Miss P ... speaking from my own experience and that of a mom playing nurse to a teenage daughter who had a quadruple impacted extraction a few months ago ...
Here are my basic thoughts for you to keep in mind ...
What I found was that since it's your first time having oral surgery, the pain/discomfort afterwards may be worse from the initial stretching of the jaw/ligaments than from the actual surgery per se ... it took about a week for me to even be able to open my mouth wide enough to, say, eat a cheeseburger (no such problems after the second set of extractions though). Advil/Aleve will probably help that but hey, if you can go for the gusto, get the Vicodin/Percocet etc.
Dry sockets, I hear, are absolute hell but reasonably uncommon. Your dentist will give you tips to avoid them (don't use a straw, rinse GENTLY, etc.) I never had one, nor did my daughter (my husband did but he's never been one to follow the rules).
Before the surgery go to the supermarket and fill your fridge with soft stuff you love. Indulge yourself. We had shelves full of pudding, smoothies, milkshakes, etc. I think ice cream is not a good idea because it's really cold, so try to go more for room temperature or warm rather than extremes.
MAKE SURE you have someone there with you at the DDS to help you home. Not just to drive but to help you stagger out of there. You'll be out of it and won't remember much anyway. That's what friends are for ...
After you sleep for a few hours, have on hand some good books, good movies, Grey's Anatomy on DVD, what have you. Allow yourself at least 48 hours to just stay in bed with your favorite tunes, drugs and maybe some hot bubble baths.
Finally, compresses and ice packs. You know the old-fashioned ice packs that you see old guys wear in the cartoons, that you stick on your head and fill with ice chips? Those are great. Get two ... you're not supposed to have the ice on both sides at once, they suggest you shift back and forth and not have it on for TOO long at one time for the healing process.
The anticipation and dread is probably going to be worse than the reality, so indulge yourself to offset the discomfort/pain.
In my daughter's case, she was back to school in two days and never in agony ... at worst, she said, severe discomfort and even that was for a day at most. (Yay, she didn't use all the Percocet!)
Hope this helps and good luck!!!!!
