Wisdom Tooth Diet. Holistic Healing Tips for Oral Surgery.

Recover fast from wisdom tooth surgery! Read on for my holistic healing tips to help your mouth and jaw feel better.

wisdom tooth recovery
Full fridge of wisdom teeth healing foods!

As some of you know, I had my wisdom teeth pulled on January 24th, 2014. I was nervous for the surgery and wanted healing to happen smoothly. Before my extraction date I did my research on every possible holistic health remedy to aid in a quick recovery. With a family full of doctors and many friends fascinated by health, I was able to accumulate a lot of quality information on the subject. I thought Id share the below with you should you ever (god forbid) have to have any sort of surgery. These tips are not to replace the advice of your health care practitioner, so please take your doctor’s advice first on the matter 🙂 The below is meant to help you should you want alternative remedies to just using drugs and ice. Ive included links to my preferred supplements, but always always always read labels to make sure a specific supplement works for you. Take what works for you and feel free to leave the rest. And always always always ask your doctor first!

Holistic Healing Tips for Wisdom Tooth Surgery

Pre- Surgery.

A few supplements both before and after surgery will help you heal faster and detox your liver from the anesthesia.

  • Begin taking milk thistle before surgery, and then continue for a month after (follow label instructions for dosage). This wonderful herb protects, rejuvenates and repairs the liver. General anesthesia and other medications used during and after surgery are exceptionally hard on the liver, so anything you can do to protect this vital organ will be a big plus for your surgery recovery. Nature’s Way Milk Thistle.
  • Increase your zinc intake to 30–50 mg for two weeks before and two weeks after surgery, using zinc picolinate. Zinc is critical to wound healing, and surgery or trauma can decrease the level of zinc in your body. Solgar Zinc Picolinate Tablets
  • Start taking a probiotic supplement two weeks before surgery, and continue using it for at least a month afterward—or, better yet, indefinitely. Choose a strain that contains acidophilus and bifida bacteria (follow label instructions for dosage). Surgical patients often receive oral or intravenous antibiotics in the hospital, which creates the potential for fungal disorders (including yeast infections), digestive disturbances and diarrhea. A probiotic can help counteract these problems, promoting surgery recovery. Jarrow Formulas Jarro-dophilus EPS
  • It is an excellent idea to use Arnica both before and after surgery. I call this remedy the ‘homeopathic exception’ because it is one that works for almost every person for the same condition (this is contrary to how homeopathy generally works in that a remedy needs to be prescribed on an individual basis). It works to reduce inflammation and speed healing which in turn helps to relieve some of the pain associated with surgery. It has a particular action on soft tissue and is well known as a remedy for bruising. You can take pellets orally and it is also available as a topical ointment or massage oil for sprains and bruising. Boiron Arnica 30C Pellets

Post Surgery. 

  • Take 250 mg of vitamin B6 twice a day for a week, starting three days after surgery. This nutrient helps reduce post-surgical fluid retention, such as swelling of the face, hands, feet or legs. The swelling usually takes two to four weeks to go down. With B6, you can experience substantial reduction within 24 to 48 hours. Solgar – Vitamin B6
  • To reduce inflammation, take 2,000–3,000 mg of omega-3 fish oil per day for two weeks after surgery. You can then go to a maintenance dosage of 500–1,000 mg per day. If fish oil is already part of your daily routine, be sure to stop taking it five days before surgery, since it can promote blood thinning and increase bleeding during surgery. Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Formula
  • Take bromelain on an empty stomach for two weeks after surgery (follow label instructions for dosage). This formidable pineapple enzyme supplement helps prevent blood clots, aids the liver and digestion and decreases inflammation and pain after surgery—all vital to surgery recovery. It also helps to remove protein debris that form at trauma sites. Source Naturals Bromelain
  • Again, another supplement to relieve pain and inflammation is the homeopathic remedy Arnica 30C. Take one pellet four or five times a day for up to two weeks after surgery.

Whenever there are extensive supplement recommendations such as this, people always ask for the top three choices if they couldn’t—or didn’t want to—take everything. In this case, here’s what is typically recommended at a minimum:

Healing Foods

It doesn’t matter if you’ve had a joint replaced; a hysterectomy or a bypass operation, the body requires extra nutrients to heal, so focusing on nutrition can mean the difference between bouncing back and a lengthy recovery. It is possible to tweak your diet to enhance recovery from surgery. Virtually all vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and macronutrients like protein, fiber, and essential fatty acids are going to help with the healing process. A low quality diet that has few whole, natural foods is going to work against healing, and a nutrient-dense diet filled with whole, natural foods is going to be supportive. While that’s a very simple and general statement, it’s also a way of remembering that the Healthiest Way of Eating can go a long way in advancing the goal of healing. Foods to help you heal:

  • Some nutrients have taken center stage in the animal research on healing, and these nutrients include vitamin C, flavonoids, vitamin A, protein, and zinc. Rich sources of vitamin C and flavonoids include fruits and vegetables such as broccoli, bell peppers, cauliflower, and berries.
  • Certain amino acids seem to help wounds heal faster, so before—and especially after—surgery, make sure your meals and snacks feature fish, chicken, eggs (especially the whites), brown rice, walnuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds.
  • Eat high quality protein foods before and after surgery. Foods that contain all of the essential amino acids are need to keep your immune system strong (the last thing you want is to get sick before surgery). After surgery protein-rich foods help wound healing and to make blood cells to replace blood losses from surgery.

Wisdom Tooth Healing recipes

Anti-inflammatory Pain Relief Smoothie.  

Put this on your list of anti-inflammatory recipes! All ingredients help to reduce inflammation in the body, and have a “cooling effect” as well. Pineapple is well known for it’s famous pain relieving enzyme “Bromelain” which is concentrated in the core of the fruit and has been isolated into supplement form to treat inflammation and pain naturally.

Ingredients:
  • I rib celery
  • I cup cucumber
  • 1/2 cup pineapple
  • 1/2 lime wedge peeled
  • 1 cup coconut water

Directions:

Add water or ice if desired. Blend and ENJOY!

Wisdom Tooth Cauliflower Soup Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 large head of cauliflower, break into small pieces
  • 2 shallots chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 gala or fuji apple diced
  • 2 sticks celery chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 6 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth
  • 1/2 cup uncooked rice
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • dash of nutmeg
  • parsley for garnish

Directions:

  1. Saute the shallots, garlic, and celery in 1 T. of olive oil for 1-2 minutes. Add rice and stock. Cook till the rice is cooked and the vegetables are soft. Bring to a boil and add cauliflower and apple.
  2. Puree the soup and adjust the seasonings. If the soup is too thick add a bit more stock. Garnish with parsley.

Healing Organic Chicken Soup with Veggies & Brown Rice Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 3 lb chicken, bought at the local farmers market. It comes frozen, with gizzards and all.
  • 1 lb carrots
  • 1 package celery (about 10 stalks, probably a little over a pound)
  • 1/2 lb dry beans or lentils
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled
  • bay leaf, clove of garlic, salt, pepper and other spices (turmeric)
  • 10 oz frozen package of peas or green beans
  • 1 lb dry, whole grain brown rice

Directions:

  1. Wash the whole chicken and chicken parts. Place in 8 or 13-quart soup pot, fill three-quarters full with water and bring to a boil. Add carrots, onion, lentils and sweet potato. Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano, and basil.
  2. Simmer covered for 1-1/2 hours. Add celery, beans, peas and parsley and cook for another 45 minutes. Spoon out the chicken bones and skim off some of the grease and fat from the top.
  3. Add Salt and pepper to taste.

Eat, enjoy, and think positive thoughts!

Oral Surgery, Wisdom Tooth removal, or Jaw stiffness can be painful and debilitating. After your wisdom tooth removal surgery or oral surgery, it is helpful to use some effective and easy mouth exercises for faster pain relief. These simple mouth exercises in the video below not only help you reduce the pain, but also decrease the swelling of your jaw and allow for faster recovery.

As ALWAYS check with your doctor and dentist before beginning any exercise routine. You can also ask your dentist for more recommended exercises, but here are some the general ones that are safe to use – even a day after your tooth extraction surgery.

1. Opening and Closing Your Mouth Slowly. The day after the procedure, you will notice when your jaw is still for a while, your muscles will be more swollen and harder to move. This may especially feel more obvious early in the morning, since your mouth hasn’t moved overnight. So to be able to open your mouth and speak or eat more easily, you can practice exercising the muscles gradually.

2. Neck Stretches Side to Side. Gently tilt your head to the side bringing your ear towards your shoulder stretching down the side of your neck. You can add a mouth stretch by opening and closing your mouth while doing this.

3. Sphinx pose. Lay on your belly with your forearms under your torso. Tilt your head up and down while in this position. Stretches your lower back, chest, neck, and jaw.

4. Smiling. Try alternating opening the mouth and smiling to bring movement back to the face, jaw, and mouth. Smiling not only helps you recover faster – it helps you feel better too 🙂

The best treatment for jaw stiffness from oral surgery is often as simple as doing these jaw exercises. Slow, passive stretching, multiple times a day, has proven to be effective in limiting stiffness, swelling and pain. But when I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed I couldn’t find any suggested exercises to do post surgery to feel better!! So I invented my own. The above exercises are from my personal experience with oral surgery and helped me recover quickly. I highly recommend following these helpful healing moves to maximize the surgery recovery process. Not only will you be able to recuperate faster, so you can get back to the enjoyable task of living each day to your full capability, you’ll also be able to make it through your surgery recovery more easily. I filmed a Youtube video to guide you through this series of wisdom tooth and jaw exercises. Press play and feel better fast with the below.

The above information I have collected from doctors, nutritionists, and friends in the health care field. I highly recommend following these helpful healing tips to maximize the surgery recovery process. Not only will you be able to recuperate faster, so you can get back to the enjoyable task of living each day to your full capability, you’ll also be able to make it through your surgery recovery more easily.

I believe that through quality nutrition, movement, and positive thoughts you CAN heal your life. Here’s wishing us the best of health, now and always.

Caroline

Want to build a balanced body? Check out my book, Balanced Body Breakthrough and get your mind, body, and spirit in great shape so you can love your life. 

Please SHARE this with your friends on Facebook, twitter, or email. Everyone deserves to be healthy and live a life they love. 

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27 Replies to “Wisdom Tooth Diet. Holistic Healing Tips for Oral Surgery.”

  1. Thank you so much for all this info. My 18 yr old daughter is getting her wisdom teeth out this morning and I am going right to the store to stock up on some of these things. Thanks for taking the time to share your wisdom( :

  2. Thank you so much. i go through many webs to learn to to heal your gum faster after extraction,
    but its to complicated to choose any single or two remedies. zinc, milk thisthle and arnica is the solution to my query. excellent all three are the key to heal faster.take care ehsan.

  3. Thanks am getting all as am really nervous about wisdom teeth op in few wks. Questiin.. do u still need to take the last 3 things multinutruent, vit c & cq10 as well as all other stuff?

    1. hello! i only took the supplements for the duration of the recovery period from wisdom teeth surgery. Im sure they would be beneficial for long term health as well.

    2. i only took those supplements for surgery and post – im sure they would be helpful for regualar health too! Always check with your doctor 🙂

    1. It took me 2-3 days, but it is different for every individual! Check with your doctor for specific recomemdations 🙂

      1. Came back to your post after following these suggestions for my wisdom teeth removal in 2015. I had no swelling and no pain. It was incredible. I need some substantial dental work done this week and will be using this again.

  4. very good information…i am scheduled for a consultation tomorrow and hope to have all four of my teeth taken out the same week. not sure if you knew, but there’s another site i saw before this one with several of these protocols and similar wording that was posted a couple of weeks after your article…anyway, i’m fixing to take my zinc right now…thanks! the site: http://www.drsinatra.com/maximizing-the-surgery-recovery-process/

  5. I recently had the misfortune of having to under a pretty intense surgical procedure. I had to undergo some reconstructive surgery in order to correct a severe trauma. The whole process leading up to the surgery was traumatic for obvious reasons. I don’t want to go into too much detail but during my surgery, my team used a FAW blanket and it helped so much with my post surgical recovery. Here are some facts about the system http://www.fawfacts.com

  6. I followed so many of these tips for a surgery (extraction and implant) back in November. The results were remarkable! I only needed one dose of pain killers in the first 48 hours. I had almost zero swelling. At the 10-day checkup, my oral surgeon remarked on how well I was healing. This past week I had another procedure (one I didn’t have time to prepare for). And ouch!–such a difference. Far less invasive, yet so much more swelling and pain without the preparation. Thanks for putting this guide together. It means so much!

  7. Just wondering if the “250 mg of vitamin B6 twice a day for a week” is correct? Is the dose 250 mg or 25mg? Thanks for the great article!

  8. I followed the supplements exactly as you suggested and I had ZERO pain, and almost NO swelling. The very little I had was gone by the end of the first day and I healed so quickly. I was surprised at how well it all worked. Thank you so much for the advice – everyone wanting to help your body through the trauma and come out on top should do this. SO WORTH IT.

  9. Hello Carichic,
    Outstanding work. It might be great reference who need to take wisdom teeth removal procedures. I found that many people confused regarding diet when they are on pre or post oral surgical procedures. I am office receptionist in a dental care center. I always hear same question from our patients. What need to eat and what need to avoid while taking dental procedures specially wisdom teeth removal ( common dental procedures compare to other dental treatment)

    Arran Smith
    Practice Receptionist
    http://lancewest.co.nz/
    Lacen West Clinic

  10. I’m getting my wisdom teeth extracted in a week. How much Arnica30c pellets should I take pre surgery?

  11. Thank you so much for the suggestions, especially the supplements/vitamins to take! I got 5 (FIVE!) taken out yesterday and my body is trying very, very hard to get rid of the anesthesia. I’m definitely going to pick up some milk thistle and arnica at the store today. I also read that making a paste from turmeric + water applied on the gums will reduce swelling, as well as placing a tea bag directly on gums.

  12. Of all the things that you mentioned, what got my attention the most was how you suggested smiling in order to return the movement back to the face because not only is it beneficial to the recovery, it also makes the person feel better. I am not sure about the feel better part, but I will be sure to suggest this to my brother because it seems the easiest to do. He plans on getting his wisdom teeth extracted, and fast recovery is his top priority. I will share this with him. Thanks!

  13. Thanks for sharing this content with us which is loaded with beneficial information. one can also shouldn’t do after the surgery and that is
    Don’t Use a Straw: Don’t use a straw to drink liquids. The sucking action will pull the clot that has formed out of the socket. This can result in an extremely painful condition called dry socket. It can also extend your healing time and increase your risk of infection.

    Don’t Overdo It after Wisdom Tooth Removal: A wisdom tooth removal procedure is a surgical procedure. It’s important that you keep your head elevated and take it easy for the first few days after the procedure to have a sound sleep. Doing too much too soon can cause the wound to bleed or can increase your risk of infection.
    Thanks again!

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