Do I Have to Stop HRT Before Wisdom Teeth Removal?

[Mila2015]

Hey everyone. I'm planning to tell more of my story, but for now, this is an urgent question. I'm 20 yo and finally saw my gender therapist and got my hormones Friday the 27th. I'm super happy with that and was planning on starting them today.

But my jaw has been feeling a little weird the past few weeks, and last night the back left part of my gums started hurting. I'm pretty sure it's my wisdom teeth. 2 years ago my orthodontist told me I had to go to the dentist to get them removed but me being stubborn, I never did it.

Now I think I'm going to have to do it. Have any of you had your wisdom teeth removed while on HRT? Did you have to stop taking your hormones for 2-3 weeks before the procedure like you would with other surgeries?

I obviously would love to start them today, but if they tell me I need to stop them 2 week prior, starting them today could end up delaying everything even more so...

I'd appreciate any answers. Thanks (:

[ImagineKate]

Talk to your dental surgeon and be honest about HRT. He/she will tell you. The issue is clotting risk. They may say hold off.

[AnonyMs]

I needed surgery and had the same issue.

It was probably far more significant that your's, but nothing like SRS. I can't quite remember, but I think I stayed in the hospital only 1 night.

I did disclose to the surgeon and he had no idea about any risk of estrogen. In retrospect that's not surprising, its not something he'd ever come across. I decided to stop HRT and leave a gap, as per the SRS protocols. My idea not his.

I doubt it was necessary at all, but I always play it safe.

It seems unlikely that your dentist will know the answer, and personally I'm not sure I'd trust him if he did. How's he supposed to know that? Does he specialize in transgender dentistry?

Even if anyone did have wisdom teeth removed safely while on HRT it doesn't mean you will. I don't think there's anything you could read into that.

The safe option is to delay HRT, but there's probably no need. At least delaying is not as bad as stopping once you've started.

I get a feeling this is not really helpful, but its all I have.

[Ayden]

I'm on different meds, being from the guys side, but to toss in, I had mild oral surgery and my doctor didn't see a reason for me to go off my meds. I would say however, if you feel comfortable with the oral surgeon to ask them first. You can also ask your endo or whoever does your blood work. It's always best to safe. I know my niece was on some pretty strong birth control when she had her appendix removed and the doctor wanted her to go off it for a month.

[ImagineKate]

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It seems unlikely that your dentist will know the answer, and personally I'm not sure I'd trust him if he did. How's he supposed to know that? Does he specialize in transgender dentistry?

You don't need to disclose trans status. Just disclose that you are taking estrogen. Cis women take it too, post hysto and post menopause. Cis women also take oral birth control which contains hormones.

[Eva]

Ive done a full orthodontic cleaning, but that was just a very powerful local anesthetic... I told them what my meds were, they never suggested I stop... Ive also done voice feminization surgery and they knew what Im on and I wasnt told to stop at all for that... That was a general anesthetic for 2 hours... I just recently did a 7 hour full FFS and while I was told to go off "all  hrt" I didnt and Im still here    

Id say no in your case but since your so new to HRT it might be better to wait until your done first.... If your not going with general anesthetic I see no reason at all not to start HRT though

[ImagineKate]

Ive also done voice feminization surgery and they knew what Im on and I wasnt told to stop at all for that... That was a general anesthetic for 2 hours...

Just on a side note, dr Kim said I have to stop hormones 14 days before VFS. So every surgeon varies.

Wisdom tooth removal involves bleeding and clotting so that is the primary concern, not anesthetic.

[Eva]

Just on a side note, dr Kim said I have to stop hormones 14 days before VFS. So every surgeon varies.

Wisdom tooth removal involves bleeding and clotting so that is the primary concern, not anesthetic.

Sorry to hear that Kate, I obviously disagree with your doc but I wont argue with anyone here 

I know whats involved with pulling teeth, there might be some bleeding for sure but unless Im mistaken the actual "clotting risk" comes from the anesthetic right Simply bleeding and healing as far as I know doesn't increase the risk for blood clots right

[ImagineKate]

I don't disagree with you. Just saying every surgeon is different. I would make it a point to follow their instructions because they can deny you surgery or worse yet something can happen and they won't be liable because you did not follow instructions.

But if Dr Haben says it's OK then it's OK and you follow his instructions.

[mmmmm]

You don't need to stop with HRT even for 8 or 10 hour FFS surgery. If a surgeon has an experienced anesthesiologist he can trust, there is no reason for any fear. They will monitor you, use something for blood circulation (if needed), or any other type of prevention, so nothing can happen. If a surgeon doesn't have an anesthesiologist he can trust, well... that's a much bigger problem on every level. Also, biological women have surgeries, and most of them have normal hormonal levels, and there's no problem about it. Noone says now we need to shut down your ovaries for 6 weeks before surgery and 3 weeks after, because we fear the risk of blood clotting. This is all mostly because of little too paranoid endocrinologists, who often have zero experience with anything related to surgery.
Stopping HRT makes sense for SRS or any other surgery with risk or expectation for higher amount of blood loss.

[luna nyan]

If you haven't started HRT yet and are concerned, the safest option would be to delay starting till after your surgery.  As far as I know, there has been no literature regarding blood clot risk after wisdom tooth surgery whilst being on HRT for transgender people.

As with any surgical procedure there is the risk of bruising, swelling, etc.  the degree will vary depending on surgeon skill, the severity of the wisdom tooth impaction, and how much work is required to gain access to remove the teeth.   I would say that the risk of a clot would be related to the difficulty of the surgery, but regardless, would be quite low, as wisdom tooth surgery generally does not involve work on any major blood vessels so the risk of a major bleed is close to non-existent.

Good luck with it, and make sure you get them all out in one go if you're having it done under a general anaesthetic.  It's about a weeks recovery after surgery so if you have them out one at a time, you potentially will lose a month of your life to recovery from wisdom teeth.

[Arch]

I might have a couple of wisdom teeth yanked this year (yes, at my age). Is it all right to drive yourself home afterward? I suppose I should do some research.

[luna nyan]

I might have a couple of wisdom teeth yanked this year (yes, at my age). Is it all right to drive yourself home afterward? I suppose I should do some research.

Why are you asking here? Lol

Mouth full of stitches, numb, maybe a bit of bleeding.  What do you think? 

[AnonyMs]

I might have a couple of wisdom teeth yanked this year (yes, at my age). Is it all right to drive yourself home afterward? I suppose I should do some research.

I've been under general anesthetic and they make a big deal about not driving for 24 hours due to the residual effects of the anesthetic. It dangerous.

I assume you're not doing that, but its possible that whatever they do give you is also dangerous for a period.

Best just ask them.

[Ayden]

I might have a couple of wisdom teeth yanked this year (yes, at my age). Is it all right to drive yourself home afterward? I suppose I should do some research.

I was trying to sing show tunes while complaining that I couldn't "feel my things and they're flying away". So, if you go totally under I'd say no. Locals maybe, but that's still a maybe. I walk from my current dentist but even after my root canals I was loopy.