After surgery am I allowed to have chewing gum or sugar free mints? Is it ok to use mouthwash and brush your teeth straight after? Thank you

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I chewed after my op...

But stopped when I thought about little bits of gum breaking off and taking up room in my stomach...

I switched to sugar free mints...

I still use them...

I say 'use' because I don't eat them for the pleasure...

I use them as a tool to help me digest my proteins after I eat...

I've had trouble with that since the op..

Red meat is now a rarity on my menu due to my inability to digest it...

I eat fish for most lunches/dinners and have chicken on the others...

After each meal, I will have three or four mints, just to keep the digestive juices flowing..

I have mints everywhere I could possibly go...

I have some here on my couch-side table...

By my bed...

In my car...

At my desk..

Even in my gym bag...

Wherever I have a water bottle, I have a tin of mints...

So I really, REALLY hope they're not a bad thing...

I haven't been a gum chewer in decades. I do have an occasional mint.

No gum, as per my surgeon. Causes you to swallow excess air. Mints and mouthwash should be fine. My own opinion is just be careful with mints and don't let them take up real estate needed for nutrition.

I'm not a gum chewer, but when I do chew gum, I don't swallow air. My surgeon has no issue with it as long as I don't swallow the gum.

SF mints? Fair game!

I've chewed gum just for 5 minutes

About one month out

and it gave me the worst gas I was burping for hours it was awful never again.

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Never been a big gum chewer.

I did use it wen I was quitting smoking many years ago.....it helped then.

Now.....I have mints or even the mint flavored chewable Vitamins.

I had mints today Dub and they were good for me in the past they've made me feel sick but since my sleeve I like them again.

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I'm chewing gum AND typing this at the same time! I don't have gum everyday, just occasionally after lunch at work and have had zero problems...although my tummy always seems to be complaining about one thing or another...I'm hungry, I'm full...blah, blah, blah. I chew Trident Perfect Peppermint.

I chew gum after every single meal. For me, it accomplishes two objectives: (1) it helps with dry mouth since I religiously follow the "no drinking for at least 30 minutes after a meal" rule; and (2) it's a signal to my brain to stop eating. I've never had a problem "swallowing" air (frankly I don't even know what that means) and I've never had a problem with swallowing gum. I've walked into my surgeon's office chewing gum (and holding a drink from Starbucks with . . . gasp . . . a straw) and he didn't blink an eye.

Mints are also a daily occurrence for me.