentist would recommend against this. If I *were* to drink on Tuesday, how bad would that be? Anyone have experience with the tooth extractions and the drinking? Also feel free to share your recommendations for food/after care/things I should expect

Source code refactoring website?

zzztimbo — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:17:23 -0800

I'm looking for a website where people post source code and then others comment on improvements.

How much does the living tissue weigh in a fully developed wisdom tooth?

Null Pointer and the Exceptions — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:12:49 -0800

How much does the living tissue weigh in a fully developed wisdom tooth?

The Best Gift of All!

doorsfan — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:49:46 -0800

My son is almost 1.5 – I’d like to make him a life book I’d like to compile book (hard copy book, electronic file, blog) for my toddler about life - experiences he may never know (because of advances in our lives), anecdotes, general tips about life. I’d like to share it with him (and future offspring) when he is in his young teens (or maybe a wedding present) to hopefully provide written insight from his old man.

I come to you for your insight. Dig deep, share your wisdom and thoughts. Hopefully we’ll get a lot of responses from this one.

Anecdotes, life tips, “if I knew then what I know now…”, When I was in school we didn’t have cell phones…the sky's the limit!

Jewish Wisdom

jasondigitized — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:48:17 -0800

Looking for wisdom from Judaism. A while back, someone posted a link to a great essay. It was chock full of Jewish wisdom. I can't remember the context, but I want to say it had to do with success and achievement. As opposed to saying that ego-gratification and success were a bad thing, the essay instead pointed out that there was virtue in doing things for yourself and virtue in aquiring the trappings of success. Anyone want to conjure up a link for me? How about any other essays and articles filled with good Judaic wisdom?

pain control

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Thu, 24 May 2007 12:19:39 -0800

Vicodin is not working for my post-wisdom tooth holes, what do I do? Appointment was at 8:20, was home at 10:30. Took Vicodin (5mg hydrocodone and 500mg acetaminophen) #1 at 10:49. Then I took a nap and woke up at 12:20 at which point I was in a lot of pain. I changed the stupid bloody gauze and took Vicodin #2. Vicodin #2 did not get rid of very much pain and I was still feeling pain and crying after taking it.

Now it is 2:17 and my former teeth hurt quite a bit but I am being told not to take more drugs for some absurd amount of time. What do I do? Can I just take two now and hope that it works?

Help me write my art & design college commencement speech!

SoylentErin — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:48:20 -0800

What would you want to say to a community of brand new thinkers/changers/makers? Or what advice can you give me about commencement speeches in general? I'm a graduating senior at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design and would like to (and feel obligated to) give our commencement speech. Next week, interested students are supposed to present an outline of what we'd like to say, and the graduates will vote for the speaker/speech they'd like.

I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to say, but was wondering if any Metafilter folks had ideas of ideas relevant for students entering the arts community, both fine & commercial.

I have some ideas already, but want to leave the question as open as I can!

Thanks!

Buffett quotes

Kwantsar — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 21:16:02 -0800

Please help me find two Warren Buffet quotes/articles I have two recollections, and I can't find them by googling:

1. I remember a lengthy extended-metaphor piece during the tech boom, in which WB wrote about the history of the auto industry, alluding to all of the firms that had come and gone (I think one was named Omaha Motors Co, or something similar that Buffett admitted he saw as quaint). I think the page background was yellow.

2. A quote that goes a little something like "If I only had to run a million dollars, I could average 50% per year forever."

Where are these quotes from? Please do not bother linking to the shareholder letters or annual reports. I have skimmed their corpus, and I know where to find them.

The WQ of Solomon?

rongorongo — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 02:11:51 -0800

We all know about IQ - but has anybody ever tried to make a standardised test for wisdom? I know that wisdom is a valuable asset and that it is something pretty much impossible to measure objectively. Then again so is intelligence and that hasn't stopped the world wading in. It does seem to me that at least some aspects of wisdom - such as the ability to plan well, accurate understanding of human behaviour, a tendency to copy or agree with others that have been successful or even a good knowledge of "wise sayings" - would indeed be quite measurable. Equally I guess it would be possible to measure wisdom in terms of conformance to a religious doctrine. Has anybody ever tried to do this in a systematic way?

Relocated tooth

zinegurl — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 15:35:58 -0800

After having an impacted wisdom tooth removed over three weeks ago the adjacent molar seems to have relocated because it feels like it's more elevated now and I can no longer bite down completely (there's also some sensitivity). I'm worried that I won't be able to eat certain types of foods anymore and chew gum because of it but what would a dentist/oral surgeon/periodontist be able to do to take care of this problem?

post wisdom teeth extraction: can i start smoking again now?

defmute — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 02:04:19 -0800

how long should i wait before smoking after i had my wisdom teeth removed? did i mention that i'm deathy afraid of dry socket? so this little handout my dentist gave me said that i should abstain from smoking for five days after my operation. i got my teeth out at approximately 2 pm, october 3rd. right now it's 4 am, october 8th. if my gums still feel noticably sore (more or less how they felt two days ago) but not getting any worse, is that a green light to start smoking again?

why should i have my wisdom teeth removed?

brandz — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 09:04:48 -0800

is it important to have your wisdom teeth removed? why? they really don't bother me at all.

Who else writes the kind of essays that David Foster Wallace writes?

scarylarry — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 05:42:55 -0800

I really like the essays that David Foster Wallace collects in _A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again_ and _Consider the Lobster_. Which essayists take a similar approach? I've just read and thoroughly enjoyed DFW's two collections of essays/reviews (in fact, I liked them better than I've liked his fiction). I find thrilling the way he combines esoteric and hyperintellectual meditation/contemplation, travelogue, personal anecdote, and hilarious self-depricatory wit. I'm well-read in fiction, but haven't done much essay reading outside of an academic context. What other collections (or individual essays) might I enjoy? On KCRW's Bookworm, Wallace was compared to Thurber, who I've put on my reading list. Who else? Thanks!

Wisdom teeth coming out. Can I save money by getting dental insurance?

sdis — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 22:35:42 -0800

So I need my wisdom teeth out, asap, and I've been quoted $1500. Can I save money by getting dental insurance? By ASAP, I mean that my appointment with this surgeon I've been referred to is in 2 weeks (he's all booked up), and I can try and call every day for a cancellation, and that I can't wait much longer than 2 weeks.

Followup question, when is it worth getting dental insurance?

Followup #2: I'm not getting mauled by this dentist, am I? $300 for nitrous, $300/tooth?

True, Useful and Kind

anglophiliated — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 07:30:22 -0800

Help me source a bit of wisdom about advice and criticism. A friend recently said something about offering advice or criticism: that before anyone does so they should ask themselves if it meets at least two of the following criteria: that it be useful, that it be true, and that it be kind. I had never heard this before and I am wondering where it comes from? He doesn’t know where he first heard it. Is it folk wisdom? Religious teaching? From a self help book? A parenting book? Any help?

Two states side by side, with amoxycilin 3 times per day in peace and security until finished.

rschram — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 19:53:09 -0800

How long must I abstain from exercise after a tooth extraction? Today I had four wisdom teeth removed. Everything is going OK; the mouth is healing as we speak. I was told to avoid strenuous exercise for one week to ensure I don't start bleeding again. Is this true? How do you know when you're safe? (I know AskMe probably isn't the best place to solicit medical advice, but since the instruction came from a health care subprofessional whose main task was to escort me to the elevator, and, like most of the chats I have with this clinic's staff, it sounded as rehearsed as a state department official's wish for a Palestinian state or a nuclear free Korean peninsula. In general, I can't actually have the face time with the people who know enough to give me advice particular to me. I suppose the next best thing is to hear others' experiences. I know that people have been writing in about dental stuff lately, and I'm sorry if this is redundant, but it's because those queries got so many good responses that I'm asking.)

Wisdom Teeth Questions

AMWKE — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 14:31:04 -0800

ToothFilter: I just had 4 wisdom teeth removed today and I have few questtions. First, the bottom set were both sides, while the top ones came in straight, does that mean I'm more at risk for dry sockets?

It's been about 4 hours now and most of my mouth is still numb, with not much pain yet, and I've only taken one vicodin. I still get blood every now and then from the teeth, is something wrong? I've already began rinsing with saltwater.

Any tipcs to avoid dry sockets?

I'm 21 btw,

Extracting Wisdom

aladfar — Mon, 07 Jun 2004 14:26:38 -0800

Extracting Wisdom: I've been putting it dodging it for years, but it's looking (and feeling) like I'm going to have to get my wisdom teeth pulled. I do have insurance, but I have to go to a specific provider - a provider I've never actually been to before. Any advice on questions I should ask or things I should look for? Is one oral surgeon as good as another or should I shop around and/or pay extra if needed?