Tips for wisdom teeth removal recovery

[happypamama]

I am getting my wisdom teeth out in a few weeks, finally. I have no dental phobia and am a compliant patient, so I am opting for just the local anesthesia and not the whole sedation thing. So what are your best tips for making the recovery good? Like, can I take 800 mg of Advil round the clock for a couple of days (like I do to treat afterpains postpartum)? Can I take the Advil just before the removal, so it'll kick in by the time they're done, or do I need to wait until afterward? I will call to see if they will give me other painkillers, and if so, what they are, so that I can double-check the safest ones to take while nursing (baby doesn't take a bottle). Soft foods for a couple of days, yes? No straws, IIRC? We'll take it easy for a few days, and DH will stay home the next day if I really need him to, but most likely, my older two kids will help me with the littles, and we'll watch movies, and I'll rest/sleep, and DH will cook dinner. What else might help make this recovery as good as possible?

[Cinder]

Ds2 just had his teeth out a couple months ago under general anesthesia. They gave him painkiller before he left the office; don't remember what kind though. He got prescription ibuprofen and . . . stronger stuff--I'm totally blanking now. What helped him most was the cold pack; they gave him that too. Soft foods, no straws for 24 hours. Salt water rinses. Lots of sleep. Ds2 probably didn't have a typical recovery--he slept about 20 hours after surgery and the next day he was fine. He took zero pain meds, his jaw was tender but not painful. He swelled slightly the first day but the cold pack helped.

 

Hope your surgery goes well. :grouphug:

[unsinkable]

I am getting my wisdom teeth out in a few weeks, finally. I have no dental phobia and am a compliant patient, so I am opting for just the local anesthesia and not the whole sedation thing. So what are your best tips for making the recovery good? Like, can I take 800 mg of Advil round the clock for a couple of days (like I do to treat afterpains postpartum)? Can I take the Advil just before the removal, so it'll kick in by the time they're done, or do I need to wait until afterward? I will call to see if they will give me other painkillers, and if so, what they are, so that I can double-check the safest ones to take while nursing (baby doesn't take a bottle). Soft foods for a couple of days, yes? No straws, IIRC? We'll take it easy for a few days, and DH will stay home the next day if I really need him to, but most likely, my older two kids will help me with the littles, and we'll watch movies, and I'll rest/sleep, and DH will cook dinner. What else might help make this recovery as good as possible?

I would ask your doc about what to take prior to the removal.

I would also make sure someone drives you even if you're not having general. Your body is going through a lot of trauma.

The best thing is to stay on top of the pain with whatever pain killers they give you. Use cold packs/ice but don't leave them on continuously.

The third day is the worst. It was for my DD and when I spoke with the doc he confirmed that most patients find that and don't get discouraged. Also, the lower jaw is usually worse than upper.

Plan on lots of rest.

Best wishes.

[Tap]

They will likely tell you to avoid Advil/ibuprofen before the procedure because it increases the time it takes blood to clot.  Some docs say to wait for 24 hours, others have different ideas. The doc will tell you what to do. Most doctors will allow a pre-op dose of Tylenol/acetaminophen.

 

They will likely give you a prescription pain med.  Even if you don't plan to have it filled, accept the prescription and hold on to it.  You may not want to need it, but if you change your mind it is much easier to take a prescription to the pharmacy than bothering the doctor on his off hours to get one after the fact.

 

Plan a day of rest, stay sitting down/reclined.  Even if you don't hurt, it is much easier for your body to heal if it is well rested and not overtired from a day of doing errands or chores.

 

 

[Starr]

Have your husband pick up your pain prescription while you are in surgery unless you can get it before. Take a pill right away! My teens were not back to themselves for the better part of a week. I can't remember what they ate except for ds and his canned refried beans. 

[Erica in OR]

I forget what prescription pain medication I was on when I had mine removed, but apparently you aren't supposed to take it on an empty stomach. Check the directions! The discomfort of that rivaled any pain the teeth were dishing out at that point.

 

My high school friend's advice would be don't eat rice until the sockets are fully healed. :)

 

Erica in OR

[SharonM]

I had my 2 wisdom teeth out without general and then the other two with general.  I do pain really well.. the general was so much easier. If u can i'd go that way. It was much faster too. Just my 2 cents worth. 😊

[Cera]

I had mine done two weeks ago.  Two things wee key for me, staying ahead of the pain (800mg ibuprofen eery 6 hours even if I didn't think I needed it) and ice (20 minutes on, 20 minutes off as much as possible for the first 48 hours).  My surgeon injected a long lasting anesthetic so it took about 12 hours to really feel anything.

 

The actual sites where the teeth were pulled weren't particularly painful but the swelling was pretty uncomfortable.  No straws or spitting for the first three days so I stuck to mashed potatoes and milkshakes by spoon.  The biggest issue was being able to open my mouth enough to get food in.  

 

Also, lots of salt water rinses to prevent infection (and I used listerine zero though I'm not sure I was supposed to).  

[mskelly]

Mine were very simple, not impacted or anything like that.  I did not need painkillers afterwards.  The first tooth, I had the twilight anesthesia, but had a hard time waking up for the rest of the day.  The second time, I did the remaining three with a different surgeon.  I was awake and talking before we left, but I had the twilight again.  The best thing I can suggest is to prepare some Jell-O the day before.  Also, make some ice packs.  Soak a facecloth and put it in the freezer.  They are more flexible than the typical icepack.  The one I got from the surgeon didn't stay cold for than a few minutes.  My OB nurse taught me that trick for the swelling after childbirth. Who knew...it works for wisdom teeth also! Good luck!

[MotherGoose]

I had two out when I was about 23. This was way before kids, etc. My sister was on Rx painkillers and basically knocked out for a week, and I was determined to avoid that. I had general anesthesia, was out of it the first day, but the day after started taking Advil and was pretty much okay. I had some aching pain for awhile, esp at night, but really, after you have had a baby it's no big deal (I had 2 c sections). Eat soft food, and don't move around too much, but you should be fine. Most people have their wisdom teeth out really young when they have no experience with pain. Not to say it's no big deal--but really, in comparison, it's not that bad.

[busymama7]

I had mine out without general and I would never do it again :( I don't think it affected the pain level but the experience of being awake and hearing smelling and tasting the whole procedure was horrific. At least two of mine were impacted.

I'm not a whimp to pain. I've had 6 babies at home ;) but it really was horrible. I chose to do it that way because I was breastfeeding and wanted to reduce the amount of stuff passed to my baby. And again it wasn't the pain. It was the taste.(insert barf smiley) and just the whole thing. I would totally do general if I had any more wisdom teeth!

As far as recovery it took longer than I thought and I laid around for several days. I assume I took pain meds, I don't remember that part. It was almost Christmas and I went to a party a week later and was so relieved that I could finally mostly eat.

My dentist is a friend whose wife also has home births. I told him that stupid remark about why natural childbirth if you wouldn't ha e dental work without novacaine is just ridiculous. I had dental work WITH novacaine and it was way way worse than childbirth.

[Uff Da!]

You can use wet tea bags to push down on the sights as well. I can't remember if they are to help with swelling, pain or dry sockets but it can't hurt to have some tea bags on hand.

[Tenaj]

I had mine out this past summer.  I never used the ice (because I hate the feeling of ice, being cold, just have a hard time with it ever) but I did use the tea bags and that worked great.  I think I liked it because I couldn't taste the "bloody" taste that was left in my mouth.  I never took the prescription pain killers because I usually get sick after anesthesia and I was being very careful about that but the Motrin was able to control the pain for me as long as I kept on top of it.  Mine was done in the morning and by the next day, I was really back to normal except for no straw and rinsing a lot.   

 

They had put me on an antibiotic which led to me breaking out 10 days later with a whole body rash.  That was much worse than anything else having to do with the wisdom teeth.  Especially when the dentist acted all annoyed when I called him for help . . . that's a whole 'nother story.

[Ravin]

As far as while nursing, keep in mind the meds they give women nursing NEWBORNS after C-section. Those should be safe enough for a couple of days. I recall taking percocet.

 

But I'm also pretty sure all I had after my teeth were pulled was ibuprofen and maybe Tylox. Didn't have sedation, either (in the Navy they didn't give you options).

[Big Buckin' Longhorn]

I must be a big baby. After I had my wisdom teeth out, I laid around the house crying from the pain for about a week even with Rx painkillers. I was better the second week, and finally completely back to myself that third week. Mine weren't even impacted, but I do have SEVERE dental phobia, that may have affected my recovery.

[roanna]

I didn't read everything written prior but when I got all 4 of mine out they really stressed to up the protein in my diet to make healing faster.  Drinks with protein are really want your relegated to.  I only used one day of pain medicine because I just don't like that kind of stuff but it did take a while for the sockets to really close up even though pain went well.  

[Melissa in Australia]

the top ones were a breeze. they were growing sideways (pointing towards cheeks) and came out easily, with very minimal pain. I had those two taken out together, and do no t remember taking any painkiller afterwards. though I might have had a panadol.

 

the one on the bottom was not so easy. it was compacted, growing into the next tooth, and one of the biggest teeth my dentist had ever seen ( and he is near retirement age) he had to cut a very small portion out of my jaw to get  the tooth out, and even then he really had to work to get it out. I had a pretty big hole left afterwards, and that was stitched closed. the stiches fell out that night, and I got dry socket. I went back the next day as I was in great pain and they gave me the heavy stuff. I don't remember the name but it had some sort of morphine derivative in it and I was completely loopy for one day . I decided that the pain was better than being loopy so stopped taking the medication.

 

I had to be careful for about 4 months to remove food from the hole

[Cinder]

Adding that with both my sons--they saw the same surgeon--he stitched the insides of their cheeks to their gums. I didn't see exactly where--they couldn't open their mouths. I don't know if this practice is widespread but I think it helps the sockets heal faster and maybe keeps food bits out of the area, though there is no way to get anywhere near with a toothbrush until the stitches fall out. But your teeth will hurt too much for you to brush anyway.

[busymama7]

As far as while nursing, keep in mind the meds they give women nursing NEWBORNS after C-section. Those should be safe enough for a couple of days. I recall taking percocet.

.

Oh for sure ;) I really could have been put under general and it would have been fine. I was still in not a good place after having my previous child stillborn at term and i was crazy paranoid. I didn't want any meds in my system if I could avoid it and my dentist thought it would be fine. He felt bad later and agreed it would have been wiser to put me under. Oh well. I only bring it up to warn others that even though it wasn't painful, it was miserable going through it while awake. Not everyone would be as sensitive and not all teeth a hard to remove as mine ended up being.

[happypamama]

Thank you all for these tips! I expect that any pain meds should be fine for nursing, but I may call our family doctor to see if she would prefer one over another wrt my baby, and then I can talk to the dental office and see what they say. I think the top ones will be pretty easy to get out; the bottom ones may be a bit harder, but I suppose we will see. If I really can't handle it, well, I suppose we'll have to try again under the general later, but really, I'm not going to need to have this done again, so if it's horrible, well, it's still only an hour, and then it'll be over. I'm thinking I'll bring earbuds and a music player, just to keep myself from focusing on the procedure.

Thanks for the suggestion about having someone else drive. I was anticipating meeting DH (so he doesn't have to take off work for too many hours) at the dental office (which is between his office and home), so he can watch the kids (the kids will be easily entertained by TV/electronics), but that would mean we'd both have to drive home. Maybe I can have him leave work a little earlier, so we can go in one vehicle. Also, good idea to get the prescription filled that day; we're 20 minutes from any pharmacy, but the dental office is right near a pharmacy, so we could get it filled that day.

Okay, teabags, soft foods, smoothie ingredients, frozen washcloths, yogurt, and some meals in the freezer -- those sound like good plans.

[blondeviolin]

I had mine out a few months back. I was cleared for percocet while nursing. I was fine filling the prescription right afterwards because the pain didn't we in until after the numbing wore off. Definitely keep the meds up to keep ahead of the pain. Soft foods are good, but also small foods. French fries were perfect because they were soft-ish, but I didn't have to open my mouth wide to get it in. My jaws are always affected by the numbing shots.

Take an iPod or something to listen to music so you don't have to hear the cracking and pulling.

[happypamama]

I had mine out a few months back. I was cleared for percocet while nursing. I was fine filling the prescription right afterwards because the pain didn't we in until after the numbing wore off. Definitely keep the meds up to keep ahead of the pain. Soft foods are good, but also small foods. French fries were perfect because they were soft-ish, but I didn't have to open my mouth wide to get it in. My jaws are always affected by the numbing shots.

Take an iPod or something to listen to music so you don't have to hear the cracking and pulling.

French fries -- great idea! (Any excuse for french fries, LOL.)

Any chance you cosleep? My little guy is big enough that I think it shouldn't be an issue (he'll be 8 months by then) -- he'd get mad and kick/fuss if someone tried to roll over on him -- but that's one of my concerns. Normally I am a relatively light sleeper, but I'm a little concerned about meds that might knock me out too heavily. I've never taken percocet or the like, so I don't really know how I might react. Sleepiness isn't a problem, just the potential for heavy sleep.

[Punchie]

I haven't read though everything, but when my wisdom teeth were pulled, my mom had me suck on black tea bags. She would get them wet, put them on my sockets, and have me press down. The antiseptic properties of the tea help with healing.

 

[Mom in High Heels]

Bed.  Pain killers.  Sleep.

[blondeviolin]

French fries -- great idea! (Any excuse for french fries, LOL.)

Any chance you cosleep? My little guy is big enough that I think it shouldn't be an issue (he'll be 8 months by then) -- he'd get mad and kick/fuss if someone tried to roll over on him -- but that's one of my concerns. Normally I am a relatively light sleeper, but I'm a little concerned about meds that might knock me out too heavily. I've never taken percocet or the like, so I don't really know how I might react. Sleepiness isn't a problem, just the potential for heavy sleep.

We do, actually! Enzo was about 8 mos with my extractions. He goes to bed at 8 and I don't go to bed till 11 or so. So, around 11, I'd make sure is nurse him right before I'd go to bed and then put him in the bouncer after that. He'd sleep till at least 1. Then I'd pull him in bed with me (the sleepy/fuzzy part only lasts for the first 90 min or so for me). When he woke up, I'd take 800mg ibuprofen. So staggering meds like that made it possible for us to comfortably cosleep and nurse without much concern.

[Slartibartfast]

IMO it all depends on the actual teeth themselves. Are they impacted or are they out?

 

I needed a lot more gauze than they gave me. I tend to bleed a lot.

 

IMO it was pretty easy, I was very please with my dentist. We stopped by Starbucks and got me a soymilk frappucino and I just laid around on the couch. Dh can have milk so when he got his wisdom teeth out I went out and got him a milkshake. 

 

[happypamama]

We do, actually! Enzo was about 8 mos with my extractions. He goes to bed at 8 and I don't go to bed till 11 or so. So, around 11, I'd make sure is nurse him right before I'd go to bed and then put him in the bouncer after that. He'd sleep till at least 1. Then I'd pull him in bed with me (the sleepy/fuzzy part only lasts for the first 90 min or so for me). When he woke up, I'd take 800mg ibuprofen. So staggering meds like that made it possible for us to comfortably cosleep and nurse without much concern.

Perfect -- thank you! That's exactly what I needed to know. It sounds like I could take the heavy duty stuff when he first goes to sleep for the night, and DH will still be awake then, so then I could take ibuprofen in the middle of the night.

This is the most helpful board ever!