my wisdom teeth journey • why i needed oral surgery
wisdom teeth removal is a bitch. that’s how we’re starting this. i truly hope i never have to experience another oral surgery. let’s start at the beginning instead of jumping right into my personal wisdom tooth recovery journey.
as a teen, i was always told by my dentist that if i had no pain or discomfort from my wisdom teeth than i could keep them in. unfortunately, my wisdom teeth started coming in during my teen years and didn’t cause many issues. (you’ll see why this is unfortunate) i occasionally had maybe a sore gum here and there. even as an adult, i was told i didn’t have to remove them if they weren’t causing any issues.
fast forward to 2020/2021. i was pregnant and started getting extreme pain from my upper left wisdom tooth. while i dealt with the pain for probably half a week, it went away. thankfully, because while you’re pregnant, they can’t deal with your wisdom teeth… through the years, i’d have random pains. then in late 2022, i was pregnant again and the same thing happened. vomiting for 8 months straight, for the second time, really starts affects your teeth. i finally mustered up the courage to go to a holistic dentist in 2025. walking out with a new car estimate was an oof. i held off any dental plans due to many things.
well, now it’s 2026 and clearly the dentist who said i could keep the wisdom teeth unless they caused problems was way wrong. do not recommend keeping your wisdom teeth at all, even if they aren’t causing issues. all of my wisdom teeth had partially come in. my top two were infected and two were impacted. i’m one to have severe dental anxiety and the dentist is the last place i wanna go. from 2025 till the surgery, i dealt with on & off pain stemming from my wisdom teeth. my jaw would ache, it would hurt to eat sometimes and the week leading up to the surgery was the worst.
the week before surgery
the last week of february, probably that thursday, i got a dull pain in my mouth on my upper right side. i chalked it up to my mouth just having a flare up, but by friday night, it was more difficult to open my mouth and chew. saturday and sunday i had markets to attend and noticed that my mouth was growing higher on the pain scale. monday morning came and i figured the flare up would be ending… boy was i wrong. monday morning, my mouth was practically shut. i was having an extremely difficult time opening and chewing was not something i was up for. i went with that pain for one more day and then got some recommendations on where to get oral surgery. i have an very high pain tolerance & my husband was shocked at how much pain this was causing at this point. i needed an emergency surgery to remove all of my wisdom teeth. thankfully i got some incredible recommendations and the place i went to had an opening for a consultation & surgery for that thursday. i was beyond grateful. i only had to deal with the pain for a couple more days. would not recommend not be able to eat much the week before an oral surgery by the way.
(the photo you see for this blog is my swollen face right before i was seen)
the night before surgery
i made an easy dinner by throwing together leftover rice, our homemade canned black beans, plain canned chicken, a can of chiles with tomatoes and some broth. topped it with some cheese and then started the fast for thursday morning. i cried that night because of how nervous i was to be sedated.(spoiler, that shit works gooooood)
consultation/surgery day
we started by driving to marble falls and i had to watch my boo thang drink his coffee without me. but, there’s no need for him to suffer too. we arrived to the destination and i was called back. we did the xray, then were placed in our room. the nerves were unmatched. the surgeon asked if i had any concerns, got the background of everything and rest assured me this case was so easy that it would only take about 20 minutes. that shit is wild to me. for two reasons, why the hell are the shortest trips to the dentist or doctors office so expensive and wow, that’t not that long. unfortunately for everyone, i was so nervous i would have to answer in between crying. lol, no shame in i was a mess. my nerves were at all time high. we decided to go forward with the surgery that day (obviously) and my husband was told he’d have to leave the room. for me, my husband is the one thing that constantly keeps me calmer. as soon as he said i love you and gave me a kiss, i broke down again knowing i’d have to prepare by myself. while i got my surgery, his goal was to work on my excel sheet for my business like the gem he is.
as i sat by myself, everyone came in the room and they prepped the iv. i remember the ladies talking to me about my animals and then her saying to let her know when i got tired. i said okay. then, in my head, questioned how would i know when i feel tired because i didn’t know they had given me any sedation yet. i looked up at the ceiling and questioned why it looked weird. next thing i knew i was back with my husband and extremely confused on how it was done so fast. sedation is fantastic. if i could sleep like that, bliss. & nope, not gonna think about the toxins cause balance.
the drive home wasn’t awful. bumps were uncomfortable, but not awful. granted i was in & out of sleep the entire time. we arrived home and rest was the only thing on the agenda. (besides trying to get a goat kid to take a bottle and checking on the freshly hatched ducklings cause managing a farm don’t stop yall)
this is where the recovery madness starts. this is what i prepared for. i spent the previous two days prepping for the recovery so i could make a document with a timeline of recovery to keep everyone on track just in case i forgot or couldn’t do.
wisdom teeth removal steps
step one: wisdom teeth removal prep
the recovery for wisdom teeth removal is a process and occurs in stages. mine begun with prep. the first step for me was ensuring id be set up when recovering. i didn’t want to have to do much and wanted to prioritize rest. this meant i had mashed potatoes prepped by my mama, i was prepared on the type of smoothies i’d drink, got plenty of cinnamon applesauce (a fav of mine) & prepped all the teas i’d be drinking. my lineup included:
ultimate sick day tea
inflammation blend
marshmellow root
calming duo
the rest of my lineup included having various ice packs, cold packs that i could travel with and dispose of and pain management. big on the pain management. the prep work is essential to ensuring i could rest without worrying about what to take, drink or eat.
step two: wisdom teeth removal recovery (expected) timeline
thankfully even though this surgery was unexpected and planed quickly, i already knew recovery would be at least a week. the unfortunate part for me was i know my mouth takes a while to heal and this wouldn’t be an exception. what was an easy case to someone who has removed millions of wisdom teeth, was the fact my teeth were severely impacted and that affects the jaw majorly. most people recover within 4-5 days and i went in knowing realistically that wasn’t gonna be the case.
day 1 is primarily when you focus on controlling the bleeding with gauze and this helps protect the clot of blood that forms. the blood clot is essential to a better recovery. if you don’t have that clot formed, it can cause an issue called dry socket. this is supposed to be super painful and sends you back to the dentist. ice packs are your bestie and most people choose something like ice cream or potatoes to snack on.
day 2 you are definitely gonna feel the pain. if you don’t sleep upright, you are gonna look like a chipmunk. day 3 is notorious for more swelling & pain as you’re body is fighting and healing. do yourself a favor and sleep upright. i promise it is worth it. stay hydrated too. it’s difficult, especially if you’re an avid straw drinker, but sip all throughout the day.
day 4 & 5 can be similar, but most people start feeling much better these days. your mouth can still be tender and your gums are most likely still gonna be sore.
my best advice is to learn your body and listen to it like it’s your favorite jam. this matters more than most people realize.
healing doesn’t start after the surgery. it starts in the way you prepare for it.
in the next post, i’ll walk you through what that healing actually looked like for me. what i used, what helped, and the herbal supports i kept close through it all.
