I get why people swear by the salt water rinses, but honestly, we had a different experience with my daughter. She was really diligent about it for the first few days, but after that, it seemed to irritate her gums more than help. Her oral surgeon actually said to cut back if it started making her sore, so we switched to just gentle rinsing with plain water after meals. That seemed to work fine—no infection, and her pain didn’t spike.
I’m not totally convinced that pushing through with salt water for two weeks straight is always necessary, especially if it’s uncomfortable. I do agree that eating soft foods made a big difference, though. She was grumpy about living on applesauce and scrambled eggs, but it definitely kept her energy up and probably helped with healing.
We skipped the clove stuff since she’s super sensitive to strong flavors, and just stuck with over-the-counter pain meds on a schedule. There were a couple rough nights, but overall, it was manageable. I guess every kid reacts differently, but for us, less was more when it came to rinsing.
I actually had a similar reaction to the salt water—after a few days, it just made my mouth feel raw.
That’s exactly what happened for me. Swapping to just plain water was less irritating, and honestly, I didn’t notice any difference in healing. Pain meds on schedule were way more helpful than any rinse, at least in my case.“Her oral surgeon actually said to cut back if it started making her sore...”
I had a similar issue with salt water—my gums just got kind of inflamed after a couple days. I tried alternating between salt water and just cool tap water, and honestly, my mouth felt better. Painkillers at regular intervals seemed to do way more for the discomfort. Maybe the rinsing is more about keeping things clean than speeding up healing? Not sure, but it didn’t seem to make a huge difference for me either.
I’m with you on the painkillers—ibuprofen was my MVP after my extraction. The salt water thing just made my mouth taste like the ocean and didn’t seem to do much except annoy me. Honestly, I started wondering if the fancy rinse was just another way for them to sell more stuff at the pharmacy. Did anyone actually notice a difference in healing time with all those rinses, or is it more of a “just don’t get an infection” situation? I’m all for skipping extra steps if they’re not really helping... especially if it saves a few bucks.
Did anyone actually notice a difference in healing time with all those rinses, or is it more of a “just don’t get an infection” situation?
After my extraction, I kept track—ibuprofen definitely helped, but I’m not convinced the rinses sped things up. I used salt water for a week, then switched to just gentle brushing. No infection either way. Honestly, maybe it’s more about not letting food get stuck than anything “fancy.”