Getting wisdom teeth removed

My appointment is for next tuesday.  I don't know what food to buy.  The surgeon told me that it will be painful to chew for a day or two, and that I need to avoid foods that could get caught in the stitches like rice and popcorn.  I've stocked up on soup, yogurt and pasta, but I don't know what else to get.  Can I still eat stir-fried veggies (without the rice, of course)?  Anybody have any recommendations?

jello, pudding, frozen berries to make smoothies, ice pops (sugar free if you want), ice cream, oatmeal, cream of wheat, cottage cheese, soft fruits like melon's, kiwi, banana's, eggs/hard boiled eggs.

When I had my wisdom teeth removed (and I was in pain for a lot more than 2 days... but your doctor sounds nice..) I lived off of pinto bean cups from taco bell.  LOL!  And yogurt, apple sauce... etc.

Well I wasnt on a diet, so I ate lots of milk shakes too.  They're probably going to give you some drugs where you'll sleep a ton, so food will be the last thing on your mind.

Your jaw is going to be really sore.  Smoothies as listed above sound good, jello, ice pops, oatmeal... those all sound decent.  OH and soup!  Dont knock out the idea of tomato soup or even a noodle based soup.

Eat anything you can imagin smushing to the roof of your mouth where it will break down small enough to swallow.

I swear thats how I ate!


Oh yea and NO STRAWS!

These are great ideas.  Yeah, I threw out all the straws but I'm still paranoid of getting dry socket!  It sounds so horrible!

Things that you can eat without chewing, obviously :D You can basically eat almost any fruit or veggie if you cook it long enough until it gets mushy. Even apples, cored and baked with some cinnamon, can be cut with a spoon and swallow-eaten.

So whatever you feel like, cauliflower, carrots, peas, strawberries, blueberries; cook it 'til it's mushy and chow down.

Good luck with your appointment, I wish you the least amount of pain.. :(

Oooh, baked apples is a fantastic idea!  I know I'll want some delicious comfort food and those will be perfect.

I've heard mashed cauliflower is pretty good and tastes almost like mashed potatoes.  Maybe I'll try that.

When I had my teeth out (about 2 months ago), the day of surgery all I ate was a pint of icecream...chocolate :)  still lost like 2 pounds.  Then the next day, I ate applesauce, puddings, and ice cream.  Then on the third day, I started spreading out a little more....ate mashed up fruit like bananas and papaya..YUMMY....  mashed potatos and gravy, and elbow macaroni with pre-made spaghetti sauce.

Good luck!   I was really in bad pain for about 2 weeks after getting mine out.  I had all 4 done at the same time.  BUT remember, take the drugs...really!   They'll make you feel lots better.  

I got all 4 removed at once. I could not eat anything the first day at all, and really had no desire to eat anyway.

The second day, I was able to swallow some elbow noodles whole by using my tongue to propel them to my throat. Then that night I was able to do the same thing with fish. I could not chew semi-normally until day 4. I lost about 7lbs from the experience, so I'm not complaining.

Not everyone gets long-lasting pain, though.  Remember to take the meds before or just at the start of the pain, and you'll probably be fine.  No pain meds work well if you wait till you hurt bad enough to need them, in my experience.

ignore the horror stories; everyone's experience is different.  i had all four out, under anesthetic, on the same day.  walked out of the office and straight into starbucks for a frappucino.  i was sore and was on liquid foods for about a week, but Tylenol-3's worked great, and when i could finally open my mouth again, food never tasted so good!

like people have been saying everyone's experience is different. My bro is actually getting his out next week, and he remembers what I went through, he's a bit nervous but I find he heals a lot quicker than I do. I went through about 1 1/2 months of hell! I had two black and blue eyes, dry sockets (even though I stayed away from straws), and other complications...

Food didn't interest me for the first few days, but I survived off homemade chicken soup, pudding, ice cream, yogurt, baby food (just the fruits), smoothies, mashed taters, mashed sweet potatoes, cream of wheat, etc.

I had all three of mine taken out mid February.  The first day I ate Jamba Juice, applesauce, and squash soup.  The second day I had jello for breakfast and a pita for lunch, I just tried to take small bites and chew slowly.  I popped a stitch with the pita (opened my mouth a little too wide) but it wasn't a big deal; made me a little quesy knowing what just happened but no real pain, discomfort, or any lasting effects.   I took the medication for only a few days and made sure to properly clean the sockets daily.

My brother ate a ham and cheese sandwhich just hours after having his removed and he never took his pain medication.  My sister ate a steak for dinner the day after having hers removed and only took one or two of her meds.  Everyone is different, just go by how you feel.

As for dry socket, I was worried too but I looked up some information on the internet, wikipedia I think, where I learned that very few people actually get dry socket, something like 4% of everyone that has a tooth removed.  No one I know personally has ever had a dry socket but my cousin told me about his friend who went water skiing the day after having his wisdom teeth removed.  The guy fell off of his skis at high speed, busted his jaw and ended up with dry socket.

It's not too bad.  Stay away from broccoli--for a couple of months--it will get stuck in the holes back there.

I ate soup and frosties from Wendy's.  Nothing crunchy--like chips for a few days or week.

i got my wisdom teeth removed last year and that night i went home and got a chinese take away! Was able to eat pretty much anything i wanted just had to be a bit more careful chewing it! There was no liquidizing of food, or a soup diet for a few days, I was grand! Bit swollen yeah, but nothing a little extra caution chewing didnt sort out!

Well, it's good to see people have such a wide range of experiences.  I tend to be a fast healer too, so we'll see.  I'm really going to miss broccoli though ... I eat it pretty much every day.

Thanks everybody for all the input and suggestions!  Wish me luck!

I got mine out last week! 

I'm still on the mushy-food diet.  

On the day of the surgery, I could barely even open my mouth to slip some pudding in (your jaws hurt), so that's really all I did.  I also drank 2L of soy milk in a few days - it's got nutrition, and drinking is easier than anything else.  Drinking your calories is great.

Ice cream was on the menu by the 2nd day. =)  Homemade soups are good by the 2nd day too, but you have to eat them lukewarm or cold (no hots allowed for a few days), so make sure it's something you can stomach.  Pudding and yogurt are pretty good.  I ate everything with a cute baby spoon - easier to fit in your mouth, and small bites are a necessity.

Other things you can introduce in the first few days: mashed potatoes, applesauce, well-cooked instant oatmeal, oat bran, cream of wheat, canned pumpkin, all sorts of smoothies (can put carrots and spinach into fruit smoothies to get your veggies!), crackers (put a piece in your mouth and let it dissolve to mush), scrambled eggs.

Within a week: ground meats (a little harder, but possible with teensy bites), chopped tomato, salsa, cereal (you have to let it completely soak up the milk, though), super-boiled veggies, mashed cauliflower, soft cheeses.

I'm still avoiding things that have chunks that can get caught in the holes, though, because it is NOT fun to get them out. No hard stuff either, because your teeth and jaw will ache for a while (Ie, no rice, solid meat, salad, most raw fruits/veggies, bread, etc).

Good luck!  I survived! =D

I would stick to baby food if you don't mind the taste. Enen mashing a banana is better than eating straight. Mashed poatatoes would work.

My friend got hers removed two winters ago. She looked like a chipmunk(sp?). It was hilarious.

I had my wisdom teeth out in mid february.  My mouth swelled up so bad I could barely close my mouth to swallow let alone try to move it to chew.  The pain meds they gave me really upset my stomach and if I took them before bed gave me wierd nightmares.

It took a week for the swelling to go down enough that I could actually make chewing motions again but I could barley open my mouth half an inch and it was really tender inside so I didn't want food to touch it lol.

I have one spot (though the other 3 healed nicely) every 3 weeks it would get irritated and start to ooze puss (nice eh).  It's been 3 months ! Yesterday the dentist decided enough was enough and reopened the site to clean it out and now my mouth is full of stitches again :(

i got mine out on monday, i had 5. Yes, 5. haha it's not so bad though. apart from minor aches and pains, which the strong painkillers they prescribe knock right out, it's not so bad the first night, after the bleeding stopped i was drinking milkshakes with carnation instant breakfast (to get vitamins and minerals), and mashed potatoes. Right now i'm on my third day and im eating a subway hoagie actually. I'm cutting it up into slivers and picking at it little by little. Just make sure to chew with your front teeth and then swallow directly (it's hard, and doesnt taste as good, but oh well). And after you eat rinse with lukewarm salt water to remove and food particles, etc. Stick with milkshakes and mashed potatoes. I was honestly stay away from Jello. I've eaten a few, but I find with Jello there's more sucking action than you would originally think, and I'm super paranoid about getting a dry socket, too. Speaking of, does anyone know on average how long until you don't have to worry about dry sockets anymore once you get the surgery done?

i had 5 removed all at once (not sure where that extra one came from haha). my mom had to make me eat a little pudding so i could take the vicodin. other than that i didn't eat much at all for a few days, just pudding and applesauce really. i slept a ton so i wasnt even awake to eat anything

Haha, ktcort, you had 5??  I had 3.  :)

If you are having trouble with bleeding, you can use a tea bag (ordinary tea) as a compress.  Just bite down on it - not too hard, of course - it helps a bit to stop the flow of blood.  My oral surgeon told me this, so it's not advice from some charlatan :D