What's it like having your wisdom teeth extracted?!

What's it like having your wisdom teeth extracted?

I have to have mine removed tomorrow and I am more scared than I have ever been.
1.) I have never been sedated EVER.
2.) I'm scared of IV's. I've been for as long as I can remember - the fear of IV's for me is like the fear of needles for a lot of people.
3.) I watch all those medical emergency shows and i'm afraid some sort of scalpel is going to fall down my throat.

i've never had surgery and i'm sooo scared i am going to be in sooo much pain.
have you had this done? how much does it hurt and when does it STOP hurting? what's like to be IV'd or given laughing gas?

aaah! lol

3 days ago
yeahhh i'm getting all 4 of em out.

D:

Tricks: Before you go in, have a little cooler ready with iced stuff to sip during recovery. For my kids I packed little juice containers, yogurt drinks, water of course, and non sweetened tea. I also had what's called a flexible ice bandage, which is like a rectangle gel thing you freeze, that you can wrap under your entire jaw. If you get two, one can be freezing while one is in use. THAT is key in keeping the swelling down. Get that on your face the second you come in the house and lie down. My daughter took exactly ONE of the pain pills they provided for her after having her wisdom teeth out, and she's no superhero. It really had to do with preparing ahead of time, having that ice, and having her rest easy for the entire day after the procedure. Three out of three of us have had this result in my house, so I'd say it's a pretty good method.
You won't really be scared once they start, so on your way to the procedure just breathe deeply and think about how soon you'll be done and telling the story of how you were so scared, and it was a piece of cake. If you keep focusing on how scared you are, and how much pain you'll be in, your muscles will be all tense and you'll make this harder than it has to be. RELAX. I'll bet they've done one or two of these before. Enjoy relaxing.
The funniest thing EVER was when the dental surgeon was explaining to my 19-year-old son how he will have to lie on the couch and let mom serve him while he relaxes, to recover from the procedure, and in his post-op slur he said "Pretty much life as usual, then?"