Having your wisdom teeth pulled? Consider this!
After you get your wisdom teeth pulled,
SLEEP SITTING UP!
Why?
It lets the fluids drain out of your head while you sleep, instead of the liquids pooling, which would happen if you lay down. This results in greatly reduces swelling. Greatly reduced swelling means greatly reduced pain on your part. I had only one of the pain pills that was prescribed to me after the surgery. I didnt take any more because I didnt need them.
How?
Sleeping sitting up means, very likely, sitting in a chair when you fall asleep. The first night after the surgery, this should be no problem at all. You should be so drugged up that falling asleep, no matter what position, will be easy. If you aren't fortunate enough to have a comfortable la-z-boy type chair to fall asleep in, I recommend stacking up pillows on your bed and sitting against them. If that doesnt work, sleep against a wall and use pillows to make it comfortable.
When?
The first three or so nights should be all you need to get past the swelling. By the third night, I couldnt really see any swelling, and I was tired of the chair, so I returned to my bed and used the pillow stacking method for the next couple of nights. I was back to sleeping normally by a week after the surgery.
Who?
This was recomended to me by the physical trainer for the sports teams at my high school. He taught my Spanish class and was out for (only) a couple of days due to having his wisdom teeth pulled. He touted sleeping sitting up as a method for speeding up recovery.
DISCLAIMER:
I am not a health proffesional. This is entirely conjecture based on the part of my onetime teacher, and my experiences.
Consult with your doctor or orthodontical surgeon before you do this.
All I can say is that I did it, I am currently 9 days after having had my wisdom teeth pulled, and I was never in any great pain. I recovered wonderfully, and I think that sleeping sitting up helped.