Wisdom teeth patients should follow their oral surgeon’s advice
to avoid this painful condition.

Having a dry socket may sound bad, but it actually feels worse.

Advancements in wisdom teeth removal as a procedure has been streamlined to become safer than ever (just as long as the procedure is performed by a qualified oral surgeon). But one possible outcome that still tends to happen sometimes is known scientifically as alveolar osteitis but patients know it as dry socket. Dry socket can lead to serious infection and pain. To combat this from happening to you, we have outlined a series of steps that will prevent dry socket from happening if followed correctly.

A protective blood clot forms in the space where the wisdom tooth (or teeth) were extracted and this helps to guard the nerves in the jaw and the jaw bone. In a few cases, that protective blood clot may become dislodged or dissolve from the site before healing is complete. This unfortunate occurrence exposes the empty socket to bacteria and opens up the possibility of infection. If a dry socket does happen, we usually treat this complication by washing out the area and applying an ointment. Depending on the severity of the infection, some patients need antibiotics, as well.

If you just had dental implants placed or are starting the dental implant placement process, you may be aware that you will be facing a soft food diet. But you may also be thinking, what is a soft food diet exactly? And why is it important to restrict your diet to soft foods as part of the healing process?

A soft food diet is just that – soft food only. A restricted soft food diet is not scary, though. A soft diet involves consuming foods that hardly require any chewing. You will have to avoid chewy foods or hard food, such as corn on the cob or sticky candy, or even tough meats that require repetitive chewing. The type of dental implant procedure you undergo will dictate your specific soft food diet, but it is safe to say that soft food options like scrambled eggs, pasta, soup, smoothies, and applesauce are all perfect examples of appropriate foods to eat after receiving your dental implants.

General anesthesia tends to lead to some hilarious side effects

It’s a popular online trend we all seem to know and love; the viral video of a person just out of oral surgery who is emotionally incoherent, yelling and jabbering uncontrollably.

You may remember a young woman named Julie, who was certain her oral surgeon didn’t remove her wisdom teeth. Since she couldn’t remember the procedure ever happening, she told her husband, “They didn’t take them out – don’t let them charge us.”

More notably, late last year a Utah woman named Jayci awoke from her procedure wishing she looked like Nicki Minaj and wanting desperately to be friends with Ellen DeGeneres. So popular was that particular video — with well over four million views and counting — that DeGeneres herself saw it and invited Jayci onto her show.