My husband is getting two teeth extracted today. Any tips for him to cope with the aftermath?

He will need to eat soft foods for a day or two. He won’t want to chew on the side where the extraction was for a few days. He’ll have a dressing in his mouth at the extraction sites. He should rinse his mouth with salt water after about 24-hours. Other than that, he may need some pain killers for the first day. He also shouldn’t go doing anything too strenuous. Don’t go running or anything.

I felt a bit weird when I had my tooth extracted. I felt a bit sick. I think it was probably just a reaction to the experience. It passed within a few hours. I just listened to my body and rested for the rest of the day.

I had a back tooth extracted a while ago. Apart from the horrible feeling of having my tooth pulled, I didn’t feel any pain during the procedure. I also didn’t need any painkillers.

^ Exactly what @Earthbound_Misfit said. I, too, have had 2 teeth extracted on the same day. There was actually surprisingly little bleeding, and it all stopped in 4 hours. I was prescribed pain killers, but did not need to take them.
The anticipation was worse than the procedure, or the aftermath.
I wish him smooth sailing.

Modern dentistry is pretty amazing. I have had all four of my wisdom teeth pulled and one other tooth pulled. Get some nitrous oxide and enjoy the ride. I have never felt any pain during my extractions. Some “pressure” but not pain. Cleanings are actually more painful.

But here is a word of advice. After the extraction is not the time to be brave and manly. Take the fucking pills when you are supposed to take the pills. Once it starts to hurt you are fucked. Never let it start to hurt.

Oh, and if your husband smokes he simply can’t. Google “Dry Socket”.

Avoid uncooked milk products (yogurt, etc.) for 3–4 days because of the elevated bacterial cultures, do not use a straw when drinking – avoid anything that creates “sucking” pressure in the mouth, follow post op instructions to avoid dry socket – it’s extremely painful. Ice the area to keep swelling down. Often the dentist will prescribe an anti-biotic to guard against infection along with something for the pain, especially at night. Take medication on schedule to stay ahead of the pain. Good luck, the fun is just beginning.

He’s just gone in. He got the sedative and the dentist asked him if he was going on holiday. Apparently we’re going to Easter in April ! I’m back out in the waiting room and still giggling

Salt water rinses I have heard of. Take the pills, I will make sure he does. He doesn’t smoke.

Follow instruction to avoid a dry socket.

Expect to be in a lot of discomfort for a good 24 hours. I’m not talking about screaming pain, or anything like that, but annoying discomfort. Ibuprofen is usually very good for mouth pain if he wants to avoid the narcotics, just check with your doctor.

Are you sure he needs the tartar gum thing done? That can be a racket. Did he have a second opinion for any of it?

@JLeslie he definitely needs the tartar thing. He hasn’t been to the dentist for 14 years. I managed to persuade him then but not again till now and the rotten tooth.

There have been some noises so I hope he’s ok. I can’t stand the noise so had to exit after he was sedated.

He has asked me to make an appointment for him when I go with the children. I hate the dentist too. What a pair

The dentist is one of those things. 80 bucks and a little pain now to fill a cavity or 1500 and a lot of pain and a root canal later.

@Stinley :). Hopefully it won’t be a difficult recovery. It’s different for everyone. Does he avoid the dentist because even a teeth cleaning is very painful? Or, just some sort of irrational fear of the dentist? I’m not judging by using the word irrational. I think some people must have more pain than others during dental procedures? Just how their nerves are wired or something? Getting my teeth cleaned isn’t painful for me. A little discomfort, but the polish they use at the end is more uncomfortable for me than the scraping, because the polish kind of tickles when they do the back of my teeth. I hate that part.

Anyway, if a cleaning is painful for him, maybe he will be more miserable than the typical patient the next 24–48 hours.

Try not to worry. It’s almost over.

Saltwater used as mouthwash. He will not feel a thing!

When I had my wisdom teeth removed one kept bleeding after the surgery and my mom forced had me bite down on a tea bag and I had to do this for 2 days before it stopped bleeding. It was pure torture and hopefully he won’t have to do this.

@Cruiser Well, telling her about the torture might not be the best. Lol. Did you have a dry socket?

We’re back home and he is quite out of it. Keeps asking me if I paid and how much was it. He was there when I paid! I’m just answering again and again! His mouth is numbed up too so isn’t feeling much yet. He told me quite a lot about it on the way home that he’d kept to himself. Apparently another bit had broken off the rotten one recently but he couldn’t bear to talk about it. He’s very afraid -almost phobic I think, so he’s been very brave today!

Awww. Hopefully, he mends quickly. I’d say keep ahead of the pain today, give the pain pills before the pain sets in full blown. Follow the prescription, I don’t mean over medicate or medicate before the doctor said it’s ok. No need to tough it out the first day though without drugs. Even if it’s just Tylenol or ibuprofen stay ahead of it. It takes about 50 minutes for both of those to start working once you take them.

@JLeslie Not sure…I think it was just how impacted my tooth was as the surgeon had to crack the tooth to get it out and the pocket was fairly large and deep is why it probably bled for so long. Plus stitching my gum to my cheek did not help matters. I

The dentist gave us two gauze pads to bite on if they start bleeding. No hot food or drinks. No rinses today. Lukewarm soup! But he can get back to normal tomorrow. I have given him ibuprofen now as the local anaesthetic is wearing off

My dental office always says, “Ibuprofen is your friend.”

If they gave him any pain meds beside OTC stuff, enjoy. I know I always do.

@Stinley Have him do saline rinses several times a day until area healed which greatly lessens the prospect of an infection. Keep mouth super clean! (just had extraction 2 months ago) Did this and healed quickly, nicely.

My kids really liked chocolate pudding to eat after their wisdom teeth were out. Soft, sweet and filling. They also liked the pain killers. It is orth taking them for a few days to avoid the worst of the pain.

Yeah, I was very very scared before I had my wisdom teeth out. The drugs were very helpful, and I was so relieved and happy when it was over. For me, the drugs made it so the procedure was just a warm fluffy cloud, followed by the good news it was over.

I recommend sleeping a lot, relaxing, taking prescribed drugs, and nice warm liquid food like soup. When not able to sleep, get immersive media that doesn’t require energy – movies or books.

It was actually not a big deal for me, in practice.

No straws, no sucking in. You don’t want to pull out the stuff that helps heal where the tooth was removed. No popsicles, people suck on them, which might not seem obvious. That’s how you get the dry socket, by accidentally removing, pulling out, the stuff that sits in the socket. Hopefully, he’ll sleep on and off today.

If he usually doesn’t bleed a lot I don’t see why he would now.

He seems ok. Before the sedative wore off I got him to let me look in his mouth. First time in 17 years. The two sockets looked fine and neat. No bleeding. He’s had some houmous, some rice pudding and a milk shake. All going good so far. The dentist said no rinses today but I will make him do them tomorrow. He does normally heal well but is a worrier in both senses (anxious and picks at scabs!)

@Stinley No scab picking!

Didn’t the dentist say no sugar, no milk products, and no alcohol for a week? Mine always does.

An ice bag helps a lot. Also it’s supposed to feel worse if you lie down.

My husband typically has very little discomfort after an extraction, just a few hours’ pain, whereas I’m pretty miserable for three days. I guess it’s hard to predict a given individual’s reaction.

Let me know how he is later/tomorrow? My appointment to get an impacted wisdom tooth removed is on March 9th and I’m already terrified. I get a little more terrified as each day goes by and actually asked my doctor to prescribe Xanax for me, but she prescribed something that lasts even longer than Xanax since I’m worried about having a panic attack. :( I mainly want to know how bad his pain is in about a day, and also about the swelling, if you don’t mind answering.

He’s doing fine. Started complaining he was bored at about 8pm. Went off to work this morning. I made him take ibuprofen and do a salt rinse as I know he won’t do either at work. All good. He was very impressed with the sedative but you do need a helper and a day off work.

@DrasticDreamer. There is very little swelling. No pain apart from a bit of discomfort and stiffness. Honestly he is the worst dental patient and was shaking and panicking before but was totally fine after the sedative took effect. Have you got someone to go with you? You can’t drive after the sedative and a friend there will help

@Stinley Thank you for letting me know! Yeah, I’m making my sister go with me in case I do start having an actual panic attack. I want her in the room with me, but I’m not sure if they’ll allow that. I’m not going to do the gas, because I don’t want to end up saying really weird things, but that’s why I had my doctor prescribe what she did for me.

I found the anticipation and the feeling of someone pulling my tooth out the worst sensations. There really wasn’t any pain (I wasn’t having my wisdom teeth out!). @DrasticDreamer, can you take some headphones with you and listen to something that will help you meditate and try to calm yourself while you’re going through the process? I found myself thinking about what was happening and it was rather disturbing. It was all in my mind, but it occurs to me that if you can help alleviate the mental aspects, you’ll manage better.

@Earthbound_Misfit That’s a really good idea, actually. I have pretty bad anxiety (in general) now and panic attacks sometimes, as well as OCD. So even if it’s not painful, I’m very much worried about the tugging sensations and the sounds since my OCD is related to any kind of gore. If I can at least eliminate the sounds to a good degree, it might calm my OCD down.

…I also have to remember to tell them that they absolutely can’t numb my tongue. If I have a panic attack while my tongue is numb I have no doubt I’ll end up in the hospital. I hate how it feels even when I’m not panicking, and there’s no way my brain could handle the sensation during a panic attack. SIGH I just can’t wait for this to be over.

I hope the meditation/headphone idea helps. And yes, make sure you really impress on them how freaked out you are. If your friend can be there, that would help. My nurse stroked my arm and said soothing things. I must have looked more disturbed than I thought I did!

I totally hear you on the gore and pulling sensation. I’m not going to tell you what was going through my head, but that was really the most disturbing part. So anything you can do to take your mind off that’s going to help.

No sucking or hot foods for a couple of days. It’s not a big deal. I had all of my top teeth extracted at one time and drove home. I would not let them use any anesthesia, just local. Acting like having a tooth pulled is a big deal is embarrassing.

@kritiper I don’t think right after an extraction that’s the protocol, not that I’ve heard of anyway. You don’t want to encourage bleeding. Maybe acetaminophen. I don’t think there is a dental procedure I haven’t had done.