DEEP Dive: Special Topic • Holistic Healing from Wisdom Teeth Removal

Here’s how I prepared for and recovered from wisdom teeth removal surgery, including recipes, what to expect, and must-have hacks for an ideal recovery

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Holistic Healing from Wisdom Teeth Removal

Welcome to the first edition of DEEP Dives, a series where I dive DEEP on health, nutrition, and wellness topics.

This DEEP Dive is not only special because it’s the debut of the series, but because it’s also a Special Topic issue where I share health insights and rituals from my own lived experiences.

DEEP Dive is a series of longer-format posts that will include issues that are both free for all and those exclusive to my paid subscribers, as I want to facilitate access to the knowledge I have to share and honor the work that I put into creating this content.

I recently had my wisdom teeth removed, and as I did my research and prepped for a nourishing recovery, I thought I should share all the preparation and planning I went through and tips and inspiration that you can use to prepare yourself for any kind of surgery that may be on the horizon for you.

During my recovery, I experienced unexpected reactions and complications, including an adverse food reaction caused by a post-surgery histamine overload. I wanted to document everything and share how I navigated this period of recovery holistically—using nutrition, herbalism, and intuition to get my body back on track.

I’m excited to bring you this Special Topic issue on my tips and process for a healing recovery from wisdom teeth removal surgery. This issue will include:

• My tips and insights on what to expect (including how to navigate post-surgery histamine overload and how to re-integrate your wellness rituals)

• A grocery and food prep guide

• Herbs I used to support healing and supply deep nourishment

• Two tasty recipes for nourishing recovery

Psst! You can view this post on a computer web browser to use the neat Table of Contents feature and skip to different sections easily.

I have a great relationship with my dentist, Dr. Regni, who is naturopathic and has been treating me for almost the past three years now.

Me and Dr. Regni any time I sit in his chair

I knew that at some point I needed to get my wisdom teeth removed before I had even started seeing him, however, he gave me some insight into the why I should get them out sooner than later. He told me a couple of years ago that as we reach the age of 30, the bone becomes harder to fill. When I first got examined by him and we spoke about how my bottom wisdom teeth were impacted, he recommended that I get my wisdom teeth removed while I’m still in my mid-20s in anticipation of this change.

Last May, just a couple of weeks before I took a 10-day trip to Los Angeles, I had developed swollen gums around one of my bottom wisdom teeth. I was drinking a lot of chia seed water those couple of weeks before it happened, and my guess is that a chia seed got lodged in-between the impacted tooth and gums and started to swell, inflaming my gums.

The swelling did not go down for a week, and I had to resort to eating rice with scrambled eggs and sipping on smoothies. With no improvements despite my water-flossing, teeth-brushing, and mouth-washing, I finally called him up. The day before I flew out to LA, he stayed after hours to lacerate the swollen gum around my tooth and it healed exceptionally. (Thanks, Dr. Regni!!!)

That experience, though, was all I needed to light a fire under my behind and finally get consulted for extraction.

Why do so many of us need to get our wisdom teeth extracted?

Our human ancestors ate tough foods in their diets that required intensive chewing and mastication in order to break down the food for further digestion. When civilizations developed the means for cooking, tenderizing, and overall softening foods, human evolution saw that we did not use our jaws as extensively from a young age to develop an expanded jaw. Many of our jaws no longer develop to their full capacity, and cannot accommodate the furthest-back molars. My bottom wisdom teeth grew in impacted, pushing against the second molars, causing all sorts of issues including the Swollen Gum Mishap of May 2024. Removing all four of my wisdom teeth ensured that the top wisdom teeth, although fine, would not supra-erupt and harm the bottom gums in the space that the missing bottom ones would leave behind.

Recovery

Leading up to my surgery, I wanted to ensure that I had a nourishing recovery.

While wisdom teeth removal is something many people go through, I naturally wanted to do my research. The surgery, including the anesthesia that the patient is put under, does a number on the body. You need someone to stay with you for the first several hours after your surgery, and my good friend Marisol was my designated caretaker.

I learned that anesthesia can weaken the immune system and cause temporary dysbiosis in the gut. Digestion is hard enough without being able to chew while your mouth is swollen, but the effects on the gut of anesthesia and the pain medications prescribed for recovery can lead to constipation.

I wanted to incorporate soothing, protein-, fiber-, and probiotic-rich whole foods (even if cooked down) that would support me during my recovery. I also didn’t want to s t r u g g l e with bland foods during recovery, so I set out to prepare myself with tasty yet healing foods.

Preparation

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