Day six (sans the third molars)

I believe I discussed yesterday the pitfalls of relying on the internet for information. It's not the internet, per se, that is the problem; it's the prevalence, in any search, of discussion groups (rather than sites by dental experts). You can make yourself crazy and get a lot of bad information, if you choose to believe it. I do find user groups amusing. I think I've blogged about how, with every question that someone posts online, there are people who feel the need to respond in a way that is not helpful. For example, ages ago, I looked up recommended soak times for plumping raisins and was amused to find one person who responded to such a query to say that, the asker doesn't really want to do that; no one really plumps raisins anymore. Well, I do. But I digress. With regard to wisdom tooth extractions, far too many responses to any question are, "check with your dentist." Why thank you, genius! Why didn't I think of that?

All that said, there is some useful information to be had, even online. Sometimes even in discussion groups, when the responders are dental professionals or people who've had extractions, rather than people who have nothing better to do than troll these groups and say "ask your dentist." Of course, they have a point: everyone is different, so there's little value in pinpointing how much something should hurt a given number of days later. But it's helpful to get a general idea. Another thing about general guidelines: it may be useful to check out suggestions for when to move on to increasingly solid food, but what I've learned is that you'll kind of know. Your own level of pain will guide you as to when you're ready to take on foods that require a little more chewing. Of course, you can only trust your own level of pain once you're off the painkillers. Another noticeable change: I still feel the need to rinse with water and baking soda (or salt) after every meal (and I should), but two days ago I felt the need to rinse after every bite.

But back to the topic of the blessing and curse that is the internet, through which I determined that I do not have dry socket, not by effectively showing me what dry socket looks like, but by making me understand that it apparently sucks one's will to live. Although I'm still experiencing some residual discomfort, my will to live is well intact, so I guess those blot clots must be in place.

I'll continue the soft-only diet through Thursday morning (when I have my one-week follow-up appointment).  I moved on from mush-only yesterday, when I had injera (and other Ethiopian food, the most solid of which was green beans). I had some soft pasta today, and I wasn't frightened by any non-pureed chickpeas that appeared in my hummus. Maybe I'll even move on to whole chickpeas on Thursday, when I run out of hummus and may be too lazy to make more. I do miss my oatmeal (the beta-glucans in which, incidentally, are supposed to be good for helping one heal). Maybe I'll pick some up tomorrow.