I had all four impacted wisdom teeth removed over the course of the last month and half. There was a high probability for my surgeon to have to break my jaw in order to remove the lower ones, but the roots happened to be curved and apparently that helped. The roots also, indeed, did sit above my lower mandible nerve, and the full nerve was visible. I was prescribed a high dose of some type of steroid just for precaution since the nerve was so plainly visible on the left side.
Not out of the woods yet, Pooty, as dry socket is a very real possibility. Impacted wisdom teeth face a 30% higher chance of dry socket, above those that are non-impacted teeth. Dry socket occurs when the blood clots in the hole where the teeth where are flushed out and bone is exposed and tissue regrowth is slowed down. The pain is said to be excruciating, the worst in the dental field. The pain can radiate to the face, neck, and up to the ears.
Dry socket symptoms don't show up until around the third day after extraction.
