Actually, my experience was pretty different. I found smoothies to be a lifesaver—cold was soothing for me rather than painful. Maybe it depends on how sensitive your teeth are normally? Lukewarm mashed potatoes sound comforting, though. Weirdly enough, hot broth made me cringe... go figure. Took about two weeks before I dared to chew anything crunchy again, but cold stuff never really bothered me much.
"Took me about 10 days before cold stuff stopped feeling like torture."
Guess everyone's mouth heals at its own pace.
Interesting how different everyone's experience is. Did you find smoothies soothing right from day one? For me, anything cold was a no-go at first—felt like an electric shock through my jaw. Weirdly, room-temp soups were my comfort zone.
"Weirdly enough, hot broth made me cringe... go figure."
Maybe it's not just tooth sensitivity but also how swollen or inflamed your gums get? Seems like healing really varies person to person.
Funny you mention the cold thing—I was the exact opposite. Smoothies and ice cream were my best friends from day one. I remember stocking up on all these fancy soups thinking I'd be living off them, but nope... hot or even lukewarm stuff felt like torture. Weirdly enough, my sister had hers out around the same time, and she couldn't handle anything cold either. She said it felt like biting into aluminum foil (ouch).
I think you're onto something about gum inflammation though. My swelling was pretty minimal, but hers was intense—chipmunk cheeks for days. Maybe that's why our experiences were so different? Honestly, it took me about a week to start feeling somewhat normal again, but she was still struggling two weeks in. Seems like there's no rhyme or reason to it sometimes.
Interesting point about the gum inflammation—I think you're onto something there. My dentist mentioned that swelling and inflammation can really vary depending on how impacted the teeth were and how much they had to dig around in there (sorry for the graphic image, haha). I had mine out a couple years ago, and honestly, I was somewhere in between you and your sister. Cold stuff felt great at first, but after a day or two, it started giving me that weird aluminum foil sensation your sister described—ugh, still gives me chills thinking about it.
I stocked up on soups too, but ended up mostly living off room-temperature mashed potatoes and yogurt for about a week. Swelling-wise, I definitely had some chipmunk action going on, but nothing extreme. Felt pretty normal again after about 10 days or so. You're right though...there really doesn't seem to be a clear pattern to recovery times or symptoms. Teeth are weird like that!
"I stocked up on soups too, but ended up mostly living off room-temperature mashed potatoes and yogurt for about a week."
Haha, same here. Soups sounded great in theory, but after day two I was so over chicken noodle. Honestly, my recovery was pretty quick—felt decent by day 5-6—but I think that was partly because mine weren't super impacted and I stayed really strict with rinsing gently with salt water (cheap and effective!). Everyone's mileage definitely varies though... teeth really are unpredictable little monsters.
