I didn't get any pain pills after wisdom teeth. I had local anesthetic and nitrous oxide gas to ease me, but not enough to sedate me (and obviously, no IV).

Some people are given pain pills because their teeth are impacted and the doctors have to break bones; the surgery is far more painful in the recovery stage than if it goes normally.

Even still, a common theme amongst my friends who got vicodin after the surgery was them not taking the pills, or only taking a single dose the day after to manage the pain.