<p>FYI, our oral surgeon for D2 used a fairly long-lasting numbing anesthetic – they said she would not need the Vicodin until about 12 hours after the surgery (although she took the prescription Tylenol right after getting home), and her pain and swelling would likely peak on the 3rd day. That is indeed about how it went.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if this is good or not, but D2 was working the night shift when she had hers out. She had 'em out at about 9 am, and just went to sleep for eight hours after getting home. I would wake her up to change her gauze every 30 minutes or so as needed (maybe did this 6 times), freshen her ice pack, then she would zonk again. Gave her meds w/ food as required. She said later it might have been best, she barely remembers the whole day. :)</p>
<p>Although everyone is different, you should make arrangements to be able to be there Day 2 if necessary. My D definitely needed me to help change the gauze, make sure she got her pain meds and generally be available because she felt nauseated. She was one of the unlucky ones that took longer to heal…also ended up having 5 wisdom teeth in there! Good luck!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Narcotic painkillers are not necessary (and some people have reactions ranging from digestive upset to addiction/withdrawal symptoms). I just used cold packs (get a supply so you can rotate them between the freezer and your face). If OTC painkillers are desired, acetaminophen is usually recommended over NSAIDs like aspirin and ibuprofen due to NSAIDs bleeding possibilities, but beware of the dose limits of acetaminophen (and note that some narcotics also have acetaminophen). Yes, your jaw will be sore without painkillers, but the soreness will let you know to continue eating a soft diet while it remains.</p></li>
<li><p>If oral antibiotics are prescribed (common, and sometimes criticized as being an overuse), the effects can be annoying on your digestive system. Yogurt or kefir with live cultures may be helpful to repopulate your intestinal flora. Note that these foods are easily swallowed and have protein and calcium to help with the healing.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The other thing to consider is whether the extraction is being done because of specific issues with the teeth, or prophylactically. There is controversy about whether prophylactic extraction, as commonly done in the US, really makes sense (in some other countries, it is only done when a specific problem occurs, like decay or infection in the wisdom tooth or nearby teeth due to an impacted wisdom tooth).</p>
<p>Great advice in the postings. When my daughter had her 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed, she slept using a backrest to help decrease swelling. We used the ice gel packs in a sleeve with velcro straps. We were able to connect the straps together to keep the ice on her cheeks. We also had 2 extra ice pack in the freezer and alternated them. I did wake her for her pain medication and she was able to switch to tylenol the next day. Do not use a straw and no vigorous swishing of water or mouth wash, (you do not want to dislodge the clots). My daughter ate lukewarm or cold liquid food the first day and graduated to a soft diet the next morning. Yogurt is a good thing to have on hand to help with the digestion of pain meds and antibiotic. Best of luck.</p>
<p>There have been several threads on wisdom teeth, its one of the last age related milestones.( like chicken pox used to be- I admit as long as I know it isn’t a chronic condition, I like nursing them, it reminded me of when they were little)</p>
<p>Pay attention to the points that are repeated by several posters, they could be important.</p>
<p>I don’t remember if the girls had locals or general now, but local can be easier to recover from.( it’s what I had with my knee replacement)
Pain will depend on how much tissue damage there is. One tooth had to be removed in pieces sideways.
Swelling did increase after a couple days- it was hard to get D to use enough ice.</p>
<p>When changing gauze- don’t just pull it out - you could dislodge a clot & be sad.
Squirt warm water in the mouth first to loosen the gauze.</p>
<p>Make sure they have something in their stomach before they take the meds. Yogurt or kefir is good you can also get pro biotics to help replenish tummy flora once the antibiotics are done.</p>
<p>My oldest fainted when going to the bathroom when the anesthetic was leaving her body, I barely kept her from hitting her head! :o
Poor kid- she was the first so she was who I practiced on.
I should have had three kids so I could have perfected my skilzs!</p>
<p>Yes, watch out for fainting. My mother was helping my sister to the bathroom after her surgery, stood in front of her, sister fainted and nearly knocked Mom down. </p>
<p>Recovery can vary widely. My D was wacky on the way home from her surgery; stuck her feet out the car window! She recovered very quickly and went over to a friend’s house to stay over night the next day! She did not need the pain meds, just Tylenol. </p>
<p>I was off work for a week when I had my four impacted teeth out at age 18. I was still eating soft foods 10 days post surgery.</p>
<p>You definitely need someone with you the day of surgery, that night, and probably the second day too.</p>
<p>Lots of good advice here. Just to add: sometimes wisdom teeth extraction is no big deal. My D sailed right through it; minor to moderate discomfort, no infection, up and around in 2 days; soft food for about a week. I hope yours has a similar experience. We spent a lot of time at Smoothie King.</p>
<p>I agree it is dairy heavy, texture is a big part of comfort food.
Mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, ice cream, oatmeal…
Good yogurt is pretty digestible, for many people though, Jello- vintage hospital staple that it is, doesn’t really have much food value.
Also watch out for seeds in the yogurt, that can get stuck in the wound.</p>
<p>I have to share the following, although I will tell you right up front that it is nonsense.</p>
<p>Before my son had his wisdom teeth removed, a friend told him that the way to prevent swelling was to eat a whole fresh pineapple the day before. My wife (a doctor) scoffed at this advice, but my son likes pineapple, so he ate one. And he really had very little swelling and recovered pretty quickly. “See,” we told my wife, “the pineapple is magic!” Again she scoffed, and pointed out that he followed advice, kept the ice packs on, stayed upright, etc. When my daughter had her wisdom teeth out, she also ate the pineapple, and she also had little swelling (although she did have dry socket a bit later). Again, the same round of scoffing, etc. Her friend didn’t eat the pineapple, and had lots of swelling.</p>
<p>Tell her to avoid any soft drinks or drinking anything through a straw. My wife mistakenly did that after a tooth extraction, which dislodged the scab and gave her a dry socket. Horrible pain for a week that only strong doses of Percocet could handle…until we found out that the doctor could “pack” the wound (which basically acted like a temporary scab until the real one formed again). If the pain doesn’t get better after the second day she may have a dry socket. Waste no time calling the doctor if that happens!</p>
<p>I had my four wisdom teeth removed when I was a kid. They hadn’t even come in yet, so they cut into the gums to extract them. No dry sockets that I remember, but I had cheek swelling for weeks or even months after. Oh, and I opted for local anesthetic, so I was awake for the whole 2.5-3 hour procedure. I wouldn’t recommend that :)</p>
<p>There’s an enzyme in pineapple that breaks down protein. That’s why if you put fresh pineapple in Jello, the Jello won’t gel. The enzyme breaks down the gelatin protein.</p>
<p>Maybe this has something to do with the pineapple effect. Still, you would have to REALLY like pineapple.</p>
<p>That said, whenever I buy a fresh pineapple I usually wind up eating about half of it on my own while just trimming it. My gums usually aren’t happy since I’ll try to get as much as I can off of the pieces with the skin.</p>
<p>DS just had 4 wisdom teeth removed last friday. Today is first day with little pain and needing to take just ibuprofen.</p>
<p>Our dr could fill a prescription for vicodin and ibuprofen at this office - which was great so there was no stop needed at a pharmacy.</p>
<p>The first day ds found vicodin was doing Nothing for his pain, and the dr did prescribe percoset instead which did take the edge off.</p>
<p>Both vicodin and percoset prescriptions cannot be called into the pharmacy or renewed so you have to pick them up from the dr office and take them to the pharmacy.</p>
<p>Also the vicodin and percoset include tylenol, so be aware of dosage totals for the day. You can take ibuprofen with the tylenol/vicodin mix.</p>
<p>It was good to have someone around the first day. After that he could be on his own, but he cannot drive since he was taking a narcotic drug. </p>
<p>Good luck, there are lots of different reactions to the procedure</p>
