Oral Surgeon

Your tooth extraction or other dental surgery will begin with your dentist administering a general anesthetic or simply numbing the surrounding area with a local anesthetic. During oral surgery, you may feel pressure from your tooth sockets or jaw because these nerves aren’t affected by anesthesia, but you should not feel any pain. If you do feel pain during oral surgery, let your doctor know immediately.

If your oral surgery requires a general anesthetic, you should not having anything to eat or drink in the 6-8 hours before your surgery. If your surgery requires local anesthetic, you may eat up to two hours before surgery.

During the day of your surgery, cool and soft foods are recommended as the area may still be tender or painful. Eating hot foods or using a straw could inhibit the blood clotting process. In the days following your surgery, avoid crunchy foods that can cause small food particles to get packed down into the extraction site, such as chips and popcorn. Dental implants should avoid hard food for 6 weeks following surgery.

In addition to avoiding certain foods, there are other limitations to keep in mind following your oral surgery. Especially for tooth extractions and wisdom teeth removal, you must allow time for a blood clot to form over the extraction site. This may involve biting on a gauze pad. For the first several days, avoid rigorous exercise, smoking, or drinking alcohol.

If your prescribed pain medication isn’t enough to help your dental pain following a surgery, you may supplement your medication with ibuprofin or another non-narcotic pain medication. Be sure to consult your dentist before taking more than the prescribed doses of any medication.

Stitches can take between three days and three weeks to dissolve naturally in your mouth depending on the type of stitches used and the operation you had. However, is is normal if your stitches fall out the same day as your surgery. Especially for wisdom teeth removal and other tooth extraction, stitches are generally only used during surgery to assist with the initial clot formation.

The area around a tooth extraction typically closes within six weeks. In the next several months, those sockets will fill with bone. During the six weeks it will take the site to close, it is important to keep the area clean and make sure food isn’t trapped in the socket area.

Typically, oral surgery is covered under your dental insurance plan. However, some exceptions may allow your medical insurance to cover certain dental emergencies. Check with your insurance provider and ask your dentist for more advice on what coverage you have.