This turned out to be a long blog post, so I split it into two parts.  If you have not yet read Part 1, you can check it out here.

Please note that I am neither a doctor nor a dentist and nothing in this blog post is intended to constitute medical or dental advice.  Always consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner or dentist before having any oral surgery.

It will hurt less than you imagine, but you will feel more ill than you imagine.

This took me by surprise, because I hadn’t heard anyone mention this before.  Usually wisdom tooth extraction stories fall into two camps:  worst experience ever; or went back to work straight after and felt fine.  I actually felt quite weak and unwell following both my extractions. 

On the day of the extraction itself, I was felt very lethargic afterwards, because obviously I had been sedated.  I didn’t sleep in the car on the way home or when I got home, but for the rest of the evening I just lay semi propped up doing nothing at all.  On the night of the first extraction, I also felt quite emotional and ended up crying – I presume this was an after-effect of the sedative too. 

I had booked off work the day following the first extraction and had been looking forward to it as a sort of reading and jigsaws day.  However, I didn’t feel up to doing anything much – quite lethargic again.  The day after that, I felt positively unwell.  I was quite weak and shaky, and somewhat emotional.  It was a bit like the stage where you have recovered enough from an illness enough to wash your hair and get some fresh air, but the whole thing leaves you drained! 

I didn’t book off the day following the second extraction, because I knew from the first one that I would be up to working and wouldn’t feel like doing anything fun.  I also knew the day after that would be the worst, so I cunningly had the extraction on a Thursday, meaning the worst day would be a Saturday.  Again, I felt a bit weak and generally unwell, so was grateful to have an easy day. 

If you are due to have a wisdom tooth extraction, my advice would be to take at least two days off work afterwards.  Aside from the fact that you might feel generally under the weather your breath will stink, your teeth will feel disgusting, you won’t be able to eat normally, and you won’t be able to do any strenuous exercise, so manual work will be out of the question anyway. 

Consider getting a neck pillow.

You know those pillows that wrap around your neck that people use on aeroplanes?  Depending on how you normally sleep, you might like to get one.  Although with PGRF you are safe to lie down, you might find that it is not comfortable to do so in your usual sleeping position.  You might also find that lying down causes the feeling of pressure in your jaw to gradually increase until it wakes you.  At this point, it might be necessary to sit up for a while until the pressure eases – especially if there is still a while to wait before your next painkillers!  I got a neck pillow prior to my first extraction and although I didn’t need to use it as much as I thought, it was still handy to have for an odd hour here and there. 

Get a TePe Compact Tuft toothbrush. 

During the extraction, you will bleed.  You will not be able to rinse your mouth properly in case you dislodge the blood clot at the extraction site and, in the hours after the extraction, your jaw is likely to stiffen.  This makes opening your mouth wide enough to clean your teeth difficult.  You are unlikely to want to clean too close to the extraction site anyway, firstly for fear of dislodging the clot and secondly because you will naturally want to guard the vulnerable area from bumps or scrapes.  The blood will dry on your teeth, especially if you continue to bleed for a while after the extraction.  Within a few hours of the extraction your mouth will therefore taste, feel and smell most unpleasant! 

I had been advised to get a TePe Compact Tuft toothbrush when my wisdom tooth first became infected.  A dental hygienist said it would help me to clean around the partially impacted tooth more thoroughly than a full sized toothbrush and she was absolutely right!  I would not have thought to buy one of these toothbrushes especially to use after the extraction, but I am very glad that I already had one.  It allowed me to very gently and delicately clean more of the dried blood off my teeth than I could have managed with my regular toothbrush.  It was a few days before I dared to brush right up to the extraction site, but every day I used the TePe to clean my teeth on the extraction side, working a little further back each time.  I highly recommend you to get one! 

Do the saltwater rinses.

I was very apprehensive about doing the saltwater rinses, so I didn’t begin them as soon as I could have.  I was incredibly scared that I’d dislodge my blood clot or that the saltwater would sting the wound!  I would still be scared of dislodging the clot, so I would still wait a bit longer than necessary to begin them.  However, they do not sting at all!  I think I started mine after 48 hours, using lukewarm water and sea salt.  I just held the water over the extraction site for the first few times – definitely no swishing!  Later, I moved the water about a bit by gently tipping my head, but still no swishing.  My dentist had given me instructions that explained how much salt and water to use, when to begin, how often to do the rinses, and how to do them.  Your dentist will probably do the same, or you can find instructions online. 

The saltwater rinses felt soothing at the extraction site and they also seemed to help with the gnawing sensation in my jaw, if only for a few minutes.  Another benefit is that they helped my mouth to feel fresher, because it really did feel horridly dirty for several days!  One thing I did notice is that they made me very thirsty (you must absorb some of the salt through the fleshy bit under your tongue), so if you do them just before sleep, take a drink to bed. 

Get some plantain juice and do rinses with that as well. 

I use Salus plantain juice every day, because I sometimes get stomach ulcer type pains, especially if I am very stressed.  Plantain juice seems to protect me from experiencing those as often.  I should mention that I am referring here to the type of plantain whose Latin name is Plantago and not the type of plantain that is similar to a banana. 

The Plantago type of plantain has long been used in traditional medicine for its wound healing properties, including in oral wounds.  When my brother was a child, he got a bad grass cut while playing outside and Mum used a ribwort leaf (a member of the Plantago species) as a makeshift plaster until she could get him to the house.  When the leaf was removed, the cut had already closed up so well that it was almost healed.  Prior to my first extraction, Mum therefore suggested that I used plantain rinses to assist with the healing process.  I did this by mixing the Salus juice with a little warm water and letting it rest against the extraction site in the same way as the saltwater rinses.  I did this a few times a day, either just after the saltwater rinse or at a different time entirely.  I also continued to take plantain juice internally as I do every day.  Whether or not it helped expedite the healing process I cannot say, but I certainly don’t think it hindered it! 

Stop taking anticoagulants a few days before the procedure, unless you are prescribed them for some kind of medical condition. 

Obviously you should not stop taking prescription anticoagulants!  However, you might not know that some supplements, foods and over the counter medicines have anticoagulant properties.  Aspirin is the well-known one – sometimes this is prescribed to people specifically for its blood thinning properties, but of course it is also available to buy as a painkiller.  If you occasionally use it for headaches and get a headache in the few days before your extraction, consider taking some other type of painkiller that does not have blood thinning actions.  Garlic is another one – it might be worth stopping garlic supplements and avoiding eating an excess of garlic in the few days before an extraction, especially if you won’t be having PRGF.  I also stopped vitamin E, which again has anticoagulant properties. 

Because I was having PRGF, the dentist said I didn’t really need to avoid garlic stop taking vitamin E.  However, I am a better safe than sorry kind of person and I really didn’t want to have to do the gauze dressings, so I cut them out for a few days beforehand and waited until about day 3 of my recovery before reintroducing them.  I continued to take my multivitamins, which contain lower amounts of vitamin E than my standalone vitamin E supplement. 

Take extra vitamin C.

It helps protect against infections, so should reduce the likelihood of your extraction site becoming infected.  It also promotes wound healing and strengthens wound sites, making them less prone to open up again.  These properties are obviously very useful if you’ve got a hole in your mouth where a manky wisdom tooth used to be!  

Take extra vitamin K2, unless there is some medical reason why you should not. 

Vitamin K2 promotes blood clotting.  Of course there are medical conditions where you need to avoid clotting agents, so seek professional advice if you are under medical supervision or have an existing health condition.  Also do not take vitamin K2 if you are on prescribed anticoagulants.  If you are in fine fettle and have been given the green light to take extra vitamin K2 by a healthcare provider, then feel free to do so for a few days before and after the extraction.  It will help a nice sturdy blood clot to form quickly at the extraction site, reducing the bleeding time and protecting against dry socket or infection.  If you are having PRGF then you’ll have a readymade clot popped in the site anyway; however, I still chose to take extra vitamin K2 so that my machine-made clot might be even better and so that my wound might bleed less while waiting for it to be put in.  I also thought that if my clot fell out, vitamin K2 might protect me against subsequent bleeding.  I used Health4All Vitamin K2 Tablets.  

Use comfrey cream on your face.

The extraction will cause some degree of trauma to your jaw bone.  At best, your tooth will come out nicely, leaving only a small hole in your jaw bone where the roots were.  At worst, part of your jaw bone will need to be removed to get the tooth out.  In any event, the bone needs to do some healing afterwards.  Your face will also be generally quite stiff and perhaps bruised from the procedure itself. 

Comfrey is nicknamed knitbone because it promotes bone healing so well.  It has been used for centuries to help heal broken bones, fractures, sprains and strains.  It is also anti-inflammatory and expedites wound healing.  In fact, comfrey speeds up wound healing so much that it should not be used directly on open cuts or scrapes as there is a risk that the wound will heal up too quickly, locking infection inside the body! 

A couple of days after my first extraction, I mentioned that my jaw felt stiff and my face had tender spots on it that felt like bruises.  Mum suggested I rub some comfrey cream on the outside of my face and my goodness, what a difference!  I used it two or three times a day for a few days after that and when it came to my second extraction, I began using it from the very first day.  It was a game changer!  The thing with applying comfrey to sprains, strains and bruises is that you don’t necessarily feel that it is doing anything at the time, but if you forget to apply it you quickly notice the difference and realise how much it actually helped!  I highly recommend that you get some comfrey cream or ointment and apply it to the outside of your jaw and face beginning as soon as you get home from the extraction! 

Ask a herbalist to make you a healing mouthwash.

As well as the saltwater rinses and plantain juice, you can turbo charge the healing and take extra preventative steps against infection by asking a herbalist to make you a healing mouthwash to use.  Mum made one for me and I began using it on the same day and in the same manner as the saltwater rinses, just at different times. 

Ask a herbalist to make you a healing medicine. 

I was worried in the lead up to my extractions that I might have to have stitches, because the dentist had warned me that this was almost certain.  In both cases I turned out not to need them, but of course better to expect them and not need them than to not expect them and then need them!  I was also very worried about seeing a big wound in my mouth, because I am squeamish.  Mum said she would make me a healing medicine to speed up tissue repair and further reduce the likelihood of any infection or dry socket (even though I was getting PRGF!  Yes, I am a fuss pot!).  As with the plantain, I can’t say how much of a difference it made, but I can say that within a week I was almost back to normal and within two weeks, eating and tooth brushing was back to normal.  Because I am squeamish and didn’t dare to look myself, I made Mum look inside my mouth as soon as I was able to open my mouth widely enough and she couldn’t believe how normal everything looked even in the first few days.  She said the dentist had done a great job and there was really nothing to see, which is impressive considering how big the teeth were! 

Make some soft foods in advance.

If you have IV sedation, you will not be allowed to cook for 24 hours afterwards.  Whether you have IV sedation or not, you probably won’t feel like doing much cooking for the first couple of days.  Before you go for the extraction, make a few soft foods that you can eat for the first day or two.  If you are fortunate enough to live with someone who cooks for you, at least buy in the relevant ingredients so that nobody needs to go shopping right after the extraction. 

If you have lots of food allergies,  the usual ice cream, custard, jelly, mashed potato and soup might not be possible.

Here are some other ideas:  stewed fruit; baked sweet potato or roasted sweet potato circles; sorbet; dairy-free custard alternatives (though these are high in sugar); dairy free yoghurt alternatives (ideally natural flavour so as to avoid excess sugar); homemade mousse made out of tofu; slightly warm corned beef; cauliflower, boiled until very soft; beef tea (the gravy you get when you cook diced beef and marrow bones in the oven); scrambled eggs; carrot and swede mash; mushy peas.

When I first got home from the extraction, I ate some stewed fruit and a very unrealistic custard alternative that I had made from egg yolk, tapioca and coconut milk.  I continued to eat stewed fruit for a couple more days and also mainly ate Peelham Farm pork burgers, which are very soft; sweet potato circles; Loving Foods kraut juice (not the kraut itself – too crunchy!); my special breakfast pancakes made of banana, coconut milk, tapioca and millet; corned beef; carrot and swede mash; and beef gravy. 

Allow lots of extra time to eat.

Every meal will take you ages to eat, because you won’t be able to open your mouth as widely as normal, so you will need to take very small forkfuls.  You will probably deliberately or subconsciously eat with your head tilted to one side to guard the extraction site, which requires a surprising amount of concentration.  Your jaw will be stiff, so chewing will be slower and more tiring than usual.  In short, anything with any lumps or crunch at all will take far longer to eat than normal!  For the first few days, I was actually quite hungry because my food intolerances meant I was very limited as to what I could eat and I became physically tired from eating before I became full.    

You don’t need to make a conscious decision as to when you will eat normally again. 

Gradually your mouth will just begin to feel more normal and you will forget to chew only your good side.  You will become aware that food has touched your extraction side and will naturally begin to resume your usual diet. 

You don’t need to make a conscious decision as to when you will brush your teeth normally again.

You will just find yourself brushing nearer to the extraction site each day and within a couple of weeks you will be back to normal brushing.  You will be very excited to be allowed to use normal minty mouthwash again though!  You’re not allowed to swish mouthwash for a couple of weeks and it feels so amazing when you actually can again! 

You might get a weird popping sensation in your jaw.

As the bone heals, so maybe a couple of weeks after the extraction, you might get a funny feeling in your jaw as if little bubbles are popping.  It doesn’t hurt – it just feels bit like air bubbles in your bones! 

You might get a weird lump near your jaw.

A couple of weeks after one of the extractions, I got a funny little lump near my jaw.  It didn’t hurt, but when I touched the area in front of my ear, I had what felt like a little lump of bone.  I rang the dentist who said it was nothing to worry about and within a few weeks it had gone. 

Don’t pull wisdom teeth unnecessarily.

I know in some countries it is standard practice to assume that wisdom teeth will become problematic and pull them out as early as possible.  That is no longer standard practice in the UK and there is no need at all to extract wisdom teeth unless they start to create issues or their placement makes future issues inevitable.  Wisdom teeth are natural and it is perfectly possible for them to grow through nicely and never cause any issues at all. 

Age doesn’t matter all that much.

On dental forums, I have seen people in their twenties worrying terribly about having wisdom tooth extractions because they are ‘old’.  This is especially common in countries where it is routine to carry out wisdom tooth extractions on teenagers.  Firstly, you might not even grow wisdom teeth in your teens.  I think I was in my early thirties before I first saw mine starting to poke through and some people never get them at all!  I was 38 when I had mine taken out, by which time they were quite well erupted.  Please rest assured that if you’re 24, you don’t need to worry about age-related complications quite yet!  My dentist did say that wisdom teeth become more difficult to remove with age, but I think he meant once you reach an age where receding gums and brittle bones might play a part.  I really don’t think that people in their twenties, thirties or even forties need to consider themselves as geriatric patients just because in some countries they whip your wisdom teeth out at 17! 

That is all of the unusual tips and tricks that I can think of for now!  I would like to reiterate that I am very wimpy about all medical procedures and had never formerly had any kind of surgical procedure.  After my first wisdom tooth extraction, I went for my second with very little trepidation.  Neither extraction experience could be classified as pleasant, but nor was it something I’d refuse to have done again (unlike my ear piercings).  So there you are – I hope that will give you some reassurance if you are nervous about having it done!  I also hope that you will find some of my tips useful and if you are in the North West, I highly recommend Lonsdale Dental Practice! 

Wishing you a successful wisdom tooth extraction!

Tiny x

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