So I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed...

[Aramika]

Most college students spend their spring breaks at the beach, working, or sleeping. I get to spend mine getting my wisdom teeth removed. Fortunately, I only have three to be removed and none of them are impacted. I’m still a bit worried about it though. I can deal with pain - unfortunately I deal with ankle pain on a daily basis - but I’m mainly worried about what I can and cannot eat. I looked up some articles online to get some ideas, but I’d thought I would also turn to the nice people here at CS.com for advice.

So for those of you who have had this procedure, what foods do you recommend? I’m not a really picky eater so I’m open to all suggestions (except hummus - I just can't stand the stuff :p).

[Broomjockey]

I just drank those energy shakes for the first 2 days, then moved on to things like soup for another couple. Around the 5th day I was back to eating regular food, as long as it wasn't too tough.

[AdminAssistant]

I too spent a Spring Break with ice paks on my cheeks. :p

1. ICE. It is your friend. Keep it on your face the entire first day. They may even give you the little baggy things at the doctors.

2. Don't expect to do anything the rest of that day - maybe the next.

3. Do what the doctor tells you to! He/She'll give you a list of things, probably.

No straws. Dry sockets suck, apparently.

You want soft, mushy food - and realize that you'll be recovering from some kind of anaesthesia and be on pain meds so....baked potatoes, mac'n'cheese, things that are easy on the stomach. Little Debbies are awesome - oatmeal cream pies and fudge rounds!! You won't have a full range of motion with your mouth - so you want things that can be eaten in tiny bites. I always get a craving for Sprite whenever I'm not feeling well. :shrug: Soup would probably be OK, but you'll have to be careful not to slurp it off the spoon. Suction = BAD

They will probably put in stiches that will work themselves out after a week or so. It's kind of icky but perfectly normal.

[Greenday]

Well, about an hour or two after getting my wisdom tooth pulled (only had to have one pulled at the time), my girlfriend and I went out to lunch and I ate matzahball soup and chicken fingers. I managed to eat the matzahball soup no problem, but I could only eat one chicken finger. My mouth was too sore to open wide enough to take bites.

So my suggestion would be soups, preferably a nice easy broth to drink since it's full of protein. Matzahball soup was easy to eat. The balls are very soft and easy to ingest, letting you fill your stomach.

Also, gargle warm saltwater. That helps a lot too, helping keeping it clean. Doesn't have to be long. Don't even really have to gargle it. Just swish it around a lil.

And vicodin. That helps A LOT.

[BethB]

Ice cream, yogurt and pudding were my friends(along with little bro and sister). We all travelled out of town on the day of my surgery(the looks my mom got...evil. I looked like a total junkie and she's helping me to stand and walk). Basically soft foods. and NO chips,pretzels or crunchies for like two weeks. That's what I was told anyways

[Becks]

I was bad when I got my wisdom tooth taken out.

First thing I did when I left the dentist was have a smokey treat.

Later in the day I tried eating rice, but it doesn't taste too yummy mixed with blood.

I don't remember what I managed to eat later, though.

[JLRodgers]

When I had all 4 of my impacted wisdom teeth removed at once (made for about 1 crappy week after the pain meds ran out -- I was given some pill that made me see my brain float in my skull, first week was great, could open mouth completely/etc with no problems... week after.... not so much). Anyway, I basically lived on "finely chopped vegetables in potato soup" (thick soup or runny mashed potatoes depending on how you looked at it).

Basically I just did something simple: follow what the dentist said, and then eat whatever I could fit into my mouth.



Although they did have to cut my gum area open, cut up the teeth and extract them through the hole.... so I may of had a worst-case thing. And I do recall my first words when I was woken up "you had better of taken all 4 out"

[Sonoma]

I too spent a Spring Break with ice paks on my cheeks. :p


Seems to be a common thing to do on Spring Break - I got to do it too. :wave:

It's been so long now, I don't have any specific suggestions. Milkshake with a spoon was very tasty. Beyond that, my only specific memory is the horse pills they gave me to take. There was no way my mouth would open that far. I think we cut them in half - made it easier to get them down.

Good luck, before too long, it will be just a memory.

[iradney]

Sleep sitting up for the first day - otherwise you have swelling in the face which doesn't help with pain. And keep the icepack on as long as you can. I did that when I had all 4 wisdoms removed and I had little to no swelling.

Luke warm soup is good, as is yoghurt and icecream.

[Sliceanddice]

my dentest told me this and it is the truth, DAIRY!!!!
Ice cream, milk, cream cheese, cottage chese, sour cream all good, first few day stay away from hot (makes you bleed more) and stick to warmish... ok cold food. soft but not crumbly so no bread but pita and tortias are ok.

[protege]

Whatever you do, keep those sockets clean. From what I understand, if they get infected...it's rather painful!

I got all of mine taken out before I left for college. At the time, I'd had hernia surgery the month before, and since the hospital screwed up by giving me too much of the knockout meds...I couldn't get knocked totally out this time. My mouth was numb, but let me tell you. You *don't* want to be awake during this surgery. Trust me--I saw everything going in and out, plus I felt most of it :eek:

That wasn't the worst of it though. Since I was a bit sleepy, my father would come in so often to change the gauze in my mouth. One time, one of the stitches got caught in it...as Dad was trying to change it :eek: I couldn't scream...so I did the next best thing--I punched him. Hard, and in the face...enough to knock him across the room :devil:

Seriously though, I found that soup and milkshakes were awesome. Well, that and Jello :p

[AdminAssistant]

Saltwater is great - but be careful when you swish! You have to tilt your head back and to the side and just let gravity handle it.

[jedimaster91]

I was a dumb dumb when I got mine pulled and went to lunch at Logan's with the family afterwards. Couldn't chew worth crap and I had to physically place my lips on my Sprite glass to keep from dumping it all over myself. I think I ended up eating soup, but I didn't have much of an appeitite the first day or so. I also didn't get knocked out for the procedure; just numbed up real good and they put me on nitrous oxide (laughing gas). That was good times. My face was pretty swollen for about a week or so, but luckily I wasn't in too much pain after the first day. I only took the Percocet at night to sleep maybe three times. Of course, I was an easy case. None of mine were impacted and only the bottom ones had broken through the gum.

[Broomjockey]

My mouth was numb, but let me tell you. You *don't* want to be awake during this surgery. Trust me--I saw everything going in and out, plus I felt most of it :eek:


I dunno. I wasn't knocked out. I had the local injection, nitrous, plus a sedative (I wanna say Halcyon, but I don't think that's right...), and I spent most of the time laughing. I remember the surgery pretty well, actually. I remember about 20 minutes collective of the 24 hours after that, but the surgery itself I still have. I guess mine were impacted, though they didn't hurt. And the only thing I really felt was the pressure they had to use to crack the teeth in to bits before pulling the pieces out. I tell yas, my doc was *awesome.*

[JLRodgers]

Awake during it? Hmm... maybe it was the type I had but the dentist said (when I asked) "oh, no, we knock you out" in a way that made me think "oh, my god.... what are you going to be doing to me that you apparently made sound all nice and fluffy?!?"

And knock me out they did.... when they tried to wake me the first time (I say first as I was sitting in a chair, they woke me and I fell out of it and had to be helped up).

[AdminAssistant]

They knocked me out completely - and I say it's the way to go. Although, they gave me laughing gas before they put in the IV (I guess cuz some people have needle issues?). But I have difficult veins, and I was so stoned I couldn't properly make a fist to help them find one. It was hilarious.

I woke up sitting upright in the chair, and the nurse was able to walk me out, but they had to keep pulling my head up. They got me in the back seat of the car, I slept the whole way home (my dentist sent me to a guy in Memphis, he said he didn't trust any of the local people, and that office didn't have the facilities). Then Mom kept me on the couch so that she could keep an eye on me, rotate my ice packs, wake me up for my medicine (doc put me on a pain pill/tylenol/motrin regimen), and such.

[tropicsgoddess]

Some pudding, jello, soup for starters, at first it's hard to open your mouth wide, but once you can get on to eating more normal foods, something like pasta or noodles. Oh and definitely do your salt water rinses, dry socket or infections are a serious bitch to deal with.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I had mine out when I was 18...on New Year's Eve. :party:

I didn't have too many problems, except the pain meds made me sick. I was in the basement watching movies but I almost threw up, and after that I moved to my parents' room and watched TV from my mom's adjustable bed so I could be closer to the bathroom (I didn't actually throw up...I came pretty close, though). I tried the meds one more time later (I don't remember what they gave me), when I had a little more in my stomach, and while I didn't get as nauseated, it still made me feel queasy. Luckily the pain was mild enough that I was able to stick with Tylenol after that.

As far as food...jello (cherry!), ice cream, mac and cheese, pudding.... Soup is good but make sure it's not too hot. The surgeon sent me home with a can of Ensure, which my mom made into a milkshake. I don't think I'd have wanted to drink the Ensure by itself, but mixed with ice cream it wasn't too bad. Ice cream makes everything better. :yes:

Yeah, I was asleep long before midnight that year.

[Mr. Rager!]

For me the actual surgery was painless. They knocked me out.

Healing on the other hand. Listen to what the Dr has to say about the taking care of your wounds. LISTEN! I didn't listen and one of my gums swelled up so bad that I couldn't close my mouth so I had to go to the doctor. Then he jammed a needle into my gums (without numbing me up) and drained them. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life.

Oh, and I liked ice cream. Any flavor. My mistake was getting the rocky road though... (nuts).

[BookstoreEscapee]

Oh, and I liked ice cream. Any flavor. My mistake was getting the rocky road though... (nuts).

Yeah, one ice cream caveat there...no stuff mixed in. (Which is fine with me cuz I like my ice cream smooth and unadulterated :))

[Reyneth]

I had an amazing Oral Surgeon and I was eating mac & cheese that night. No issues with anything - except DO NOT eat rice!!!! You don't want it stuck down in the holes!

I had 3 regular, 1 regular that had cracked in half and another extra baby one aken out that day (although he missed the other "extra" baby one and I had to have it out a few years ago!) and was lucky in that I had no issues other than my top teeth shifted because of them coming in, ruining some of the good braces did for me.

[JLRodgers]

that reply about the needles in the gums reminded me of the one disgusting side effeft: my cheeks/mouth swelled up -- and the puss crap oozed out into my mouth so I was constantly tasting it. Pushing my cheeks slightly caused it to squirt into my mouth.

Water is your friend.

[Mr Slugger]

When I had mine pulled they weren't too bad. I actually had 6 teeth pulled. 5 wisdom teeth (Yes 5 I'm a freak) and a broken tooth. After I got down from the knock out high I had mac and cheese. Next day I stuck to eggs, soup, pasta, and ice cream. By the 3rd day I had meatloaf. Stayed away from steak for a week.

The only thing that sucked was the stitches. They itched like all hell.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I once worked with a girl who had hers out and her entire jaw was swelled up and bruised. Which wasn't pretty when it got to that yellow stage...

I've had a number of teeth out and I've never had any major problems. I had several baby teeth out as a kid (at least 6, over two or three different occasions), and before I got my braces on when I was 11, I had to get all four of the first premolars out, because my jaw is too small for all my teeth. Then I had braces for 3 years and retainers for 4 years, and my orthodontist said that I could get rid of the retainers once I got my bottom wisdom teeth out. The oral surgeon looked at my xrays and said I should get them all done because if I didn't I'd be back there in 6 months to get the top ones out. So, yeah, I have only 24 teeth.

Aside from the meds for my wisdom teeth making me sick, the only other problem I had was when I was 11. I was resting for a while after I woke up, and starting to get antsy, and complaining that I wanted to go home. Finally the doc said I could go, and I was standing next to my mom at the counter while she wrote a check. I passed out, grabbed my mom's arm, and took her down with me. Which only bought me another half hour of resting in the recovery room. :( When I got my wisdom teeth out my mom made my dad come with us...;)

[Aramika]

Thanks for all the advice people! I'm going in today and have a freezer overflowing with ice cream waiting for me when I come back so I think I'll do ok. :D

[Shangri-laschild]

Eating is going to suck.....don't forget you have to though if you want to take the vicoden. That's what I did and I ended up feeling even more like crap. Warm broth that's not a strong flavor is also a good one. Take care!