What are some "aftercare" tips for wisdom teeth removal?

Soft food for a while. Rinse your mouth with salt water.

Keep a roll of toilet paper or a box of Kleenex, on you, to collect the drool and blood. Don’t eat nachos or potato chips until your gums are healed.

Don’t smoke.

Sit up instead of lying down.

Stock up on ice and have an ice bag ready. Use a sacrificial towel wrapped around the ice bag because you’ll probably bleed on it a little.

Follow your dentist’s orders on any food prohibitions, such as (for example) no sugar or dairy products or alcohol for x days.

It’s much easier to avoid problems afterward than it is to fix them. Good luck.

It will take a few days for the pain to go away. I was ok just taking over the counter pain killers, some people take something stronger. You might want to fill a pain prescription before the procedure if you don’t have someone who can pick up meds for you.

Read and listen to all of the instructions the oral surgeon gives you. Everything is for a reason and important. Like don’t use a straw to drink liquids. The sucking can pull out the clot that is formed in the gum for healing. You have to be really cautious and gentle with your mouth for a good week, I would go even more than a week to be on the safe side.

I had all four extracted at once, they were all under the gum line. No healing problems.

If you feel a lot of pain and the pain is growing where you feel like you can’t even open your mouth it could be an infection get checked.

What really helped me was to have access to many soft boiled eggs. I existed on eggs, small bits of buttered toast, and mashed potatoes. YMMV, but I was completely unable to chew, and eating was a chore for about a week. I tried eating pizza on day three, and was close to tears. Try thinking ahead and maybe preparing some food. Anything acidic, chewy, or “scratchy” is out, and my dentist didn’t want me to have a lot of dairy. That really limits what you can eat. At the same time, you need energy to heal.

I drank a lot of cold sage tea with honey. That helped numb my mouth, and it got rid of the taste of blood. I also had many hours of entertainment material lined up. Laughing and even smiling may hurt a lot, so try to find interesting stuff outside of comedy. Personally, I think I watched three seasons of House over the course of my extractions.

You might bounce back much faster than I did. I don’t heal quickly in general, and my dentist said I was taking longer than average. Good luck, and let us know!

My sons lived on chocolate pudding for a few days. They also took prescription pain meds as needed. It wasn’t fun but not too bad.

I had wisdom teeth out twice. Once required the dentist cutting my gum because it was swollen over the tooth. This was an old school dentist who didn’t make a big deal of things, and this was in the late 1980’s when pain killers weren’t prescribed for every single twinge of pain like they are now. He told me to take something over the counter. I had a date that night and I went on the date. I told him I had a date and he told me I’d be fine. The second tooth, he just pulled and same thing, no cutting required but no big deal.

I think we hear stories about the cases that are a big deal (awful pain, etc.) and it might cause anxiety where no anxiety is due.

I tend to handle pain well, but still, there was no pain, after about an hour. For the first hour, I’d describe it as sore, both times.

I “drank” canned soup for several days. It’s very important to keep the sockets left behind after the teeth are removed clean. They should give you a small syringe for flushing them out. Use it everytime you are done “eating”

@jca2 Pulled tooth is very different than removing a tooth that is still below the gum line. Everyone I know who has had a tooth pulled is basically fine immediately after.

Lay up in bed for a few days. Meds made me too sick to eat so I just sipped water and drank soup when I could. I’m a big baby though, all four done.

@JLeslie: Oh, good point. I was just thinking of my friend’s two grown sons who had their wisdom teeth out and were prescribed painkillers and stayed home for a week each. I was like “really?” because I remembered going about my normal activities afterwards. Also after having dental implants put in three times which included teeth being removed and posts drilled into the bone. Normal activities after, no painkillers.

@jca2 I also tolerate pain well, I almost never take a prescription pain killer for anything, and I didn’t for the wisdom teeth. I definitely was in some pain after the surgery though. Very swollen too. It’s tolerable, but very uncomfortable and I would say at least for two days afterwards you don’t want to go anywhere.

How painful wisdom teeth removal is depends on how invasive it is for that person. I had all four done and they were fully impacted. I waited way to long to have the procedure done. It was major surgery and I was put under for it. It took a long time to recover and it was quite painful. I only took painkillers for a few days though.

@AYKM Same.

I think a lot of people take pride in not having to take pain meds. That’s fine but remember they’re there if you need them and don’t feel you have to suffer. If you do take them, follow the prescription carefully and stop when you don’t need them. My mother believed and I believe that there is no great virtue in suffering more pain than you need to and in fact, you can heal faster if you’re not in pain.

Also know if you are prescribed one med for pain and you don’t react well with it, you can ask for another. When I broke my ankle last year, the first pain med made me nauseous but when I switched to percocet i could tolerate that well.

Each case is different and it’s not a competition.

@janbb: My comments were never meant as a competition. I always add that I tend to be good with handling pain.

When I delivered the baby, I took pain meds without shame.

Big one is no heavy activities for at least 2 days but especially the first day. You want that to clot well. My dad hemorrhage when he had his removed because he went to work. I just recently had a tooth removed and just walking my dog the next made it throb and later that night I had difficulty sleeping. It’s best to do it before a weekend so you have at least 2 solid days to rest.

Saltwater rinse and peroxide rinse are good. Just don’t swallow the peroxide and do not hard rinse your mouth either. Just a light swishing and spitting out but make sure you don’t spit hard. Having soft foods like eggs or mashed potatoes or hot cereals is great. Nothing you have to chew. Do not hard rinse your mouth either.

@janbb And pain can cause blood pressure to rise which is actually dangerous. Definately take something as needed.

I completely agree take pain meds if you need them. Pain can be very taxing on the body, and you want to be able to relax and heal.

However, some people pop the prescription before even trying over the counter, and often over the counter is sufficient. No reason to take a narcotic when regular Tylenol or ibuprofen works just fine. People are more likely to have uncomfortable side effects with narcotics and opioids.

I found ibuprofen to be very effective for surgery pain, BUT your doctor might prefer Tylenol if you tend to bleed more, so always ask their recommendation.

Keep in mind it takes about 50 minutes for pain meds to kick in so you might want to stay ahead of the pain the first 24 hours. Don’t wait to be in full on pain to finally take the pill while still following the dose recommendations. Prescription ibuprofen is 600 or 800mg so that’s 3–4 OTC pills. Check with your doctor.

Keep mouth clean. Frequent rinse with warm salt water.

You already have enough aftercare info so I will share some personal info.
I had all 4 out when I was 22. It was a great relief. The headaches went away!
40 plus years later and I still don’t regret it for a second! It is so easy to brush and keep my mouth clean.

It will be painful now but the advantages are well worth the temporary discomfort.

Don’t get addicted to the painkillers they give you. I went through a week’s supply of Codeine over a long weekend. I just lay there in a euphoric bliss with tapioca pudding, cotton wadding, and a huge grin on my face. When I asked my dad for a refill he laughed at me and told me to take some Tylenol.

Please, please, please do NOT smoke or use a straw or anything else that requires sucking. You do not want dry socket. It’s far more painful than any post-surgical discomfort you might have.

My dentist gave me this advice, and it was like magic!.
Have a clean, dry tea bag ready. When you take that first batch of cotton out, bite down on the tea bag, and stay like that for a bit.
Within minutes the bleeding will stop. For me that was it. It did not start up again.

@Patty_Melt – beat me to it! Tea bags are cheaper than gauze and the tea has properties that help to stop the bleeding.

Additional advice: don’t eat salad with croutons. Your tongue might flick one onto a removal site. When you bite down, you get pain and blood. Been there, done that!

Lots of ice packs.

Thanks @all so much. I have tea bags and ice so guess I’ll try that.

I want to stick with Ibuprofen so not sure I will take anything else like a prescription.

I am not getting them pulled though. They can’t be pulled

I watched a whole video on what not to eat. Good thing for me is I don’t eat that food often anyways and I never use straws nor do I smoke so it shouldn’t be hard. Only downside is I cannot have hot stuff. I love my teas and coffees :(

@SergeantQueen, my dentist said to alternate ibuprofen with Tylenol (acetaminophen) every 4 to 6 hours so you’re not taking too much of one thing.

@SergeantQueen Will you be alone at home? Or, will someone be able to help you for at least a day?

@Jeruba Smart. I haven’t heard of that before. I’ve combined them together, but never alternating.

I will not be alone. I will have family at home. And good Idea I will see if I can pick up some tylenol

I will also be picking up some soup. I’m nervous as hell because I hate being in pain but I will make it through this lol

Did your dentist prescribe pain killers? You can always just buy two pills to have for the first 12 hours if you are very worried. Then you have them if you need them. You never have to fill an entire prescription.

Ummm I have not been to the dentist yet so I am confused on what you are asking. I am getting a pill before the procedure

@SergeantQueen I thought you are already scheduled for the procedure? Sometimes prior to a surgical procedure the doctor gives the prescriptions so they can be filled beforehand. That way the patient doesn’t have to go to the drug store afterwards when it might be difficult, or if the store is out of the medicine that would be a problem. Doctors do it for antibiotics, pain meds, etc., whatever is needed. I’m not saying you should get medicine before, like I said, I made it through without needing prescription pain medication, but someone like @janbb, it sounds like she would really want the narcotics for instance. I know you said you want to power through on Tylenol or Advil, but if you have any hesitancy I was just saying you don’t have to spend the money on ten pills if your doctor gave a script for a few days, you can just buy a few.

Ooooh I get what you mean. I was not given any prescription nor was I told about one.

@SergeantQueen Ok, I think maybe they don’t give out the narcotics so readily anymore. Back in the 80’s there was this push that patients should never be in pain and that doctors should not worry about people getting addicted if the drugs were prescribed for people in pain. This idea lasted well into the 2000’s. Always sounded ridiculous to me. A lot of people wound up addicts because of it. A lot of pharmaceutical companies made a shit ton of money pushing that idea. Now, there is more of a movement to not prescribe prescription pain medication. It’s better that they don’t push the prescription stuff, it often is not necessary. Not that I think you will get addicted from a few pills, I don’t, unless you already are an addict and have to be careful.

You pain free people were lucky. I had all 4 pulled at the same time when I was 18. I was given a prescription for Vicodin which did absolutely nothing for the pain, which was excruciating, but it gave me unpleasant hallucinations. Hopefully modern methods and medicine is better now. I had mine taken out in the early 80s.

@Kardamom Pulled or they were still under the gum line?

@JLeslie they were impacted.

@Kardamom The people saying they had no pain just had them pulled. It’s totally different. My husband had one pulled when we were dating and it was like nothing happened. My MIL had one pulled a couple of years ago when she was staying with me, and again, like nothing happened. I don’t know anyone who has impacted wisdom teeth removed who doesn’t go through some pain.

Yeah mine are both impacted :( My luck sucks

The top ones are fine though, I am ignoring them for now

@JLeslie: One of mine was impacted. The gum was swollen over it and the dentist cut out this piece of flesh and showed it to me when he removed it with the long tweezer. It hurt for about an hour but I went out that night with some aspirin or other over the counter med.

@jca2 My surgeon gave me lots of T3s and It took a month to heal up. Other than drooling and me taking a bite of nachos everything was ok.

@jca2 But your tooth had already erupted outside of the gum line right? The gum was just swollen? I was 14 when I had it done I think. My teeth were nowhere to be found yet and I was completely unaware of them.

Side note: No aspirin. Thins your blood too much.

@JLeslie: Yes. The gum was swollen over the tooth so I couldn’t see the tooth. I thought I had a sore throat for a few days, and it hurt to swallow. After a few days I opened my mouth and looked in the mirror and saw that the gum was like a swollen bubble. I couldn’t see the tooth at all. It was obscured by the swollen gum. I was really nervous when I went to the dentist but as I said above, this was an old school dentist who didn’t make a big deal of things, and he snipped the gum and took the tooth out in a minute, with just Novacaine.

I’m not sure if it’s the same. If you had swelling I guess it’s starting to come up. I’m just not sure.

@JLeslie: It doesn’t really matter whether it’s the same at this point. Just relaying my experience.

@jca2 I hope the OP sails through like you. That would be great.

@JLeslie: I think not getting overly anxious about it would be the first step, and then hopefully, possibly being pleasantly surprised would be great for her.

@JLeslie The anesthesia was the worst, and waking up during surgery with the surgeon on my chest svreaming ‘she’s awake, knock her out again’. Redhead life.

I have been injected.

Shaking a lot but they said it is normal

@KNOWITALL Yeah, the redhead thing is real!

@SergeantQueen Oh, are you there now getting it done? I get shaky from morphine, but I don’t think they would be giving you that drug. You should be relaxing from the drugs I would think. Let us know how it goes. We are here for you.

@jca2 I agree. I look at things like this that millions go through it, I can get through it too. I can make it through easier when I know it’s temporary.

@SergeantQueen Good luck!!

@JLeslie My new group is teaching me quite a bit, it’s enlightening!

When my little sister had her wisdom teeth out (she was maybe 15 and I was 20 or so), I told her she would much stupider after the extraction, because they were taking away her wisdom.

I had mine taken out in my 20s, and I have to say – it was easy and didn’t really hurt at all. Tylenol was all I needed and I was eating real food not long after.

But I was lucky.

The pill did nothing. Was clear headed the whole time just shaky. Sitting in the car with gauze getting prescriptions filled. One for vicodin one for something else. I will use them if the pain becomes too much

Oh, so he did prescribe. Yeah, he should have let you fill it beforehand so you didn’t have to drive around medicated and bloody gauze in your mouth. You’ll know for your next surgery. Was the pill you took Vicodin? Maybe that’s not a good drug for you.

He prescribed vicodin which I just took.

The pill they gave me an hr before the procedure didn’t work.

It started with an H and had a ph sound in it I do not remember the name.

At least it’s over now. :).

Hydrocodone?

There’s a benefit to staying ahead of the pain, as they say. It’s easier to keep it down than to bring it down. So take the stuff if you need it.

And come back here for more sympathy.

@SergeantQueen Fentanol? Tylenol 3?

LOL. Let’s take bets on the drug.

Yeah the drug I do not recall aside from it being small and blue. When she said it it started with an H and had a ph sound. Thats all I know.

I took a vicodin. Got super trired and fell asleep with the gauze in. Hoping this is the last change for now and I can try and eat something to take the antibiotic.

I had to get stitches.

It took a good 10 mins on each tooth to get it out. Had to get extra novacaine shots because they hurt during it. Ugh. But at least it is over now

Good. Remember soft foods, gargle with warm salted water.

Glad it’s over.

I am a bit worried about the bleeding. Its 5:52PM and I have gauze since 12:30AM. I fell asleep though twice on accident so worried I did something but the pain is the same so maybe not

**I change it every ½ hour until I fell asleep so 1½hr went by**

@Sergeant Mine bled a lot, too. Just make sure its going out and not down your throat or you could get sick.

If your are bleeding more than you think you should don’t take ibuprofen for now. Probably, if you are just soaking a mouth gauze over 5 hours that probably isn’t a lot of blood. You can always page your doctor though.

Morphine is blue (and can cause a nervous shaky reaction) also I think oxycodone is blue?? You might want to find out eventually if you don’t want to take it again.

The tea bags, sweetie, soon as possible.

Ahhh I forgot about the tea bags! The bleeding stopped enough for me to take the gauze out

Tannic acid in tea bags stops bleeding: https://www.fairview.org/sitecore/content/Fairview/Home/Patient-Education/Articles/English/a/f/t/e/r/After_a_Tooth_Extraction_Caring_for_Your_Mouth_84678

How are you doing?

My mouth hurts. I have been taking ibuprofen and using lots of ice

Ugh. My mouth hurts from reading this thread. Get well soon, @SergeantQueen.

Today is probably the worst. Each day now hopefully you feel better and better.