how much should I eat before surgery?

I've had all 4 of mine removed,

Things to consider:

If you are put under, you may puke when you come to
Do not drink anything through a straw or you might develop dry socket
after about a week I was able to eat soft solids
A blender is your best friend

2-3 days....not weeks

I would eat comfortably, but why go out of your way more?

I find eating too much makes me feel lousy. BTW, I was eating normally the day after having my wisdom teeth out and my son had 4 impacted teeth out at 9 and ate a normal dinner. You won't have trouble taking in enough calories even if you are on an all liquid diet. You just need to go into and out of surgery eating healthy so you can heal well.

I'm having one out tomorrow!!!

I'm going to lie in bed for three days and eat ice cream and iboprufen.

It will be iv sedation. In the uk they chuck you out an hour AFTER the procedure starts. That's going to be fun riding round london in the rush hour in a black cab. My friends will join me and laugh at me no doubt!

I had been thinking the same thing OP.

I've been eating at maintenance lots of vitamin c and no training for a couple of days before and a week after.

It's probably not a good idea to be under maintenance during illness or recovery.

It's also not a time to train.

I have my 4 tooth removed and I would not do that,
The first week you can eat like a normal person, the inflammation starts getting away the third day and everything seems to be cure by the fourth day so 2 weeks its too much, Just eat normal, When I have that done I ate soups, jello, popsicle, I dont drink milk or nothing that could get stock in the open areas like rice or cereal.

You can treat yourself but dont go over board. Once I was in the hospital for an extended stay and binge ate EVERYTHING i had missed and gained a lot of weight in a couple weeks.

If you want plan a one special meal a day that fits into your calories and have that for the week prior. Two weeks isnt that long to give up the foods you love. After all, not like you are going to prison for life joking. Good luck with the surgery

I had all four wisdom teeth taken out while I was in boot camp. I had mine removed while I was awake (not a pleasant experience). Anyways, for dinner that night they gave me fried chicken, potato chips, and jello. No joke. Long story short, be careful what you eat for a day or two but you'll find yourself being able to eat more normal foods sooner than two weeks.

Just before surgery I think it would be a good idea to get a lot of vitamin C, as one poster said, and plenty of protein. If you're a bit nervous or just worried about postprocedure, go ahead and have some comfort food. Just try to walk a little extra. 1800 calories seems completely reasonable. A little extra exercise will help relax you as well. :flowerforyou:

uh no one seemed to actually read what I posted....I was not asking about the surgery or recovery tips at all. also, recovery time is different for everyone and my doctor who knows what he needs to do, told me I wont be able to eat normally for 2 weeks. anyway, I was talking about eating more the WEEK before the sugary not the DAY OF. thanks anyways for the very helpful replies!

2 weeks to eating normally is not the same thing as 2 weeks of eating lower cals. It'll be 2 weeks until you are comfortably able to eat things that are hard to chew - like beef jerky, or a hard granola. That leaves a lot of foods you'll have no trouble eating. You can easily overeat while recovering (many people turn to things like milkshakes and puddings), so I wouldn't bother compensating in anticipation of undereating.

The problem with getting your wisdom teeth out is that the only food you tend to be able to eat is high calorie things like ice cream or jello with whipped topping.

You might not be able to CHEW much after your surgery but that doesn't mean you won't be able to EAT much. Maybe you should try putting together a sample day of "after surgery food" to see what it will come to before deciding to eat a lot this week.

I also wouldn't "waste" calories this week just because your intake next week might be low. Make sure it's nutritious just in case you can't eat anything wholesome next week - your body might need to feed off your own nutrition stores.

Also, keep in mind some people have no trouble eating after 1 - 2 days for getting wisdom teeth out. It really depends on how your body reacts.

I ended up getting ill every time I tried eating in the first 4 days. And then my tooth sockets got infected from the bile and I ended up with lock jaw for a month and couldn't eat anything where I had to open my mouth much. Everyone is different... what I've seen of other people though is that they're able to eat normally sooner than 2 weeks. It seems like most are back to eating normally in about half - 1 week. Your dentist can only give you an educated guess, but that doesn't mean he knows you'll be unable to chew for 2 weeks.

You will need the calories for your recovery. You really should be eating at maintenance, just add some higher calorie foods you can handle to your day - soft full fat cheeses, nut butters, etc. Please don't starve your body during this time! (I just had surgery and I was eating anywhere from 1000-1500 ABOVE maintenance for almost eight weeks - with no exercise, so it was probably closer to 2000 above some days - while I recovered, and I actually lost three pounds. I'm not suggesting this for you - my surgery involved major muscle repair - but maintenance won't hurt for a few weeks and having a good diet break is good every now and then, too.) Don't overeat beforehand, and definitely don't undereat afterwards or you can impede your recovery.

Best of luck with the surgery!