Recovery After Wisdom Tooth Removal, Day by Day

The anaesthetic wears off over two to four hours. Take your first painkiller before the numbness goes, as directed on the label, so the pain does not get ahead of you. Do not chew on the numb side, because it is easy to bite your cheek or tongue.

Bite firmly on the gauze for the time you were told. Some oozing, pink saliva is normal for the first day. If it is bleeding steadily, bite on fresh damp gauze or a damp tea bag for twenty minutes without checking, and call if it does not stop.

Do not rinse, spit, smoke or use a straw. The clot in the socket is doing the healing, and dry socket is what happens when it is lost. Rest with your head raised, and hold a cold pack to the outside of the cheek in short spells.

Swelling usually peaks at 48 to 72 hours, and the cheek can look noticeably puffy. Stiffness in opening the jaw and some bruising along the jaw or neck is common and is not a sign of infection by itself.

From day two, rinse gently with warm salt water after meals by tilting your head, without swishing hard. Brush your other teeth as normal, and be careful near the socket.

Expect two to three days of real discomfort after a surgical extraction, and less after a simple one. Take painkillers as directed on the label. Avoid ibuprofen if you have stomach ulcers, kidney disease or asthma that it triggers, if you are on blood thinners, or if you are pregnant, unless your doctor says otherwise.

Most people take two to three days off normal routine, and avoid hard exercise for several days, since it raises blood pressure and can restart bleeding.

Swelling and bruising should be easing and the pain fading. A sudden return of deep, throbbing pain around day two to four, sometimes with a bad taste, is the typical timing for dry socket. See a dentist, because it is quick to treat.

Stitches, if non-dissolving, come out at about a week. Many are dissolvable and loosen by themselves. The jaw loosens and opening improves.

The following signs after the first few days need same-day care: swelling that is getting bigger after day three instead of smaller, fever, pus, difficulty opening your mouth or swallowing. If breathing or swallowing is affected, go to a hospital emergency department. See face swelling due to tooth infection.

The gum surface closes over in one to two weeks, and the socket feels like a small dip that fills in gradually. The bone under it keeps rebuilding for about three months, though you will not notice that.

Residual numbness of the lip or chin after a lower wisdom tooth is uncommon, and is the reason an X-ray or CBCT is looked at before surgery. Tell the dentist if it has not gone by the next day, and keep a follow-up visit if one was booked.

If your recovery is slower than this, the reason is usually a difficult impaction or smoking. That is why removal of an impacted tooth takes longer than an erupted one.

First day: cool or lukewarm, soft and smooth food. Curd, buttermilk, smoothies eaten with a spoon (not through a straw), thin dal, khichdi, mashed potato, scrambled egg, porridge and ice cream. Skip hot tea and soup for the first day.

Days 2 to 4: soft food you can swallow without chewing much: idli, soft rice and dal, boiled vegetables, banana, paneer in gravy, soft chapati torn into small pieces. Chew on the other side.

Avoid for the first week: chips, nuts, popcorn, hard roti crusts, rice that scatters into the socket, spicy and acidic food that stings, sticky sweets, alcohol, and anything with tiny seeds.

Drink plenty of water, without a straw. Eating properly helps healing, so do not skip meals because it hurts.