Top 3 Things You Need to Do After a Tooth Extraction

Tooth extraction isn’t an out-of-the-ordinary type of dental procedure, but it might be something you never expected to have to get done. Visiting the dentist isn’t always the best experience, but knowing you’re going in to get a tooth yanked out (sorry for the visual), certainly doesn’t add any joy to the prospect of the ordeal.

You’ll be glad to know that a tooth extraction (or tooth pull, means the same thing) is quick and easy. It’s also very painless with a local anesthetic doing the trick to keep your mouth pain-free. If you’re going to get a tooth extracted, you’ll also want to know what to do afterward, so here are 3 top thongs for a successful recovery.

1. Rest Up

You’ll feel mostly fine after having your tooth extracted, but rest is still pretty crucial to how quickly you’ll heal. As a precaution, the professionals at Brightvaluedental.com would recommend checking for services before if you can get an extraction so you can make appropriate plans. Regardless, a full day of recovery, keeping exercise light, and elevating your head will do you good.

2. Ice Your Face

Wherever the tooth was extracted, you’ll want to keep an ice pack pressed to your face. Placing it around the jaw for around 15 minutes, on and off for a few hours a day, for a few days after the extraction is about all you need. It might not swell at all, but if it does, it could occur closely following the procedure or just a few days after. Regardless, icing can help soothe pain or prevent it.

3. Allow the Spot to Clot

Just like with many other procedures, it’s important for the area to clot. Allowing a clot to form helps stop any excess bleeding or possible infection as the spot will close up and be restricted. At the dentist’s office, you’ll be given gauze to place over the extracted root where you’ll want to keep it for an hour, biting down to make sure it helps the clot form. Remember not to chew on it either.

Don’ts of Tooth Extraction Recovery

As you can see, there are only a few things to keep in mind for recovery of your mouth after tooth extraction because it’s such a routine procedure, the real problem comes from patients exacerbating and irritating it. Some friendly things to keep in mind are no smoking for 48 hours post-procedure as this dries out and irritates the spot. You also want to avoid eating solids and sharp foods (chips, crunchy solids) until it feels healed. Limit your exercise by resting, don’t poke or prod at it, use a saline rinse to clean it out every so often, and take any medications as recommended and it’ll recover in no time.

Now that you have a little understanding of the recovery process for tooth extraction, you can see how it’s nothing to stress over and it takes little time and effort to help it heal properly if followed carefully. As always, your dentist will talk to you so it’s good to listen to their advice closely too.