I just had 2 of my wisdom teeth removed and I was told I must now follow a strict routine of laying in bed, staying at home and not doing anything.

heading into a big holiday and already feeling healed I must say it will be difficult to keep it up, so I was wondering if anyone here has some real life advice from when they removed their teeth, because my friend who set the whole thing up thinks I'm a nutjob and I sense he gave me over-rigid instructions so if anyone has memories about...

how many days did it take you to start eating regularly?
how many days until you can drink alcohol?
how many days until you can smoke?

Tony, I had two wisdom teeth extracted. The first was nearly 40 years ago, and required the dental surgeon to suture the hole that remained. I spent the rest of the day in bed, and gargled with salt water per his instruction. But, thank goodness, I didn't have any problems. No restrictions on eating, drinking or exercise. The second was badly decayed on the inside, and my dentist simply gave it a quick yank--no sutures, no restrictions.

Yours may be a more serious case. And, I'm mindful that you live in Brasil, and Brasil may have different standards for dental surgery. Also: did you get total anesthesia? Or just a local in your gums? Total anesthesia may require more recovery time and have alcohol restrictions.

thanks Turnbull. you're a good man

keep this coming and I'll be partying hard tommorow night!

I'll have to extract the other 2 and the surgeon said those are going to be tough; plus, the whole thing lasted less than 25 minutes, so I guess this is not any more serious than your everyday average wisdom teeth extraction.

about different standards, I did a quick research on what seems to be a stand up web site and the instructions are basically the same. it's the instruction about smoking that's bugging me:



my friend said that you absolutely can't smoke until you remove the stitches. in 7 days from now! but he never puffed a joint in his life and now my good friends in the internet are triggering me into going out and partying. what should I do?

oh and I had just a local anesthesia. I figure once I'm done with the painkillers I can drink alcohol again

I can't say anything more, Tony. I'm not a health care professonal.

FWIW, Years ago I had 3-4 removed all at once (in addition to another tooth that needed extraction), and it was nothing. Granted, then, I was working in the city and when I had the toothache I just walked into David Letterman's dentist office, so I guess they were good. I've since had a few issues, and the sheet said not to do this or that, but I did anyway, and had no problems. I'm not a doctor or dentist, of course, but if it's not bleeding, you should be okay....

this just keeps getting better...

"if it's not bleeding, you should be okay", I liked that. will try to stay cool tomorrow and that's it!

As TB said, "I can't say anything more, Tony. I'm not a health care professonal." -- take it or leave it.

They gave you warnings and limitations because there are realistic risks involved. If you decide to ignore them simply to have a drink and a smoke, just be prepared to deal with the potential consequences. If you can live with that, party on!

I won't even go into how much work I've had done in my mouth. Extraction of the wisdom teeth for me, was minor in comparison. However, like TB suggested, the level of pain may depend on how easily these teeth are extracted.

Of course the decision is yours, and like others, I am not a health care professional either, BUT common concern would suggest you might not want to drink while on medication. Not only due to the mix of the pills and the booze, but the risk of infection is always possible.

Take care


TIS

Alcohol is a depressant and can also affect your immune system. Also, residual amounts of any medication can can stay in the liver (and fat cells) for extended periods of time as can residual amounts of alcohol. Since, to some extent, everybody's physiology is unique, the risks you take can be unique.

thank you all.

between Turnbull and JG triggering me into going out and partying hard and SB throwing a bucket of cold water in my head, I belive I have a nice blend of medical instructions

I'm not in pain anymore so I think I'll stop with the painkillers today. nevertheless, I definitely can hold on to a few more days without a drink especially because of the risk of infection which they took the time to scare me with. but as for smoking, it's much harder.

I hear ya on the smoking. I don't smoke anymore, nor do I suggest you should after these extractions. However, I am guilty of continuing to smoke after these dental procedures. I did try to restrain as much as possible though. Luckily for me, I had no infections but it's not to say it couldn't have complicated matters. It's best not to I'm sure.


TIS

My understanding was, that alcohol and smoking might increase the risk of bleeding (decreased clotting). I had no bleeding, so figured there'd be no further risk and after plenty of opportunities over the years, apparently had no problems with that. That it might be the "immune system" (BS IMHO, mine's fine, no matter what I've done -- but that could just be me, too, but) if you just listen to your body, you'll know if there's a problem or not most of the time. If you "feel wrong", see a doctor. Otherwise, don't add stress to your system.....