Tooth extraction

A wisdom tooth or any other — the first twenty-four hours matter most

First things firstYour discharge sheet and your surgeon's instructions come before this page. What follows is food, rest, what the medicines do, and the warning signs. Wound dressing, lifting limits and when to go back to work differ by operation and by surgeon — ask them, not a web page.

1Before the operation

The preparation that changes the outcome.

Specific to this operation

Say if you are on blood-thinning medicine — that includes a daily aspirin.

Keep soft food ready at home and do not plan anything important for that day.

Applies after any operation

What your doctor must be told

Your surgeon and the anaesthetist need to know everything you are taking — medicines, Ayurvedic powders, vitamins, home decoctions, all of it.

What to do: People often do not count Ayurvedic and home preparations as medicines and leave them out. That is the commonest and most important omission. Carry the packets, or photograph them on your phone — better than trying to remember names.

2After the operation

What to expect in the first days and weeks.

For the first twenty-four hours: no rinsing, no spitting, no drinking through a straw, and absolutely no smoking. Any of these can dislodge the clot that is healing the socket — and the pain that follows, a dry socket, is severe.

Ice on the outside of the cheek on the first day — twenty minutes on, twenty off. The swelling peaks on day two or three.

From day two, gentle warm salt-water rinses several times a day — not forceful; just let it fall out of the mouth.

Sleep with the head raised.

3What to eat

The raw material for repair — and what is different after this operation.

Specific to this operation

Day one, cold and soft — curd, khichdi, dal water, cold milk, mashed banana. Nothing very hot.

No seeds, rice grains or rough food for a few days — they lodge in the socket.

Chew on the other side.

Applies after any operation

Protein, for the repair

Healing a wound means building new tissue, and the raw material for that is protein. The body needs more than usual after surgery — at exactly the time appetite is lowest.

What to do: Something at every meal: dal, rajma, chana, curd, paneer, egg, fish, chicken soup, moong, sattu, milk. If you are vegetarian, eat dal with rice — together they make a complete protein. If you have kidney disease, ask your doctor before increasing protein.

Low Weight / Weakness General Debility Protein & muscle

Little and often

A full plate in front of you kills what appetite there is. Six small plates get far more into you over a day.

What to do: Something every two or three hours. A share of protein each time. Liquids count — dal water, soup, buttermilk, milk, sattu. When eating is hard, drinks are the easiest way in.

Poor Appetite Weak Digestion

4What the medicines do

What follows the anaesthetic, the painkillers and the antibiotics.

Loose motions from antibiotics

Antibiotics clear the gut's useful bacteria along with the harmful ones, so loose stools during the course are common.

What to do: Curd or buttermilk with meals — but keep two hours between it and the antibiotic dose. Rice water, banana, khichdi. Keep your fluids up, ORS if needed. Do not stop the course on your own. Watery motions with fever or blood are not a home matter — see a doctor.

Diarrhea Recurring Diarrhea Gut health drinks

Constipation from painkillers

Strong painkillers — tramadol, codeine, morphine — slow the bowel down. After surgery this happens to almost everyone; it is not a sign that something has gone wrong.

What to do: Sip water through the day. Soaked raisins, figs or munakka at night. Warm water first thing. Isabgol with a full glass of water. And walk as soon as you are allowed — movement wakes the bowel faster than anything else. Ask your doctor for a stool softener early, rather than once it has set in.

Constipation Stubborn Constipation

No appetite after the medicines

Anaesthesia, painkillers and antibiotics together flatten the appetite for a week or two — at exactly the time the body needs the most food to repair itself.

What to do: Less at a time, six times a day. Something with protein each time — dal, curd, paneer, egg, sattu. Jeera or ajwain water before eating. A sour taste opens the appetite — lemon, amla, pomegranate. Six small plates beat one forced large one.

Poor Appetite Loss of Appetite Weak Digestion

5Changes in the body

Skin, hair, and the changes nobody warns you about.

Not a home remedy — see a doctor

Sudden severe pain on day three or four, spreading to the ear — that is a dry socket; see the dentist
Bleeding that will not stop with pressure
Increasing facial swelling, fever, or being unable to open the mouth
Difficulty swallowing or breathing — an emergency
Fever above 100.4°F (38°C), or shaking chills
Pus or smell from the wound, spreading redness, or the wound opening up
Swelling, pain and warmth in one calf — do not massage it, get seen at once
Sudden breathlessness or chest pain — get emergency help
Persistent vomiting, a swelling belly, or no wind and no motion at all
No urine passed for eight hours
Pain that keeps increasing despite the painkillers