The Dos And Don'ts After A Tooth Extraction

Tooth extraction may be necessary if your tooth is severely damaged due to overcrowding, infection, or trauma. Dentists usually perform dental extractions through surgery, which leaves a wound in the tooth socket left behind. Therefore, it's important to take care of this wound after surgery to ensure proper and fast healing. After healing, you can consider getting dental implants. If you're thinking about having dental extraction surgery, here are the dos and don'ts after the procedure. 

The Dos After Dental Extractions

After a tooth extraction, you should:

• Allow the blood to clot. When a dentist removes your tooth, bleeding may be inevitable. Therefore, you need to allow the blood to clot to prevent excessive bleeding. In this regard, place cotton gauze on the empty tooth socket for some time. Applying pressure on the wound helps to stop bleeding.

• Place ice packs on the treated area. Dental extraction procedures aren't painful since dentists administer anesthesia before removing a tooth. However, you may feel pain post-surgery that may be accompanied by swelling. Hence, put ice packs on the treated area. The ice constricts blood vessels and prevents increased blood flow to the wound. This reduces pain and swelling.

These dos can help you recover faster after a dental extraction.

The Don'ts After Dental Extractions

After undergoing a dental extraction surgery, you shouldn't:

• Eat or drink immediately after a tooth extraction. Dentists advise that you avoid eating or drinking immediately after tooth extraction surgery since the blood in the treated area takes time to clot. Your doctor will advise you when you can eat or drink. Nevertheless, you should avoid hard foods like nuts that may cause damage to your wound. Instead, eat soft foods like mashed potatoes or soup.

• Smoke. Cigarettes contain chemicals such as nicotine that may cause complications after a dental extraction. For instance, smoking may cause the empty tooth socket to dry, delaying healing. Also, smoking may affect the blood clot and trigger bleeding. Hence, avoid smoking for a few days after the dental surgery.

• Take aspirin. You may begin to feel severe pain in your mouth following tooth removal. Thus, you may take any available pain medication, including aspirin. However, aspirin is a blood thinner and can prevent blood from clotting around the wound, delaying healing. In this regard, only take the pain medication your dentist prescribes.

Avoiding these actions can help prevent potential complications that come with dental extractions.

The dos after dental extractions include using a cotton gauze to allow blood to clot and placing ice packs on the treated area. In contrast, you should avoid smoking, taking aspirin, and eating or drinking immediately after surgery. Follow these dos and don'ts to ensure the success of your tooth removal surgery.