Tooth Extraction Care-Aftercare Instructions From Oral Surgeons

Tooth extraction is one of the most common and simple procedures that almost everyone goes through in their life. However, owing to the pain and the discomfort a patient can experience, this procedure can be an emergency one. And when you are rushing to a well-known clinic like Rolle Oral and Facial Surgery for tooth extraction in Cornelius, Charlotte, Mooresville, or Statesville, North Carolina, you need to ensure you are taking some precautions after the procedure is over. 

For a general emergency tooth extraction procedure, the patient can expect to completely recover in just one week or so. However, this can only happen when you are maintaining all the precautions as your doctor told you. 

What Can You Expect?

The procedure or the complexity of it depends on the condition of your tooth. The oral surgeon will first get an x-ray of your tooth to find out how impacted your tooth is. For a simple tooth removal procedure, your extraction site will be numbed with local anesthesia. For a more complicated extraction, you will get IV sedation. In the first case, the oral surgeon will simply remove the tooth. For the second type of procedure, the surgeon might need to make an incision in your gum to cut the tooth. 

Once the procedure is over, you might not feel immediate pain but once your anesthesia wears off, you are likely to feel some amount of pain and discomfort. That is when you will need to follow the instructions for aftercare so that you can recover quickly after your tooth or wisdom tooth extraction in Charlotte NC or Davidson or Kenansville. Take a look at the following points to know more.

Applying Ice Pack Outside

Once the tooth extraction is done and you are back at home, you need to apply an ice pack on the respective side of your face. This can be done for the next 48 hours of your tooth extraction. This can help your healing begin. This will help the blood clot faster in its place while reducing swelling and offering some relief from pain. After 48 hours, you will need to stop applying ice packs as then it will not be effective anymore. 

Avoid Smoking and Drinking

After the surgery, you need to avoid smoking and alcohol for quite some time or at least 24 hours. Alcohol has the tendency to thinning your blood. This can lead to more bleeding and not clotting in the surgical site or the incision. Smoking involves a blowing motion that might dislodge the clot from the site too. Hence, avoiding both will be a good option. 

Modification in Your Diet

Generally, it is suggested to get back to a normal diet after one day of tooth extraction. But for that, you need to see how much pain you are in. It is better if you go for soft semi-liquid food for the next few days. For the day of the extraction, drink fluids. You can have soup or a liquid diet. For the next day, you can think of pudding, soup, mashed potatoes, eggs, and soft food, which will not disturb the healing at the surgical site. For faster recovery, stay away from spicy and hard foods like bread, pizzas, crackers, and chips. Avoid too hot food and beverages. As the skin is mending, it is better to allow it some time. 

Necessary Care for Mouth

After the uprooting is done, you need to avoid talking, eating, and drinking for the next couple of hours. After that, for the first day, have liquids and fluids. This will offer you nourishment while keeping your mouth clean, unlike solid food that leaves particles in your mouth. At night, gently rinse your mouth with water. From the next day, you can brush your mouth but avoid the surgical site. Use warm water with salt for rinsing your mouth every 3-4 hours. The aim is to keep the surgical site as clean as possible without dislodging the blood clot that is necessary for healing. 

Take the Prescribed Medicine

After the procedure, you will be given a prescription with some painkillers and antibiotics. Take them as per the instructions. The painkillers will offer you some relief from the pain. And the antibiotics are supposed to keep the infection away. Even if there is no infection, you still need to complete the course of antibiotics as mentioned in the prescription. 

Avoid Exercising

Once you come back from the clinic, make sure that you are not doing any exercising for the next few days. Rigorous activity is not good especially after any kind of procedure, as you have lost some blood. Also, exercising will cause a rise in your blood pressure. And with increased blood pressure, the blood clot might get dislodged from the socket of the tooth. And as a result, bleeding might start again. Or you can get a dry socket as the blood clot will not protect the jaw bone anymore. 

Avoid Straw or Blowing Motion

After the tooth extraction, you will need to have lots of fluids as you have lost some blood during the procedure. When you are having fluids, make sure that you are not using a straw or doing any kind of blowing motion. This can dislodge the blood clot. Instead, drink from the glass. 

So, now as you know how you can recover faster with better aftercare precautions for tooth extraction, don’t waste time. So, Find the best clinic by searching tooth extraction near me in Concord, North Carolina, and get the procedure done.