Taking care and keeping up with the maintenance of your teeth is very crucial. No one enjoys visiting the dentist, but at the end of the day, it is necessary. Probably one of the most common procedures that young adults and teens have to do is getting their wisdom teeth out. It’s not up there on the list of fun and favorite things to do, but again it is necessary. Of course, it is dreaded, because it does require some recovery time, varies depending on people and how they deal with pain.
The procedure itself isn’t so bad considering they numb your mouth so you don’t feel the pain when they remove your teeth, but you do feel the pain after the procedure is done. Here are some things you need to know when you’re doing to get your wisdom teeth out according to Colgate.
The procedure is definitely a major one so make sure when you're going that you bring a family member or friend with you. You definitely won’t be in a condition to drive after the procedure, because you will be receiving an anesthetic to numb the area where your tooth will be removed. In addition, depending on how many you're getting removed or how the surgeon performs the surgery you might receive an anesthetic that will put you to sleep during the procedure. The point of the matter is you won’t feel like yourself and some people react differently to the anesthetic. So get someone to drive you home after the procedure. Better to be safe than sorry.
The main thing that occurs when you get your wisdom teeth removed is that the area swells up. It is important that you ice the area to reduce the swelling and that you keep your head raised. Why? It will draw the fluids away from your head and also reduce the swelling.
One of the most important things involved in the healing process of this kind of procedure is getting lots of sleep and rest. Pain medication is required to reduce the pain and bruising. This is your chance to take it easy and watch some Netflix. Stay in bed and relax. Perfect opportunity to also get out of doing chores so make sure you milk it; ha-ha.
The types of food you eat while your mouth is healing are definitely important. You most definitely have to stay away from hard solid foods, because it can cause an infection and you don’t want to worsen the sensitive area. Plus you will probably have trouble chewing hard foods anyway. Why would you want to suffer like that? You will have to eat soft foods like mashed potatoes, soup, ice cream, yogurt, and applesauce.
Lastly, you probably won’t be able to brush your teeth for the first day or so, because you don’t want to touch the stitches. Of course, you want to keep your mouth clean. You’ll have to put some gauze on the affected area to soak up the blood and you could also try wiping your tongue.
The NCBI states, that ten million wisdom teeth are removed from 5 million people in the U.S. each year at a yearly rate of over $3 billion.
