[pmdc5286]

Hey ladies! I had a very bad abscessed tooth cut out a little over two weeks ago. The dentist said it was one of the worst he has had to do. It had to be cut into 8 pieces to get out and he had to remove part of my jawbone with it, and there is also essentially a fracture in my jaw the roots were so long and deeply inbeded in my jaw for him to cut and drill and pull out. I saw the x-rays that were taken during the procedure and know this is true and not a cover up for a mistake (thanks to my medical training I can read most x-rays).

I went by the dentists instructions and did not use a straw for 2 days, but Wed after the procedure Jonah and I decided a Chick-fil-a cookies and cream milk shake sounded really good and got one and this caused a dry socket. I know dumb move. I now have a good bit of exposed bone in my mouth and am in a good bit of pain (the dentist has been good with the meds and follow-up thankfully) and am still very limited on what I can eat due to pain and a large hole in my bottom rear jaw.

I have been living on mashed potatoes for over two weeks and it is getting really old. I have tried scrambled eggs, but they "run around" in my mouth too much and getting them out of the socket is pure torture. I don't really eat soup and am out of ideas on soft foods to eat. Any ideas on things to eat that are not spicy-home made hamburger helper was torture with the taco seasoning. Things that move in your mouth or require a lot of chewing are out.

PS--Jonah says I really have to get over my fear of the dentist so this does not happen again. I had not been to the dentist since well before Dani was born!

[plan4fate]

You poor thing!

If I were you I'd have advanced to baby sized bites and swallowing them whole.

I've never had major oral surgery. My brother had a really rough go with his wisdom teeth, but he ate what ever he wanted. he'd just do small bites and mash it up with his front teeth and then swallow. I know when I had my tongue infection I was eating mcd's chicken nuggets by eating them in smaller than toddler size bites.

There is a knack to using a straw after oral surgery though. You have to learn to use it with your mouth open. I don't like cold on my teeth, so I naturally do this... you create suction with your soft palate, tongue and throat.. but your mouth is open so there's no vacuum to cause trouble with the sockets! Drinking with nothing BUT a straw, or something thick and hard to get through it is still a bad idea though.

(I had to learn this after having teeth removed when I was 8. I had 2 abscess's and 4 teeth impeding normal development in my mouth. 8 weeks of practice before surgery.)

[Keakie]

That sounds terrible! When I had my wisdom teeth taken out, a dry socket was my biggest fear. It never happened but I'm so sorry you had one of those on top of an already tough procedure.

I'm not really sure what to advise. I ate a lot of pureed soups because they were easy and I enjoy them. I also drank protein drinks to make sure I was putting enough energy into my body (I had no appetite for about a week). Applesauce and yogurts make good "sides" or snacks, too. I think I was able to slowly start working solid foods back in within a week of the surgery, though. I started small (at first it was something like a couple pieces of bacon alongside my morning Boost drink) and worked my way back up to normal food. It is a pain to clean out the sockets though (and mine weren't disrupted in healing).

Hope you start to feel better soon!

[My2miracles]

Trying to remember back from my jaw surgery.... I couldn't chew for 8 weeks

One of my favorites during that time : cook up ground hamburger - really break it up so the peices are really tiny. Takes work but worth it & then make a sloppy joe type mix. I just used Cambell's tomato soup & season it with onion powder, garlic powder, pepper & worchestershire sauce. Put a little grated parmeson cheese on it - the Kraft stuff in a can works well because you don't have to chew it. Spoon in & swallow.

Gross as it sounds, I also ate spaghetti-0's. You can swallow those too without chewing.

Protien drinks - no straw , shakes, etc.

I'll see if I can remember anything else. It was 17 years ago

[Admin-Rachel]

yogurt? That's all I got. ((hugs))