Eating after wisdom teeth removal

[Susanne]

How long after wisdom teeth removal before you can eat solid food again - things besides yogurt, mashed potato, applesauce, milkshakes and so on? When can you resume eating crunchy foods such as carrots, apples, salads, etc.?

 

[MisaTange]

After 48-72 hours iirc. I personally waited 96 hours (I think at least... it felt like a really long time before I could eat solid foods and got tired of eating porridge and jello, lol) because I was really scared of dry socket but also iirc you get a page of instructions that cover not only pain management but when to start eating solid foods.

 

[Enarete]

I ate pizza on the same evening (carefully) after having my wisdom teeth out. I don't claim that it's the best thing to do, but would say that you can feel as soon as you are ready for solid food. Every body is different and your mouth will tell you if it's too early or not.

 

[Susanne]

For those of you that have already had your wisdom teeth removed, how soon after the procedure were you able to eat and what sorts of things did you eat those first few days? Was it very difficult or painful to eat or was it pretty manageable? How long before you were able to chew normally?

 

[Dg6300]

I didn’t eat much the first day or two.

I kept pushing myself to eat, and with increasingly firm food.

By day 4 I was eating ice cream left and right. I also made a lentil soup with tiny bits of ham, and that really sped up my healing.

I was eating more or less normally by two weeks. By ten days I was at 90%.
In general, do whatever the oral surgeon recommends, and you should be just fine.

I recommend scheduling a follow up a week later. I needed two follow up visits, and they really put my mind at ease.

 

[darcy_]

Both times I had it done in the morning and ate my first meal a couple hours later. For the first week I ate a lot of mashed potatoes, greek yogurt with bananas, porridge, jellies, tofu, thick soups.

My first extraction was very difficult, I could barely open my mouth due to the pain even though I only took out one tooth. But my second (where I removed two) was much, much better; I'd have eaten regular food if I wasn't so worried about dislodging the clots! I took a long time to return to regular food for the first round, but I was eating normally after a week for the second

I second the suggestion to schedule a follow-up for peace of mind!

 

[Judythecat]

I only had one removed, but I was eating normally the same day of the extraction. I just avoided the extraction site. I also had a follow-up appointment the week after.

 

[Enarete]

I had a huge pizza and some red wine on the same day after all of my wisdom teeth went, just ate carefully. Wouldn't recommend the red wine though, it was just that I haven't received much of instructions so wasn't aware of any limitations.

 

[krlovesherkids777]

I think by the next day or two days after I was eating normally too, again just careful.. I think your body will be really intuitively careful . but yeah just avoiding that area and babying it a little. think you will be eating good in no time

 

[MeaDrea]

My mom stocked up on apple sauce, yogurt, cottage cheese and slim fast for me lol

I'm not looking forward to the procedure, but at least my diet will be on point. Lol

 

[kitkat]

Hmm...maybe mine was kind of difficult (I had all 4 taken out at once and they were all impacted). I think I ate pretty much soft/smooth consistencies for about a week (jellos, puddings, broths, yogurts, apple sauce, etc). I really didn’t eat day 1, because I had a bad reaction to the pain meds and I was very nauseous and vomiting (literally the worst time to vomit). Then I was very swollen afterward and could not open my jaw more than a few inches so getting solid food in my mouth or chewing would have been quite a task. I started to experiment with slightly more solid foods by probably day 5 or so...I remember being very paranoid about the stitches possibly catching on foods which actually did happen on some angel food cake. I thought my recovery was pretty much par for the course but after reading this thread maybe not...

 

[Susanne]

For those of you who have had your wisdom teeth extracted as an adult, how difficult did you find it to eat afterward? What types of foods did you eat the first few days and when did you go back to what you would call a "normal" diet?

I'm worried that when I have mine out, I will be so sore and swollen that eating and swallowing will be painful and difficult. I also don't want to overload on too much sugar or empty calories from milkshakes, pudding(custard), ice cream and so forth. Are there any soft but nutritious foods that you found tolerable after your wisdom teeth were removed? Did anyone resort to pureeing so-called "regular" foods in a blender?

 

[PlatypusBear]

I'd remember that your body is putting all its energy into recovery (especially if you are having multiple teeth out and if they are under the gum or impacted) and don't sweat the extra sugar. I think actually (not a doctor) that calorie-rich beverages are recommended after surgeries to help you recover, even more so since you may not be able to chew. My advice is shop for any and every mushy food you generally like the taste of because eating something is the most important thing.

I had all four of my wisdom teeth out at once when I was 28 and it took two weeks before I was comfortable chewing because my cheeks were so swollen they kept getting in the way of my teeth. A coworker had all four of theirs out at the same time as me and was back to work next day, barely any swelling at all. It really varies by person and situation. Eating was not at all enjoyable for me due to the swelling, so just eating anything to get some calories was important, no sense in worrying about what it was. You will have to brush your teeth no matter what you eat (get a nice soft toothbrush).

My foods of choice were blended soups (I bought a lot of "Campbell's everyday gourmet") heated to just a little above body temperature, banana "ice cream" (just a frozen banana put in the magic bullet or blender with a touch of milk to thin), apple sauces (they come in many flavors), mashed potatoes, mashed avocados, hummus, liver pâté, and smoothies - but you must eat them with a spoon because straw suction can dislodge the clots protecting your sockets so make them thicker than usual. You can also use unsweetened tea instead of juice or milk to avoid the sugar.

 

[Susanne]

How soon were you able to eat or drink after having your wisdom teeth surgically removed? I understand the patient has to bite down on gauze for about an hour afterward, but how long after that before you were able to drink or eat something soft such as ice cream?

 

[NervousUSA]

@Susanne After a few hours. Maybe 4 hours at the most. I was eating ice cream, pudding, and apple sauce after having the extractions in the morning.