Do’s and Don’ts After Tooth Extraction

Tooth extractions are common in adults, with dentists and oral surgeons pulling millions of teeth yearly. Whether you’ll have a tooth pulled due to trauma, decay, overcrowding, or wisdom teeth removal, knowing how to take care of your tooth extraction area after the surgery is essential. At Dr. Borzoo Ahmadi Beverly Hills, we believe knowledge is power, and that’s essential to understand your post-care instructions in the days following your tooth extraction.

Post Care Instructions: Day 1-2

The essential aspect of your tooth removal recovery is maintaining the blood clots that form in the tooth socket. This important part of the healing process helps avoid potential complications such as dry sockets.

A dry socket happens when a clot becomes dislodged or fails to develop. When the blood clot becomes dislodged, it exposes the underlying bone and nerve endings. Following these aftercare dos and don’ts will help promote a healthy blood clot and healing.

Do’s

Some of the things to do after tooth extraction that will help promote blood clot formation and healing include:

Use gauze to promote clotting and stop bleeding: Your dentist in 90069 will send you home with gauze packed over the extraction area after tooth removal. Ensure to leave this gauze in place by biting down gently to apply pressure. This will help stop the bleeding and promote clot development. Change the gauze as needed. Ensure you keep the gauze in place for a few hours after you are tooth extraction.

Get plenty of rest: Your body will need time to heal after tooth extraction. It’s essential that you rest for the first 24 hours and avoids activities that require much energy.

Take your prescribed medications: Your dentist near you will provide prescription medications or ask you to take over-the-counter medications to alleviate pain. Also, they might give you antibiotics for any possible infection. Ensure you take pain meds as needed and take the antibiotics as prescribed until they are all gone. This helps promote healing and reduces the risk of complications.

Eat soft food: Foods can irritate the extraction site and dislodge a clot. For the first one to two days, stick to soft foods such as soup, mashed potatoes, yogurt, or scrambled eggs. Also, you should avoid chewing at the side of the extraction area.

Don’ts

Some things can affect clothing and healing and irritate the extraction sites. Avoiding these things to help promote a speedy recovery and reduce the risk of dry sockets is essential.

Avoid using straws: When you use a straw for drinking, it causes a sucking action that can dislodge a clot, increasing the risk of bleeding and dry socket. Ensure you avoid straws for at least two days.

Smoking: the chemicals that are in tobacco can affect clotting and increase the risk of developing dry sockets. You should stop smoking for at least 48 hours after your tooth extraction.

Don’t spit: While increased blood and saliva are normal after tooth extraction and splitting may seem like a simple solution, the act of spitting places pressure on your mouth that affects blood clotting. Instead, try leaning over the thing and letting saliva and blood drip out.

Avoid rinsing your mouth: Although you might be tempted to rinse or gargle your mouth to clean it, avoid this for the first two days as it slows the clotting or even dislodge a forming clot.

Post-Operative Instructions after 48 Hours

Your blood clot forms within the 1st 24 hours, and it’s essential to maintain these clots and good oral health. Although the clot is an essential part of the healing process after extraction can take up to 10 days. Following these do’s and don’ts helps ensure proper healing and reduce the risk of possible complications.

Do’s

Some of the tips to follow in the days after you are healing include:

• Continue to floss and brush your teeth
• Continue with soft foods
• Saline rinses: this helps kill bacteria in the mouth and reduce your risk of infection. Try making a warm saline solution at home with warm water and a tablespoon of salt, then gently rinse your mouth and allow the saline solution to drain without spitting.

Don’ts

You should continue avoiding these things at least ten days after your tooth extraction in Beverly Hills, CA:

• Avoid foods with seeds or hard foods
• Keep the toothbrush away