How To Speed Up Your Wisdom Teeth Recovery

Wisdom Teeth Removal

When you get your wisdom teeth out, you can experience severe pain. Wisdom teeth removal impacts everyone differently, and your recovery may differ based on your experienced. For example, if your teeth are impacted, you may have a lengthier recovery.

After getting your wisdom teeth removed, take time to rest and relax. Be sure to stay hydrated. Hydration helps with healing. You should also stick to soft foods—chewing will be difficult and likely painful. You should also be sure to keep your mouth clean. This may include washing out with warm salt water—but be careful not to swish and removed your blood clots. Be gentle about all of your movements.

The Healing Timeline

The healing process can be different for each person. During the first 2-3 days swelling of the mouth and cheeks should go down. About one week after the surgery, a dentist will remove any remaining stitches. Within 7-10 days jaw soreness should go away and within about two weeks, bruising should heal.

How to Speed Up the Process

Though you will likely need some downtime after wisdom teeth removal, there are a few things you can do that may speed up the process. These careful practices may help you get back to your everyday life, pain free, faster.

• Rinse your mouth out regularly
• Protect the wound and exposed bone
• Prevent bleeding when possible
• Keep your head elevated
• Ice the area of the cheek for the first day
• Don’t over exert yourself

Wisdom teeth removal is a form of surgery and will require some recovery time. Be sure that you don’t push yourself too much. If you don’t take care of yourself and let your mouth heal, you could suffer from infections, dry socket, and other complications that will only extend recovery time and likely cause you more pain than necessary.

What to Avoid

After wisdom teeth are extracted blood clots are formed over the exposed tissue and bone to protect them. These blood clots basically act as scabs—they are essential to the healing process. If they are disturbed or removed, you could be in danger of dry sockets. Dry sockets can be very painful and lead to infections. To avoid dealing with the pain of a dry socket, avoid the following things that can dislodge the blood clots.

• Brushing your teeth around the wounds
• Eating food that requires lots of chewing, i.e. sticky or crunchy foods
• Drinking hot drinks
• Swishing liquid in your mouth
• Drinking from a straw

If you’re looking to get your wisdom teeth out, contact us at Oral & Facial Surgery of Utah. Our professional surgeons will help you through the process and make it as painless as possible. We’d be happy to discuss options for surgery and how to speed you through the recovery process.