I get the urge to baby the area, but honestly, my experience was a bit different. I followed my dentist’s instructions pretty closely and tried not to overthink every twinge or weird sensation. The stitches felt tight for a few days, but after that, I just made sure to keep things clean and avoided anything too crunchy. Sometimes being overly cautious can actually make you more anxious than necessary... I found that sticking to the aftercare plan without going overboard helped me feel more normal faster.
I totally get that urge to baby the stitches—I was convinced if I even looked at them wrong, they’d unravel or something. Ended up spending way too much time checking my mouth in the mirror like I was auditioning for a dental horror movie. But you’re right, following the aftercare plan and not obsessing over every weird tingle made things way less stressful. I did avoid anything with seeds though... learned that lesson the hard way with a rogue sesame seed.
Can definitely relate to the “dental horror movie” mirror checks—felt like I was constantly on guard for any sign the stitches were coming loose. It’s wild how every tiny twinge or itch feels like a huge deal when you’re healing. I remember stressing over a weird pulling sensation for days, only to find out it was totally normal as things tightened up.
Seeds are sneaky little troublemakers... I had a close call with a poppy seed from a bagel and basically panicked until I could rinse it out. After that, I stuck to mushy foods and cut everything into tiny pieces, just in case. I did wonder if I was being overly cautious, but honestly, it helped me relax a bit knowing I was doing what I could.
One thing I found helpful was using a kid-sized toothbrush for gentle cleaning around the area—felt way less intimidating than my usual brush. Anyone else get kind of obsessed with checking if the stitches were dissolving on schedule? Mine seemed to hang around forever before finally disappearing.
I totally get the stitch obsession—mine took way longer to dissolve than I expected, and I kept poking at them with my tongue (which probably didn’t help). Did anyone else get worried about weird tastes or smells while healing? I was convinced every little thing meant infection...
Yeah, I was totally paranoid about every weird taste or smell for weeks. I kept asking my partner, "Does my breath smell weird to you?"—pretty sure he thought I was losing it. My stitches also took their sweet time dissolving, and I could not stop poking at them either. Honestly, I think the taste thing is pretty normal, especially with all those healing tissues and stitches hanging around. Unless there’s actual pain or swelling, it’s probably just part of the process… but man, our brains love to spiral, don’t they?
