fathm,
One day of less chewing is not enough time to relax the jaw muscles. It can take weeks for the muscles to recover from spasm.
If the pain in the socket in getting worse, then you could have a dry socket or have some food debris deep inside. I am confused as to when you had the sockets cleaned out by the dentist as you said it's been hurting for a few days and then said you just had them done. It is also in your best interest to be sure to see an oral surgeon not a general dentist and specifically express your concerns about food debris being impacted in the socket.
Generally when impacted food is removed from the surgical socket, there is relief from the intense pain so long as the site is not infected and the clot had formed properly. The site may be sore for a few days but should feel better, not worse.
It is advisable to eat a nutritious soft food diet for a few weeks post op until the mouth feels pain free and comfortable. Only you can gauge how your mouth feels. Soft foods are those that do not require a lot of chewing. There is no reason to be on a liquid diet only.
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by fathm1988
Hi Bryanna,
Thank-you for responding. I really appreciate it. Since last night, I have been having pain in the same general area and I have been drinking liquids only to give my muscles a rest. The pain has just gotten worse. I actually had to take my leftover T3s today because the pain was just so frustrating. I have two additional questions if you could please, please address them any way possible:
Is it possible that if food was stuck in there for a few days, that the site was irritated and can cause pain after for a few days? Or would the pain subside the next day or so? The oral surgeon yesterday (or dentist, I dont even know what he was) cleaned out my sockets, so nothing should be in there since yesterday. Could it be that the hard food like the burger I had actually hit my healing site hard and irritated/damaged it?
If it is my TMJ, I have no clue what to eat. I'm upset because at my 1 week followup, my oral surgeon said that I could start eating normally, but I still kept it on the soft side. The oral surgeon that I met yesterday said that I should stick to "soft foods" like eggs, fish, yogurt, etc for 2 weeks. I have become so paranoid that I have been having only liquids. Should I really start chewing or just stick to drinking? Should I stick to soft diet for 3 weeks instead of 2?
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