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1. Prevent any type of suction in your mouth... aka straws etc. This can cause the blood clots in the extraction sites to dislodge and create what are called dry sockets. I can assure you that you do NOT want these.
2. When you rinse/clean your mouth, be VERY VERY gentle. Again, you don't want to dislodge the blood clots. Personally, I would avoid rinsing my mouth for a day or two... but that's because I had dry sockets and I would be terrified to get them again.
3. Go to a natural food store, or health store and get yourself a bottle of clove oil. Don't use it until a few days after the surgery (don't want to put this on freshly open wounds). SPARINGLY put the clove oil on the extraction sites (maybe with one of the syringes they will likely give you to flush out the extraction sites) and try to avoid swallowing it. It is a natural numbing agent that can alleviate a lot of pain. It tastes like ass and it will make you salivate more than you have ever salivated before, but it is a god send if you are in pain.
4. Take your painkillers before the pain sets in. Don't wait until it's unbearable. The reality is, it may hurt for several days and your face will probably be quite swollen and bruised.
5. Stock up on lots of soups, pudding, jello, anything soft. Go for broths (soups with nothing chunky in it) the first couple of days so you don't get any food particles stuck in the extraction sites. After a couple of days, you should be fine having soups with more sustenance.
Not to scare you, but I managed to get 2 dry sockets after my surgery. 1. because I create suction in my mouth when I sleep, and 2. I was way too thorough with rinsing/cleaning my mouth out too soon. You do NOT want dry sockets... trust me. It took me almost 3 weeks before I recovered from them and went through 2 scripts of T3's and also had some percocets. It was not a fun experience.
It's the first few days that you have to be the most careful because those are the days when the extraction sites are healing and sealing the blood clots. Just take it easy at first and be very careful. Otherwise, you should be fine.
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