Wisdom teeth extraction and eating

[dydx]

Hi all, today I had my wisdom teeth removed (all 4) and have also had upper braces for ~6 months.

I'm wondering how many of you have had your wisdom teeth removed while also being braced - I know this it not uncommon.

However, I was told not to brush my teeth today, and maybe not until tomorrow night to start lightly brushing, but to start to rinse with salt water etc. tomorrow.

Right now I've barely been consuming any liquids or solids, but when I start it's likely that these will be high in sugar (ice cream, pudding, milk, juice, milkshakes, etc). While in braces for the last 6 months I've avoided sugar extensively and I won't be able to brush for a few days while consuming these sugar items, how did you guys deal with this? do you just let it be and forget about braces treatment for a few days and worry about cleaning them later? I don't see any other option if I want to up my calories.

[sirwired]

I went NINE WEEKS with a jaw splint in after my surgery and I only got to brush my teeth properly once during that time (after six weeks) and didn't suffer any ill effects. You may feel a little grungy and your breath may be less than wonderful, but you'll be fine.

[Featheryy1221]

I just got 4 impacted wisdom teeth out November 25th, so 2 weeks ago. You won't be able to brush your teeth as well as you'll want to. I know I try really hard to keep my braces ultra clean, but you can't when you get your wisdom teeth out. I didn't even brush my back molars very well for fear of ruining the stitches plus I was told to avoid that area.

You should definitely eat or drink something though, you'll feel better when you do. Other food suggestions I can give you are Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and later scrambled eggs. You'll get extremely tired of just sweet foods so these helped me to switch it up a bit. I also really liked having instant breakfast packets in the morning. Things with protein in them are the best things to have as it helps with healing (according to the paper they gave me).

Definitely do the salt water rinses the next day. I was told I could start them 8 hours after surgery and I wouldn't recommend that. Lol.

Good luck and I hope you heal well.

[dydx]

Wow, thank you both for sharing your experiences. Nine weeks is a long time considering the amount of time that I'm here worried about. Thanks for the brushing, food, and rinsing suggestions also! Have little pain here on day 2 but hoping for a quick(ish) recovery.

All the best to you guys.

[Felina Grimm]

I also had all four of mine removed while fully-braced. I was on an all-liquid diet for a week. It was so annoying because I couldn't use straws and I used them for all but water. I had to brush right away after drinking anything sweet. I couldn't brush the first day but after that I brushed slowly and avoided the back molars.

[xkiwitatty]

I totally know how you feel! I had 4 wisdoms removed recently though I wasn't braced when I had my extractions but I had Invisalign on...lucky for me I could remove my invisalign (I was instructed to do so).

I actually brushed the front, up until my first molar, on the first night of surgery...I wanted to keep my mouth as clean as possible to prevent infections and yucky stuff...

I only ate sweet stuff also for the first 2 days...pudding, yogurt, oatmeal ( I would avoid this until you can use your syringe because the little oats can get into the sockets), and Ensure. I was sick of it!!! When my mom made me mash potatoes, I felt like I was in heaven. And then I was able to eat ramen...the feeling was like...Ramen was banned from this world and then I secretly got a hold of it...the feeling was just so satisfying. lol

The best advice I can give is to be sure to take your antibiotics, use your syringe to flush out the food, drink plenty of water during the first 24-72 hours to keep away dehydration and fever, and use salt water rinses when you can. I started doing the rinses and syringe 2 days after surgery as per my surgeons instructions. Don't start too early as it may prevent the blood clot from attaching.

My breath was pretty stinky the first two or three days because I wasn't able to brush very well but I decided to brush multiple times a day with a minty fresh toothpaste and get as far back as I could. Usually by the third or fourth day, you can start brushing your molars without it hurting. Just still try to be careful...my oral surgeon said it's okay to lightly brush the stitches and don't swish too hard. I went back to my electric tooth brush on the sixth day after surgery I believe and I was regularly flossing.

For regular food...It was still sore to put food in the back for about the first 5-6 days but I can put food back there without pain now. It's been about 9 days since my extractions. I have one socket and some stitches left. I'm still avoiding really chewy and really crunchy stuff though.

Good luck!

[Tyrantblade]

While I have no experience with braces yet, I will say I absolutely hated the recovery process, not so much the immediate area (socket, hums, etc), but the long term part where I can only guess where the teeth were was filled in with bone or whatever, that part felt like it lasted forever (im guessing it was maybe 6 months). Hopefully for any of you guys recovering that part wont be as bad, for a while i felt exactly like I did before they were removed.

[snowblaze]

About two months ago, I got my bottom wisdom teeth removed while I had top braces. It did not made any difference for me but I was amazed on how painless the whole procedure was ! Recovery time was about 4 days. Good luck!

[mysticgirl916]

All my wisdom teeth came out in 2008 (first the top right, then the remaining three about a month later), so all I had was weak tea and soup for the first day. I also had killer headaches, so it's a good idea to take some ibuprofen or any painkillers that your dentist prescribes and just sleep it off

[rachelb]

Uh oh, reviving this older thread :D
I recently had my wisdom teeth removed on the right side and also my two baby canines.
I was prepared with soft foods, smoothies and bananas, but innthe end I noticed that I could eat pretty much anything as long as I can cut the food in little pieces and shove it my mouth on the side where I still have my wisdom teeth.
Granted I have not had my braces attatched yet, so this might be a wholly different experience when I get the left sided wisdom teeth extracted. At least I won't have to remove my canines again at the same time :)))

[aspiromusings]

Already in braces but will be getting 2 premolars on the top row removed in less than 2 weeks, I'm a mixture of horrified and excited lol

Reading this makes me think its going to be better to forgo my sonic toothbrush for a few days as that would be fairly aggressive, gonna stick to a manual toothbrush until the clot subsides

Any other tips?

[rachelb]

Here's a link I found really useful while preparing for the extractions and then afterwards.
Hope it helps!

http://www.dentalfearcentral.org/faq/healing/