"Ice packs were my best friends, along with soft foods like mashed potatoes, yogurt, and yes, plenty of ice cream."
Ice cream's great, but careful with too much sugar—my kiddo's dentist warned us sugary stuff can slow healing. We stuck mostly to soups and smoothies, and recovery went pretty smoothly overall.
I hear you on the sugar thing—my dentist said something similar. I was on a pretty tight budget when I had my extractions done, so ice cream was tempting but pricey (and yeah, sugary). Instead, I stocked up on stuff like instant mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, and homemade smoothies. Bananas, frozen berries, and a bit of yogurt blended up nicely, and it was cheaper than buying tubs of ice cream anyway.
Also, one thing that really helped me was rinsing gently with warm salt water a few times a day. It seemed to soothe the soreness and my dentist said it helps keep the area clean and speeds up healing. Recovery wasn't too bad overall—just took it easy for a few days and avoided anything crunchy or spicy. Hope your healing goes smoothly!
Glad to hear someone else survived the mashed potato diet, lol. Totally agree on the salt water rinse—my dentist called it "nature's antiseptic," which cracked me up, but honestly, it worked wonders. Another thing that helped me was keeping my head elevated a bit when I slept; it really cut down on swelling. And yeah, spicy food was a no-go for way longer than I expected...lesson learned the hard way there. Hope your recovery stays chill and uneventful.
Totally relate to the spicy food regret...I thought I'd be fine with mild salsa after a week, but nope, big mistake. Also, found that cold packs wrapped in a towel really helped ease swelling faster—might be worth trying if you're still dealing with puffiness.
Haha, mild salsa betrayal is real—I feel you on that. But honestly, the cold packs never really did much for me. I found that warm compresses actually helped ease the swelling faster after the first couple days. Something about improving blood flow or whatever...I dunno, it just worked better in my case. Might be worth a shot if cold isn't cutting it anymore?
