Tips for Recovering After a Tooth Extraction
After a tooth removal procedure at your dentist’s office, the socket left by the missing tooth can be subject to pain, bleeding, swelling, and infections. Therefore, to prevent all these issues, you can follow some guidelines that your dentist provides on fast healing.
Below are the tips on how to manage each symptom, according to our dentist at Rosedale Dental Care:
Controlling Bleeding
Right after tooth extraction, the socket which the tooth was removed from can experience bleeding. Therefore, your dentist in Brampton will give you a gauze to place on the socket and ask you to bite down on it firmly. The pressure you apply to the socket helps in blood clotting.
However, you can experience bleeding after leaving your dentist’s office. If the bleeding is excessive and unexplained, it is advisable to contact your dentist right away. The dentist can schedule an emergency appointment or guide you on how to stop the bleeding depending on how severe it is.
In case the bleeding is moderate, you can bite down a tea bag until the bleeding stops. On the first day after the tooth extraction, slight oozing of blood is normal. Therefore, you don’t have to panic when you experience such as scenario.
To avoid dislodging the blood clot, gently spit and avoid using a straw while drinking or rinse your mouth in the first 24 hours.
Managing Pain
After the effects of anesthesia fade, you are likely to experience slight pain. However, in some cases, you might experience sharp pains within the site of tooth extraction.
Your dentist can recommend globally accepted pain relievers such as ibuprofen to reduce pain. However, the dentist will instruct you not to drive after taking the pain relievers since you might feel drowsy and lose focus, causing an accident.
You can also ask your dentist if you can take over-the-counter pain relievers. In such a case, the dentist will only recommend non-opioid pain relievers.
Reducing Swelling
When your gum or cheek swells after a tooth extraction, placing an ice pack on the cheek over the site of the swelling. If you don’t have a ready ice pack, you can put ice cubes in a plastic bag and wrap it using a towel. Place the cold compress on your face for 10 minutes and remove it for five minutes, then repeat the process for some time.
Alternatively, your dentist can recommend anti-inflammatory drugs. However, if the swelling does not suppress, contact your dentist immediately. Also, get enough rest and sleep with your head slightly raised to prevent swelling.
When you see bruising on your gum or face, don’t panic, they will go away on their own.
Preventing Infections
The open socket left after tooth removal can get infected by harmful bacteria in your mouth. Therefore, to prevent infections after tooth extraction in Brampton, ON, your dentist can ask you to rinse your mouth regularly using warm water or antiseptic mouth wash.
Oral Hygiene After a Tooth Extraction Procedure
When practicing good oral hygiene after tooth extraction, you should be careful to avoid hurting yourself. However, during the tooth extraction recovery period, you can brush your teeth twice a day and floss, while leaving the socket. After brushing your teeth, ensure you rinse your mouth using a mouth wash.
Diet
To speed up the tooth extraction healing process, you need to include some foods in your diet. Eating hard foods can can prick and injure the socket, thus encouraging bleeding and sometimes swelling. Therefore, your diet should consist of soft foods such as:
- Soup
- Pudding
- Yogurt
- Apple sauce
- Mashed potatoes
- Scrambled eggs
- Smoothies
- Instant oatmeal
Things to Avoid After Tooth Removal
The tooth removal recovery timeline is between one to two weeks. However, some factors can hinder recovery. To encourage fast recovery after a tooth removal procedure, avoid the following:
- Smoking since the chemicals in tobacco can cause a dry socket
- Coldwater when rinsing your mouth instead use warm saline water
- Skipping medications or using unprescribed drugs
- Hot drinks and spicy foods to reduce the risk of irritation
- Poking the socket to keep the blood clot intact
- Aspirin since it is a blood thinner that discourages clotting, thus preventing healing
- Sucking on anything, including straws, smokes, and sipping
By avoiding the above factors, you speed up the recovery and prevent complications during the healing period.