Update

Many of you have sweetly asked about how I have been doing since having my wisdom teeth removed, so I thought I would give you an update.

It has been two and a half weeks and my mouth seems to be healing well. I am able to eat better foods...more solid foods. I've been able to eat meat again (yay!) and pretty much everything I used to. I still go slowly, but that isn't a bad thing since I realize I am full sooner!

My lip and chin, however, remain numb, along with my lower teeth from the front all the way around the back right side. Chewing with numbness was at first a real challenge, but I am adjusting to it and have been able to chew some and actually bite things.

I went for a follow up appointment this past week on Thursday. The surgeon said my gums "looked good." I'm not sure if that means totally healed or just healing. I forgot to ask! He told me to keep doing my warm water rinses, so I'd guess there is still some healing to be done. We discussed the numbness and there are several potential reasons and outcomes: 1) The blood clot from the healing gum is pressing against the nerve, causing the temporary numbness. Once the wound is completely healed and the blood clot is gone, the numbness will subside. This is the shortest term numbness I could have. 2) During the surgery the nerve was bumped or bruised by the root of the tooth that was removed. The nerve is damaged and could take 2-6 months to heal. Most or all of the numbness will eventually subside as the nerve heals. Some small bits of numbness may remain. 3) During the surgery the nerve was completely damaged. The numbness would remain permanent and I would just adjust to how it felt and stop noticing it as much. There is no way for the surgeon to know what situation is present in my case so all we can do is watch and wait.............. Obviously my vote is that it is option 1 or 2 which would mean I will eventually regain most, if not all, of the feeling in my lip and chin. He asked to continue to follow me, so I have to go back again in a month.

I'll keep you posted...........