Getting your wisdom teeth is a right of passage. An old wise tale says that once you lose your wisdom teeth, half of your life is over. So, whether you have one, two, four, even six wisdom teeth, the process is daunting and only signifies one thing….death. While depressing, fear not, here is everything you need to know about the extraction process and aftercare instructions to ensure the smoothest and predictable recovery.

Prior to the surgery you will receive pre-op medications that you must take the morning of surgery, including: antibiotics, anti-nausea, anti-anxiety, and numbing cream for the IV placement. The anti-anxiety serves as a relaxer and the numbing cream serves the purpose of providing a pain-free IV insertion. Once your under, it’s all smooth sailing. You may cry, laugh, yell, and most definitely sleep directly after your procedure. The odds of you remembering anything from that day is slim to none.

The recovery process consists of lots of pain medications, sleeping, and ice packs. The worst days consist of the first four days. During those days you will most likely be irritated, in pain, and feel disgusting. It is crucial to follow the post-op instructions which consist of swishing with warm salt water. Once those four days are up, you will begin to flush the holes with a syringe. You will continue to flush them after every meal until the holes close completely.

Hadyn A. got her wisdom teeth out during the summer and this is her experience: “It took ten days for the swelling to go down and to eat solid foods. The process was painful and I was very swollen. I’m glad I got it over with though and have’t had any problems since.”

Additionally, Jacob Goodwin got his out recently and this was his experience: “Unlike most people, my process was all smooth sailing. I never had any pain, swelling, or blood clots. I think the key was drinking pineapple juice prior to surgery. Everyone is different so it is important to expect the worst but hope for the best.”

Getting your wisdom teeth out is a right of passage. While painful, you now know what to expect, so make sure you stock up with soft foods and pineapple juice and hope that half of your life isn’t over.