Monday Musings: Goodbye wisdom teeth, hello liquid diet

I’m curious as to why evolution hasn’t bred out wisdom teeth yet. Like the appendix, this extra set of molars is a vestigial feature that’s relatively useless to the modern human, and a lot of us end up having them removed because a) they can cause a lot of pain and problems, and b) we can clearly get along perfectly fine without them. A lot of my friends had their wisdom teeth taken out as teenagers, so as I returned to the dentist year after year without so much as a hint that mine were a problem, I began to think that perhaps the cup of bicuspid removal had passed over me. Apparently not.

After putting it off for almost a year, I finally went to get all four of my wisdom teeth out this past Thursday. I’ve never had any kind of surgery before–for which I am so grateful–so between my irrational fear of needles (for the IV sedative) and the horror stories of excruciating mouth pain and chipmunk-like facial swelling from others, I was understandably nervous. But my fears proved to be unfounded as I awoke just over an hour after being knocked out, slightly foggy but in no notable pain. I went home, mouth full of gauze and ice pack strapped to my face, and promptly passed out after a nice helping of Greek yogurt and pain killers.

Naturally, with the gaping holes in my gums, I’ve been left with no choice but to be on a soft foods/liquid diet for the last few days. For anyone that’s awaiting oral surgery or simply interested in a liquid diet*, I just thought I’d share a little bit of what I’ve been eating lately, kind of like a What I Ate Wednesday, but on a Monday:

Chobani Greek yogurt in one of my favorite flavors

Kozy Shack no sugar added rice pudding (4 grams of protein and only 5 grams of sugar!)

I broke out the old juicer and made a delicious fiber-filled smoothie of carrots, apples, blackberries and celery

Imagine organic Garden Broccoli soup with some shredded cheddar melted in…YUM. This stuff is seriously delicious, and at 200 grams of sodium, it’s miles ahead of other store-bought soups.

Banana “soft serve” made with frozen banana slices and a little bit of honey in the food processor.

*While I am not a nutritionist or dietitian, I strongly advise against a liquid-only diet for any extended period of time. While it is possible to get all of your nutrients through supplement powders, it’s very likely that you won’t be getting a sufficient amount of calories just by drinking juices. Please consult your doctor before beginning any kind of juice cleanse or detox diet.

I have my follow-up appointment this afternoon with my oral surgeon, so hopefully he’ll tell me I’m healing up nicely and can go back to eating normal foods relatively soon. I won’t say I’ve been upset about having to eat Greek yogurt and fresh fruits & veggies, though! I’m actually very proud of myself for not copping out and using this as an excuse to eat tons of ice cream. I was almost positive that’s what I’d end up doing. Cheers to the removal of some useless molars.

Have you ever had to alter your diet because of a medical procedure? How did you stay healthy during that time?