Tooth Extraction

Your dentist may decide a tooth removal is necessary for a number of reasons. Teeth may need to be removed due to trauma, disease, infection or crowding. Wisdom teeth usually need to be removed due to crowding. When possible, a tooth will be repaired with a tooth filling or a dental crown. However, when tooth damage is extensive or there is significant decay, a tooth extraction may be your best option.

In the first 24 hours after your tooth extraction, a blood clot will be forming in your tooth socket. During this time it’s important to avoid any rinsing, brushing, spitting, smoking or drinking through a straw as it could cost you to open the clot.  Strenuous physical activity could also cause bleeding in the first day or two. After 24 hours you may brush your teeth but avoid the extraction site for another few days. As part of your aftercare, lightly rinse your mouth with warm salt water every few hours to reduce swelling, relieve pain and shorten healing time.

After having a tooth pulled, swelling and jaw stiffness may continue for 1-2 weeks. Ice can be used as aftercare in the first 24 hours to help reduce swelling and control pain. 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.

You may experience pain in the first week following your tooth extraction procedure. You may begin taking prescribed pain medications as soon as you feel the local anesthesia wear off. 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.

Bleeding at the extraction site is common after surgery during the first 1-2 days. To control bleeding and avoid infection, keep gauze pads over the extraction site for 1 hour after surgery. During the 1-2 days of initial healing time, check gauze every hour and replace when saturated until the bleeding stops.