Congratulations, your oral surgery is done. Your mouth is going to be sore and you’ll need to take care of your mouth so you can recover quickly and easily. How well you heal will be up to you and what you do after you get your teeth pulled, your wisdom tooth extracted, or get new implants.
Here are simple but essential tips to ease your pain and speed up your recovery.
Listen to your dentist. Follow their post-op recovery instructions. They know best.
Take your pain medication when the doctor tells you to.
Watch what you eat. Your dentist will tell you to stick to liquids and soft food while you’re healing. Make sure your food cools down before you dig into it to avoid irritation.
Here’s quick list of food and drinks you can enjoy:
- Chicken, beef or vegetable broth
- Tomato soup
- Butternut squash soup
- Creamy vegetable soup
- Applesauce
- Custard
- Hummus
- Guacamole (but mash it well)
- Mashed potatoes
- Mashed cauliflower
- Mashed bananas
- Scrambled eggs
- Cottage cheese
- Mousse
- Oatmeal
- Porridge
- Plain congee
- Pudding
- Jello
- Whipped cream
- Yogurt
- Ice cream
- Frozen yogurt
- Milkshakes
- Meal supplement drinks
- Smoothies
- Sports drinks
- Coffee
- Tea
- Juices
Avoid spicy food, crunchy food, grains and seeds, chewy food and alcohol on the days of your recovery.
Skip the straw. No sucking, no smoking while you’re recovering. Negative pressure can dislodge your blood clot, the very thing that is keeping your wound closed. This is called dry socket and this will delay your healing.
Rest.Avoid strenuous activities. Now is not the time for hitting the gym or running. Don’t lift heavy objects, don’t move around too much. Prop your head up and take this time to catch up on your reading or maybe watch some Netflix.