How long before you can talk after wisdom teeth removal

If you have wisdom teeth, chances are, you may have to get them removed. Wisdom teeth are the third molars, and are the final set of molars to erupt. When these teeth come in, usually between the ages of 16 and 20, there normally is not enough space in the mouth for them to erupt. As a result, they may emerge at an angle and damage adjacent teeth, cause disease in the jaw, or may crowd the teeth in your mouth. This may result in oral health problems like infection and pain. To prevent these issues, it is recommended that you extract your wisdom teeth.

Table of Contents Show

What to Expect
Taking Care of Yourself After Surgery
Recovery Time
How to Speed Up Healing
Foods to Eat and Foods to Avoid
How long should I limit talking after wisdom teeth removal?
How much talking can I do after wisdom teeth removal?
How long should you not talk after tooth extraction?

The pain, swelling, or discomfort that can result from extractions is a normal part of the healing process. There may also be some bleeding during the period immediately following surgery. While your mouth heals, you should be careful not to dislodge the blood clot, or harm your healing gums. In this article, we’ll talk about what to expect during the recovery process following wisdom teeth extraction.

Swelling: This is quite common after wisdom teeth extraction. You can apply ice packs intermittently to the outside of your mouth for about 20 minutes at a time. You can continue this for up to two days to minimize bruising, swelling, or discomfort. If you had an infected wisdom tooth prior to removal, your dentist may ask you to use warm, moist compresses, rather than ice.
Bleeding: This may occur and to help reduce bleeding, you can keep a gauze pad over the extraction site for 30 minutes after surgery. For heavy bleeding, you can bite down on a gauze pad or place your fingers over the pad for about 30 minutes before removing it. You can also use a moistened tea bag for the same amount of time. This is because the tannic acid in the tea contracts the blood vessels which helps the blood clot to set.
Mouth care: Rest for the entire day and limit eating, talking, and drinking after surgery. To prevent the blood clot from dislodging, do not rinse vigorously and do not use a straw when drinking. Also, avoid rigorous exercise for a few days, as well as smoking or spitting excessively on the day of the surgery, and also as long as there is bleeding. After 12 hours you can gently rinse your mouth with a diluted mouthwash or salt water. You can brush your teeth, but avoid the surgical area to prevent additional trauma.
Diet: After the bleeding stops, drink plenty of lukewarm or cold fluids to keep hydrated. You can eat regular meals once you are free of pain, but start with soft foods and clear liquids. These could include puddings, mashed potatoes, eggs, and cooked cereals, as well as vegetables, meats, and fruits that have been liquefied in a blender. You can avoid eating foods such as popcorn and peanuts so that you do not dislodge the blood clot in your mouth.
Medications: Your oral surgeon will recommend pain medications and antibiotics to prevent infection at the surgical site. You should take medication exactly as prescribed by your dentist. If you are taking strong narcotic pain medication, you should not drive or operate machinery, and avoid alcoholic beverages.

We often get asked about prevention of a dry socket. A dry socket develops when the newly-formed blood clot within the socket dislodges or dissolves, exposing bone and nerve endings. In addition to severe pain, some of the other symptoms include bad breath, an unpleasant taste in your mouth, swollen lymph nodes in your neck, low-grade fever, and visible bone within your socket. This will naturally heal, but the pain can be alleviated with oil of clove in the socket or a medicated packing and irrigation with your oral surgeon.

At the Harbour Pointe Oral Surgery & Advanced Dental Implant Center, we specialize in wisdom teeth removal. We ensure that the process is as painless as possible and that post-surgical recovery takes place quickly and effectively. We work with each individual patient even after the surgery to minimize discomfort.

So, now you know what to expect after the extraction of your wisdom teeth. Do not worry about the procedure and if you have impacted wisdom teeth, pain or infection due to wisdom teeth…we can help!

For more information on wisdom teeth and their removal, contact Dr. Brian Hart or Dr. Kathleen Isdith at 425-353-1009 or at .

Wisdom teeth removal is one of the most common dental surgeries and can be associated with some painful memories for many adults. It seems like everyone has a story about their experience, whether it's what crazy thing they said while the anesthesia was wearing off or what they wish they would've known about recovery before going under. To help keep recovery stories on the lighter side, we made a quick overview of what to expect after your wisdom teeth extraction and how to make your recovery as painless as possible.

What to Expect

The wisdom teeth, or third molars, are the last adult teeth to surface, usually between the ages of 17 and 21. Wisdom teeth are not necessary for a healthy smile, and not everyone keeps them. If wisdom teeth do not grow in properly, which usually happens because they do not have enough room to emerge, they can create serious problems. When this happens, the wisdom teeth can crowd the mouth and cause future oral health problems like pain and infection.

According to the American Dental Association, people should have their wisdom teeth checked before the age of 20 to see how they are growing in and check for wisdom teeth impaction while the roots are developing. Your dentist or oral surgeon will most likely recommend that you have the final molars removed in a single outpatient procedure. Although wisdom tooth extraction is an outpatient procedure, it is considered a form of major surgery. During the surgery, general anesthesia or local anesthesia, will be used to make it more comfortable, but after it wears off, you can expect some discomfort and pain. Ask your dentist which type of sedation to expect so you can be prepared when you wake up from surgery, at which time recovery begins.

Taking Care of Yourself After Surgery

After your wisdom teeth removal, you can expect to have some pain, swelling, and light bleeding. Your dentist should tell you how to take care of your mouth after the surgery, but here are some of the most common suggestions for a healthy recovery.

Be careful not to dislodge the blood clot form where your teeth were removed
Avoid brushing, spitting, flossing, rinsing, or drinking from a straw for the first day of recovery
Do not consume solid foods, alcohol, coffee, soda or hot beverages in the first few days after your surgery

Recovery Time

Wisdom teeth recovery usually takes three to four days. However, if your teeth were impacted, it could take as long a week to heal. Pain after wisdom tooth extraction usually lasts from 3 days to one week, unless you experience an infection or dry socket, which happens when the blood clot gets dislodged from the extraction site. You can expect swelling of the mouth and cheeks to go down in 2-3 days and the stiffness and soreness to go away in 7-10 days.

How to Speed Up Healing

There are plenty of things you can do to speed up healing during your wisdom teeth recovery.

Take it easy for the first few days. In most cases, you can resume normal activities after the first day, but it would be best to wait about a week. You don't want to do anything that could dislodge the blood clot from the removal site.
Place an ice pack over your jaw to help with swelling. The cold from the ice pack helps reduce inflammation and the discomfort that comes with it.
For pain management, you can take a prescription pain killer prescribed by your oral surgeon, or you can take a recommended over-the-counter pain reliever.
After the first day, gently rinse your mouth with salt water a few times a day to help keep it clean and prevent infection.

Foods to Eat and Foods to Avoid

Staying hydrated and eating healthy after your wisdom teeth removal is an important factor for a healthy recovery. However, you may need to change some eating habits for the first week or so following the procedure. Here are some foods to eat, and some to avoid, during wisdom teeth recovery.

Eat. For the first few days after surgery, start by eating soft foods that don’t require chewing, such as:

Soup
Yogurt
Soft noodles
Eggs
Cottage cheese
Apple sauce
Pudding
Mashed potatoes
Smoothies (TIP: Don’t drink through a straw. It could dislodge your blood clot or ruin stitches.)

Avoid. Some foods can easily get into the sockets and in teeth and cause pain and damage to the healing wounds. Avoid eating foods like:

Sticky candy
Chewing gum
Hard, crunchy food like chips, pretzels, nuts, and seeds
Extremely hot food

Getting your wisdom teeth removed is a procedure you should take seriously but not something to fear. The recovery period usually takes a few days, and, in some cases, there may still be swelling and discomfort for a week or more. You can help reduce pain and prevent infection by using ice packs, enjoying soft foods, and keeping your mouth clean with salt water. Don’t hesitate to call your oral surgeon if you notice any unusual symptoms after your surgery. They will help get you on the road to recovery and back to a healthy and confident smile.

How long should I limit talking after wisdom teeth removal?

Immediately Following Surgery Limit talking. The more you talk, the more your tongue and associated muscles move disturbing the clots. Vigorous mouth rinsing or touching the wound area following surgery should be avoided.

How much talking can I do after wisdom teeth removal?

Am I Allowed to Talk After the Surgery? After having your wisdom teeth removed, you can still speak, but try to keep your conversation short the first few days. Remember that your tongue and mouth muscles move when you speak, which can prevent blood clots from developing in the empty tooth sockets.

How long should you not talk after tooth extraction?

If you can, try not to talk too much in the first 24 hours after your surgery. Also, keep gauze on the wound site in your mouth until the bleeding stops. Both of these will help give the blood clot time to form and settle in.