it probably depends if you get it removed preventively (i.e. as they grow in crooked) as opposed to if they are already causing problems, and I'm sure how they grow in (eg the 90 degree people--which wikipedia says is only 3%--must have a much harder time/probably just get knocked under)
I got lucky I guess, just had local anesthetic (novacaine/procaine I believe) and no pain, neither after the procedure nor during. Had all 4 removed--my dentist said something about at least 1 of my teeth that he wanted to "show off" to another dentist. It was about the roots on the tooth, but I dunno if it was an unusual number (eg 3 or 5 compared to the typical 2 or 4) or something else about the roots. I know it wasn't particularly long--wikipedia has a picture of a long 2 root wisdom tooth--but meh, can't remember.
So some people get to have normal conversations with their dentist even as they pull away at a tooth for .5 hour