Being Wise in Wisdom Teeth Removal

By Ashley Cline

When you go in to have your four, or maybe only one or two, of your wisdom teeth removed, you probably will be absolutely refusing to do it. Same here! After my recent experience of having mine out, I’ve decided to share my experience and advice. First of all, when you go in to have your surgery, don’t freak out. I was! Just try to stay chill, cause it will all be over very soon.

Okay, so when you’re brought to the back, you may be asked to rinse your mouth with some minty rinse before they start. (Remember, you’re not allowed to have any food or drink until after the surgery, so I suggest rinsing your mouth and gurgling with water before you go.) When in your room, you’ll be getting lots of stuff hooked up to you. Sticky heart monitor things, laughing gas mask, IV, and finally, a device that goes on your throat to monitor your breathing. So yeah, when the surgeon finally gets into your room, you’ll be feeling pretty weird. J

So, once your stuff that’s putting you to sleep is hooked up (needles, mask, etc.), you’ll be out in about 30 seconds. Of course, then you’ll be awake in what feels like 2 seconds, but is probably about 20 minutes. When you first wake up, you’ll feel out of it, not really sure what’s real or made up. When I woke up, all I could figure was my mouth was numb and felt fat. (Really, it was numb and swollen and I had gauze stuffed in my mouth!) You probably won’t feel any initial pain right then, cause the anesthesia is still wearing off, and the pain reliever is still working. You’ll probably have one of these scenarios when you get home:

1. Bleeding lots, feeling pain.

2. Extremely tired and sleeping all day.

3. Not really tired, blood not bad, pain under control.

(I had number 3! Of course, all cases are different.)

My biggest probably the day of, was the hunger pains! You can only eat cold soft foods the first day (i.e. yogurt, jello, ice cream, pudding, etc.). Trust me, after all of this is over, you’ll be sick of that stuff! So between eating these foods, keeping a cold compress on your face, and taking meds, your day will be kind of slow. You’ll feel plenty of numbness, in not only your swollen cheeks, but also in your lips, chin, and maybe nose. (My bottom lip was numb, until later in the day when it was half numb. It felt so weird!) Your tongue may also feel fat and numb for a couple hours, making it hard to eat.

Day 2. Now you can start eating warm foods (i.e. soups). You can also brush your teeth lightly (if you can get the brush in there!), rinse your mouth with warm salt water, and use warm compress and massaging. You probably won’t feel like doing anything these first three days, so take it slowly. (I brought a pillow with me wherever I went.)

Day 3. For some people, they’re actually able to eat some harder foods today, but a lot of people aren’t. Keep that heat on and keep taking meds!

Day 4. Recovery. Okay, so I couldn’t actually really eat food till a week after my surgery, and my swelling finally was gone by Monday. All recoveries are different! Here are a few tips on how to keep down the pain and bleeding:

Okay, now you’re on your own! If you have any questions, prayers, or worries, feel free to email me at ashleia@cox.net any time! ~Ashley