Last week Friday I got all four of my wisdom teeth removed (see my tweet for post-surgery laughing gas-induced antics) and both the operation and recovery were/are annoying to live through! I’ve been putting off my wisdom teeth removal for many years because the idea of having teeth taken out was super scary to me (as it is to most people, I’m sure). I had spacers, headgear, and braces for several of my childhood years and the process of having metal devices installed in my face and not being able to eat regular foods because of mouth pain was extremely uncomfortable. But seeing as I’ll be removed from my parents’ health/dental insurance at the end of the year, I’m trying to visit every doctor/dentist for the procedures I’ve neglected to attend during 2022 (I should’ve done all of this when I was still a child whose parents paid for everything!!). In my pre-procedure consultation, the oral surgeon told me my teeth should be fairly easy to remove because of their growth and direction so I thought the process would be quick and simple. And while it took the surgeon and staff less than an hour to take out all of my chunky teeth, finding foods to eat post-removal has been the most difficult aspect.
I thought I’d just have to eat liquid/soft foods for 3-4 days after the surgery, but that’s not necessarily the case. I’m currently on day 9 of alternating between extremely soft foods and solids when I can. I started out drinking lots of Chobani Greek yogurt drinks and the occasional Guava smoothie from Jamba Juice for breakfast and snacks when I wanted them. After the first day of post-op I was allowed to have warm and hot foods again, so I got tomato bisque from Aloha Salads with soft pita for dipping. I ate bowls of that soup for a few days and sneaked in some soft tofu with shoyu, mirin, and rice vinegar as a protein-heavy dinner. I thought it would be okay to start eating solid foods again after day 3, so I made spring mix salads with diced chicken and veggies, chicken salad sandwiches on one piece of soft bread, and soft scrambled eggs, but those foods started sticking in my not-yet healed mouth holes. I went back to softer foods again with ice cream, mashed potatoes, Popeye’s mac and cheese (which is really good!), and raspberries running my current diet. I still have two mouth holes widely accessible for foods, so I’m going to continue my softer diet with the introduction of baked salmon, roasted zucchini, and more tofu filling my body in the upcoming days. I can’t wait to return to normal foods again (like one of my favorite pastas)!!
