What Types of Food Do I Buy After Wisdom Teeth Are Out?

Wisdom teeth, or third molars, are anything but wise. An unnecessary set of molar teeth that appear sometime between the ages of 17 and 25. These years of age gave wisdom teeth their name. it is considered to be the time in life when young people may be seeking wisdom and knowledge, most likely through higher education. General dentists only tackle wisdom teeth if they are simple. Most dentists refer patients to an oral surgeon. Wisdom teeth are his specialty. Routine or not, extracted or removed teeth require particular attention while healing, including limiting what the patient eats.

Wisdom Teeth or Third Molars

• Wisdom teeth have the most difficulty emerging, as a large percentage of the population does not have the space to accommodate them. In many cases, wisdom teeth get stuck, since there is no room for them to come in. However they still try. Part of a tooth may make it through the skin, however, it will be able to go no further. The partially erupted tooth gets food wedged around it; as well as under the skin. This results in a nasty infection called pericoronitis. Dentists can see some wisdom teeth on X-ray that will never be able to erupt. These are impacted.

Simple Wisdom Tooth Extraction

• Removing wisdom teeth is a job for the oral surgeon. He has made a science out of it. For him it is a straight-forward routine. She removes unimpacted wisdom teeth with instruments called elevators and forceps. These instruments are for the simple extractions where the patient has an erupted tooth the oral surgeon can reach easily, is not infected and should come out without difficulty. The shapes of the teeth also have an effect on the ease of the extraction. Upper molars have cone-shaped roots that are all together while lower molars have multiple spread-out roots. Usually, there are three and sometimes four roots. These roots can break off in the socket, causing the surgeon to have to go further to retrieve them. Leaving the roots in the socket could cause infection later.

Surgical Wisdom Tooth Extraction

• When teeth are impacted under gum and bone, the oral surgeon will remove them surgically. This means the patient will receive sedation with an IV. The IV containing the sedative does not put the patient to sleep. Sedation makes him relaxed enough he will not remember the procedure, but can respond to simple commands the surgeon may give him. In surgical wisdom tooth removal, the gum tissue is opened, followed by use of a drill to access the tooth through the bone. Often the surgeon uses a surgical bur on the drill to section the wisdom teeth removing them one half at a time. Sutures, or stitches, close the tissue, however, the sockets remain open until the osteoblasts, or bone cells, create new bone and the sockets fill in and become unnoticeable.

What to Eat Post Extraction

• Regardless of the manner wisdom tooth removal was done, the dentist needs to protect the remaining sockets. The sockets develop a blood clot that protect sensitive nerve endings where the tooth was. Losing this clot is extremely painful, causing a condition called "dry socket." Dry socket will cause the pain the patient had in the tooth before extraction to seem mild by comparison. For socket protection, patients can eat soft foods only. For example, ice cream, jello, soup, scrambled eggs, milkshakes,mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, oatmeal, cream of wheat and grits or pasta. The patient should not use a straw for the first 24 hours, and should not spit vigorously. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and carbonation. Alcohol thins the blood, making the sockets bleed more. Refrain from eating chips, rice, spicy or acidic foods, as well as foods requiring a lot of chewing. Diet should be modified for at least the first week post extraction. Other foods can be introduced after the suture removal appointment, usually scheduled a week after the surgery.