10 million people get their wisdom teeth removed each year. This number is unsurprising considering how much of a hassle wisdom teeth are. Aside from their painful arrival, wisdom teeth often come with additional health risks.

However, some people shy away from the procedure because it comes with its own set of complications, including a painful recovery period. But, if you follow these seven tips after your wisdom tooth removal procedure, you can look forward to an easy recovery!

1. Properly Prepare for Your Wisdom Tooth Removal Procedure

Before your wisdom tooth removal procedure, it’s a good idea to follow the proper preparations. With the proper preparation, you’ll be able to recover faster from what can often be a long recovery period.

Start by taking care of your dental health, brushing and flossing as you normally would in the time preceding your appointment. A healthy mouth is a welcome environment for recovery. Plus, you won’t be able to brush for a while after the surgery, so starting with a clean mouth will help you feel better as you recover.

Also, get your home ready for recovery. Make up your bed, purchase soft foods, and make a recovery playlist on Netflix of your favorite feel-good shows – spare no details. You’ll be recovering for a few days, you should be comfortable while doing it.

Finally, have someone drive you to your appointment if possible. You will not be able to drive home. Relying on public transportation or rideshare impedes the time you should be relaxing.

2. Ice It Out

Dentists perform wisdom teeth removal procedures while the patient is under anesthesia. But, after the anesthesia wears off, you will experience some pain. The level of pain varies from person to person, but most people look for ways to help mitigate it.

Therefore, ice is your best friend when recovering from a wisdom tooth removal procedure. When possible, have a bag of ice with you throughout recovery. Not only does it numb the pain, but it also helps reduce swelling and bruising.

Moreover, using ice on your face immediately after surgery encourages essential blood clotting. The clot that forms over the removal site helps heal the bone and nerve endings around it.

Remember not to apply ice directly to your skin. Instead, use a soft towel or fabric between your skin and the ice pack.

3. Eat Ice Cream

Ice cream and soft foods will be your best friend during recovery. The pain you feel in your mouth is only heightened by solid, crunchy foods. Some of our recommendations for a post-oral surgery recovery are:

• Mashed potatoes
• Applesauce
• Tofu
• Pudding
• Greek yogurt

And, of course, ice cream. Ice cream packs a double-whammy for oral surgery recovery because it’s soft and cold. So, you can eat and relieve swelling at the same time.

Moreover, you should avoid salty foods and acidic foods during recovery. Even if they’re soft, they can be rough on your mouth, causing inflammation that will increase pain levels.

4. Keep Your Head Elevated

Aside from the pain and swelling, your tooth extraction comes with the added risk of infection. Ensuring a clot forms over the removal site will help protect you from an infection. But, you can also reduce your risk by keeping your head elevated while laying down.

This trick helps relieve swelling, which reduces the chance of your blood clot coming loose. After you’ve had oral surgery, try sleeping with several pillows stacked up behind your head and neck for optimal comfort and recovery.

5. Don’t Use Straws

This is a hard one to follow because there’s so much pain involved in tooth extraction recovery that most people want to use straws. They’d rather not tip their head back to drink, instead, allowing the drink to come to them. But, if you want a smooth recovery, you cannot drink from straws while your gums are healing.

Straws are your blood clot’s number one worst enemy. Sucking your soft foods and drinks through a straw creates suction in your mouth. Oftentimes, this can cause your blood clots to loosen and even break off.

The more you have to regrow a clot, the more at risk you are of infection. Moreover, it will take much longer for your gums to heal.

6. Take a Painkiller

When recovering from a wisdom tooth removal procedure, you’ll likely need to take painkillers. Depending on your levels of pain, an anti-inflammatory drug like ibuprofen might do the trick. But, some people experience very high levels of pain.

In those cases, the dentist may prescribe a narcotic like Vicodin or codeine. If you’re suffering from wisdom tooth pain after wisdom teeth removal surgery, talk to your dentist. They are the only ones who can tell you for sure which medicine is best for your situation.

7. Rest, Relax, and Hydrate

In most cases, wisdom teeth removal is considered an outpatient procedure. To get back to your regular routine as quickly as possible, it’s important to follow all post-procedure instructions and take it easy for a few days. To ensure a speedy recovery, we recommend following these three key steps: rest, relax, and hydrate!

Resting your jaw keeps your clot in place and reduces the chances of infection. Relaxing your body helps you feel less stressed, making the recovery process seem easier. Finally, hydrating promotes quick healing in your gums.

Wisdom Teeth Removal Near Me: Call Billings!

Recovering from a wisdom tooth removal procedure doesn’t have to be scary or intimidating. In fact, with the proper preparation, you might find yourself enjoying your time in bed. Or, at least, not suffering too much.

If your wisdom teeth are giving you trouble, don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment. Give Billings Oral surgery a call at (406) 655-0170 or contact us online today!

Do you have jaw pain or have a jaw that looks out of place or damaged in some way? If this is a problem that you have, you may need to look into corrective jaw surgery.

This is a surgical procedure that is done to correct any kind of jaw issue. It is typically necessary if your jaw has sustained some kind of injury or is deformed in some way.

These are all things that can have a negative impact on how you are able to use your jaw and how it looks.

Those who do end up needing to have corrective jaw surgery experience a huge success rate in fixing the issue.

How to Know If You Need Corrective Jaw Surgery

If you have any kind of jaw-related issue, you may wonder if you qualify for corrective jaw surgery. This is a good option to look into if you have problems with your jaw.

All kinds of people qualify for jaw surgery depending on the issue and whether or not they are in pain.

The jaw is a very important bone that carries a lot of responsibilities. That is why any kind of jaw issue should be quickly addressed by your orthodontist or dentist.

Keep reading to find out what symptoms may indicate that you need corrective surgery for your jaw.

Jaw Pain

Jaw pain is a very common symptom of someone who needs corrective jaw surgery. This typically causes chronic pain that is mild to severe, depending on the case.

Jaw pain can also be a symptom of Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, which can be fixed with jaw surgery. This can create long-term jaw pain that needs to eventually be resolved.

Chronic pain can be very hard to deal with, especially if it is jaw pain. If you are having chronic jaw pain, this is something that could require corrective jaw surgery to fix.

Headaches

People may also experience headaches if they need corrective surgery on their jaw. This can be the result of a jaw injury, jaw deformity, or a connected symptom to jaw pain.

Headaches can be easily triggered by anything that has to do with your jaw. In more severe cases, these headaches can even turn into migraines that can last several hours to several days.

Corrective jaw surgery can help to fix this issue by correcting the problem within the jaw. This will take pressure off of the other nerves in the face that are creating headaches.

Trouble Biting and Chewing

If you need jaw surgery, you may experience chewing problems and issues biting into things.

This could be due to pain that is caused by the movement of biting and chewing. It could also be the result of a deformed jaw.

A jaw that is irregular can be misaligned and cause issues when you try to bite or chew. The jaw must fit together perfectly, and any irregularities can make it hard to use your jaw properly.

A healthy jaw will be aligned almost perfectly and cause no pain when it is moving. Chewing and swallowing will also not be an issue.

Open Bite

Open bite is a condition where your top and bottom teeth have a gap between them when your mouth is closed. This can affect the way your teeth look as well as how you speak.

If the open bite is severe enough, it may require corrective jaw surgery to fix. This is a good option because an open bite can affect a lot of different things including how well you can chew.

Snoring

Snoring is a lesser-known symptom that is associated with people who need corrective surgery on their jaw.

Snoring at night can be a symptom of sleep apnea, which is a symptom of a misaligned jaw. Misaligned jaws can obstruct your breathing pathway, making it harder to breathe normally at night.

Sleep apnea is a condition that can become dangerous if it is very severe. It is also uncomfortable and cannot be cured all on its own.

Corrective jaw surgery can help to improve or remove sleep apnea altogether if your jaw is misaligned. This will improve your quality of sleep as well as make your jaw feel better and look better.

Unbalanced Appearance

You might have a jaw irregularity or deformity if it appears to be unbalanced or off-center. This will make your face look unbalanced or your jaw lopsided or crooked.

This is a very strong sign that your jaw is not aligned correctly, which could be causing issues.

This is more than just a cosmetic issue, as it can lead to more serious symptoms later on. A misaligned jaw can cause berating issues, biting problems, jaw pain, headaches, and more.

Just because it may seem like a cosmetic issue doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be corrected with surgery. You may already have symptoms of the issue and just not know it yet.

Facial Injury

A misaligned or damaged jaw can be caused by a jaw injury. This may not seem severe at first, but issues can continue to come up in the future.

A jaw injury of any kind can cause significant damage to the jaw and how it works. This can affect how you are able to use it and how it feels.

Jaw surgery can help to correct any damage that was done and correct your jaw. This has a high success rate and can help your jaw to be as good as new again.

How to Know When You Need Corrective Jaw Surgery

There are several jaw issues that clearly indicate that you are in need of jaw corrective surgery. This is an extensive surgery that is done to fix a variety of jaw-related health issues.

If you have concerns about your jaw and whether or not it needs surgery, your dentist or orthodontist should be able to help you.

Visit Billing Oral Surgery and Dental Implant Center for more information on corrective jaw surgery and who qualifies for it.

Did you know that 5 million Americans get their wisdom teeth removed every year?

Anyone who has had a wisdom tooth extraction can tell you how much of a problem they cause. When impacted, wisdom teeth can result in pain, damage to other teeth, or other teeth and gum issues. 

If your dentist recently told you it’s time to get your wisdom teeth out, do you know what to expect? 

Here’s everything you need to know about wisdom teeth removal, including what to expect before, during, and after your surgery. 

What Are Wisdom Teeth?

Wisdom teeth are your last set of adult molars that come into your mouth, usually in your late teens or early 20s. Most people have four at the back of the mouth – two at the top, two at the bottom. 

However, it isn’t uncommon for people not to have any wisdom teeth at all. 

Some wisdom teeth come through (erupt) without any issues, but others become impacted or cause pain and need to be removed. 

How Do You Know if You Need Your Wisdom Teeth Removed?

There is no hard or fast rule for when it’s time to have your wisdom teeth removed. Some people opt not to have their wisdom teeth removed if they’re not giving them any pain.

But due to the impact they can have on oral health, it’s usually recommended to have them extracted. Some symptoms to look out for include: 

• Aching sensation around your jaw bone
• Swelling and redness around wisdom teeth 
• Difficulty chewing and swallowing food
• Cold and flu-like symptoms 

If you experience these symptoms, you should book a consultation with your dental clinic. They can determine whether the pain is caused by your wisdom teeth or something else going on. 

Preparing for Wisdom Teeth Removal

If your dentist has recommended a wisdom tooth extraction, you already have x-rays, and it’s time to plan your procedure. 

Before surgery, your dentist will schedule you for an appointment to discuss the procedure and answer any questions. They will also ask you about your health history and any medications you are currently on. 

Be honest if you take any recreational drugs or alcohol. A body accustomed to drugs and alcohol can pose a different set of challenges. By letting us know, you’re helping us prepare for anything unexpected. 

Then, your dentist will go through your anesthesia options, so you’ll know exactly what to expect on your surgery day. 

You can also do a few things to prepare yourself for wisdom teeth removal. They include: 

• Find a ride to and from the clinic 
• Stock up on soft foods
• Choose a comfortable outfit 
• Schedule time off of work or school 
• Stock up on pain relievers 
• Prepare entertainment options 

Twelve hours before your surgery, you cannot eat, drink, or smoke. Finally, when it’s time for surgery, turn off your phone and hand it to your parents(s), partner, or caregiver. 

What Happens During a Wisdom Tooth Extraction?

The day of your oral surgery can be daunting, but there’s nothing to be afraid of. Your oral surgeon will talk you through the procedure and answer any last-minute questions you may have. 

The procedure itself doesn’t take long – between 45 minutes to an hour and a half. The time it takes generally depends on how many wisdom teeth are being extracted and if any are impacted.  

An impacted wisdom tooth is a tooth that hasn’t erupted from the gum properly. This is one of the most common reasons why you’re experiencing pain. 

The oral surgeon performing your tooth extraction will make a small incision to your gums to remove the tooth during the procedure. Then, they’ll stitch everything back up. 

Recovery From Wisdom Tooth Dental Extraction

Most patients find the recovery the most challenging part – which makes sense given you’re under anesthetic for the procedure. 

You would most likely wake up in a dental chair if you were given local anesthesia. If you were given general anesthesia, you would be taken to a recovery room where you would slowly wake up. 

General aesthetic takes longer to wear off and may linger for a day or so. But this is perfectly normal. 

Most people fully recover from wisdom tooth extraction within three to four days. However, if your teeth are impacted, it may take up to a week.

You can expect to be a little bit swollen and sore for the first two to three days after the procedure. This is entirely normal and will subside over time. Keep in mind that the wound inside your mouth won’t completely heal for another month or so. 

What Happens if You Don’t Remove Your Wisdom Teeth?

While not all patients need their wisdom tooth removed, problems can develop if you choose not to. These include: 

• Cavities
• Infection and gum disease
• Cysts and tumors
• Crowding

Patients with smaller mouths and jaws may experience overcrowding. When this happens, your teeth will begin to shift and overlap each other. In cases like this, a wisdom tooth extraction is advised. 

Wisdom Tooth Extraction: What Adults Should Expect

Wisdom tooth extraction is one of the most common dental surgical procedures in the US. 

After dental surgery, most people will have minimal pain and resume normal activities within a week. 

For some patients, wisdom teeth removal can be quite daunting. But, with the right oral surgeon, you can feel safe knowing you’re in the best hands. 

At Billings Oral Surgery & Dental Impact Center, our skilled oral surgeons will guide you through the process and ensure you’re comfortable at all times. 

Don’t let sore wisdom teeth ruin your day-to-day life. Request an appointment today.