Had my first tooth extraction yesterday and wow… I was not prepared for the aftermath. The dentist gave me the usual “don’t spit, don’t suck on straws” speech, but honestly, I’m still pretty sore and paranoid about doing something wrong. I’ve been sticking to soft foods (mashed potatoes are my new best friend) and trying not to poke around with my tongue too much.
But I feel like there’s gotta be more tricks or products out there that make recovery less miserable? Like, is there a specific mouth rinse that actually helps with healing, or are those just marketing fluff? Also, how long did you all wait before eating “normal” food again? My jaw feels weirdly stiff too—normal or nah?
Would love to hear what helped others get through it without losing their minds. Any little comforts or hacks you swear by?
The dentist gave me the usual “don’t spit, don’t suck on straws” speech, but honestly, I’m still pretty sore and paranoid about doing something wrong.
Totally get this. I was super stressed after my wisdom tooth extraction last year—kept thinking I'd mess something up and end up with dry socket or whatever. For mouth rinses, my dentist told me to skip the fancy stuff and just use salt water after 24 hours. I tried one of those “healing” mouthwashes from the pharmacy and honestly, it just stung more than it helped. Salt water was way gentler.
Jaw stiffness is normal, especially if they had to do a lot of wiggling to get the tooth out. Mine lasted a few days, then faded once I started opening/closing my mouth more (gently though). As for eating normal food, I waited about a week before biting into anything crunchy or chewy—didn’t want to risk it.
Ice packs helped a ton early on, and pro tip: cold applesauce is weirdly soothing. Hang in there—it’s rough for a bit but gets better pretty quick.
I actually found the pharmacy mouthwash helpful, but only the alcohol-free kind—anything with alcohol burned like crazy and made the swelling worse for me. Salt water’s good, but sometimes I just wanted that extra “clean” feeling. Guess it depends on your pain tolerance.
I hear you on the burn from alcohol mouthwash—felt like I was gargling hot sauce. But honestly, I swear by the classic salt water rinse. Cheap, simple, and never left my gums angry. Pharmacy stuff always tasted weird to me anyway... maybe I’m old school, but salt’s never let me down.
Yeah, salt water rinse was my go-to too—my grandma swears by it and honestly, it made things feel a little less gross after meals. I tried one of those “healing” mouthwashes from the pharmacy once and it just tasted like chemicals, didn’t notice any difference in healing either.
For the jaw stiffness, I remember being weirded out by that as well. I think I started gently opening and closing my mouth after a couple days, just to keep things from locking up. Nothing forceful, just little movements while watching TV or something.
Food-wise, I stuck with soft stuff for almost a week because I was so paranoid about messing up the clot. Pudding, scrambled eggs, even overcooked pasta. When I finally tried a sandwich, I chewed on the opposite side and cut everything into tiny pieces—felt ridiculous but it worked.
Ice packs helped a ton with swelling, too. I wrapped a bag of frozen peas in a towel and swapped sides every so often. Not glamorous, but hey, whatever works.
