6 Wise Recovery Tips for Wisdom Teeth Surgery
If you’re about to go through your wisdom teeth removal or have already done so, you might want some tips on how to deal with it. Wisdom teeth surgery can be great for your health, but the oral recovery process can be tough without proper planning. Below we have six tips from Bander Dental Group to help your healing process go smoothly.
Knowing the Before and After
If you’re already at home after your wisdom teeth removal, we hope you’ve incorporated this tip. If not, take this one as a bonus!
Make sure your recovery space is set up BEFORE you get home. As your family dentist, we want you to go home to a healthy recovery space. Setting it all up after surgery is a hassle. You’re going to want to sit down, rest, and not fuss with pillows and blankets.
1. The Basic Recovery Tips
After dental surgery, we recommend using gauze to help with the bleeding. Gently biting down on gauze for 30 minutes will help. If bleeding continues, rinse your mouth and repeat the process.
If excessive bleeding does not stop after a few hours, feel free to give us a call at 616-949-5980.
Rinsing your mouth is also important. Do not keep gauze in for more than 30 minutes at a time, as it will absorb too much blood and become unusable.
A high amount of saliva is expected, so don’t worry if you’re experiencing that! While in recovery, do not do anything that involves strain or excessive activity as this can increase the bleeding.
2. Avoid Straws and Smoking
Sucking down a strawberry shake might numb your mouth, but the straw will slow or even harm your oral healing process.
You might think that not having to chew your food is a benefit, and that’s true! But sucking on a straw will prevent your sutures from healing effectively after a tooth extraction. If you do crave a milkshake, you’ll have to eat it with a spoon.
Avoid smoking after oral surgery. We recommend you avoid smoking at all times because it can cause gum disease, but especially avoid ! Not only is it bad for your health and teeth, it too prevents your sutures from a proper recovery.
3. Soft Foods Are Good Foods
Biting into a Honeycrisp apple will be the last thing you want to do after wisdom teeth surgery.
We recommend chewing on soft foods. Before your mouth surgery, be sure to go to the store to stock up on foods that require little to no chewing or are at least soft.
Here are a few good ideas:
- Bread
- Jello
- Pureed Soups
- Mashed Potatoes
- Scrambled Eggs
Eating these in small doses is best. We recommend avoiding anything with spicy, chocolatey, or citrusy flavoring.
4. Get Proper Elevation
After surgery, you may find yourself tired or drowsy from your dental sedation. When you get home, your first reaction might be to sleep, but we want to caution you against laying down.
Rather than reclining on your bed, we strongly suggest resting in a reclining chair. As you lean back in a chair, there will be less jaw pain than you would experience laying down.
5. Pick A Good Movie
It may sound silly, but a good movie can help your recovery process because movies help us relax. Try .
Maybe you have a long, ever-growing list of things to watch on Netflix, or maybe there’s that one show everyone at the office talks about. Now is your time to watch them all as you sit back, relax, and recover from your wisdom tooth extraction!
6. Syringe Cleaning
At Bander Dental Group, we recommend using an irrigation syringe to help clean your mouth, but don’t overdo it.
We recommend 5-6 rinses for the first few days–always after a meal. Make sure not to aggressively rinse your mouth after a tooth extraction as this will cause agitation and can slow the healing process.
The syringe works great for getting out pesky particles of food without having to dig for them with your toothbrush. If a piece of food gets stuck in the spot your tooth used to be, don’t panic. Rinse it out slowly with the syringe. If you’re up for it, we recommend doing so with warm salt water.
You can brush your teeth the night of your surgery, but do so at a gentle pace.
Want to Learn More Dental Tips?
Whether it’s you or a loved one going through wisdom teeth removal, we hope you feel a little more prepared now. Feel free to request an appointment or reach out and contact us online or by phone at (616) 949-5980 if you have any questions. Bander Dental Group, your , is here to make sure all your dental needs are met.