I'm a wisdom tooth noob here. My first one was extracted 7 days ago.
Now I'm super paranoid about getting dry socket. I read many people
online saying they were screaming and crying and pounding the walls
from the pain.. others saying it was one of the most painful
experiences of their life.

Natually I'm terrified of getting it. I've taken all the precautions I
read of. No straws, no spitting, no carbonation, no alcohol, salt-water
rinses once a day, starting no sooner than 24 hours after the
extraction. I didn't talk for the first 24 hours, and kept talking to a
minimum during the 2nd day. I didn't eat any solid foods until 5 days
after, and even then I still haven't eaten anything that requires
chewing.

When I look at the socket, it does seem to be getting smaller after a
week. And I haven't had any real pain so far. So I think I'm good so
far. But how long will it take until it closes? I'm still paranoid
about chewing anything until it's closed. I dont want food getting in
there.

And when can you typically resume brush your teeth normally after a
tooth extraction? I've just been using rinses and brushing with water.
I didnt know if I can go back to normal brushing yet or not.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any info!