Hi ikarus
When taking any tooth out there’s a hierarchy of difficulty:-
Simple forceps extraction - the dentist gets hold of the tooth with the forceps and removes it.
Sectioning and elevating – the roots (of a multi-rooted tooth) are separated from each other and each one extracted individually.
Soft tissue surgery – in order to get at the tooth a flap of soft tissue has to be raised.
Hard tissue surgery – in order to get at the tooth bone has to be removed.
Each tooth is individual and there may be additional factors (such as how broken down the tooth is, its position relative to surrounding teeth, and the shape/size of the roots), but as a ‘rule of thumb’ as you move through the hierarchy the greater the amount of post operative pain/swelling there will be, and the greater chance of other post operative complications.
Generally speaking 3rd molars (wisdom teeth) being right at the back of the mouth are a bit more difficult to get at, however upper wisdom teeth often aren’t that difficult to extract, it’s the lower ones that tend to cause the problems. This is because the jaw raises at the back which means the tooth is more likely to be covered by gum or bone, and the shape of the jaw where it rises can cause the tooth to erupt at an angle and become impacted against the tooth in front (also the lower jaw has a higher bone density than the upper) – all of which means that having to do soft or hard tissue surgery is more likely.
In any event your dentist should be able to access the situation and give you an idea of what’s involved. For a simple forceps extraction you may feel ok to fly the next day (but probably a good idea to take one day off post op just in case of complications) – if bone surgery’s involved you might need a up to a week.