What Not to Do After Having a Tooth Extracted?

Tooth extractions are scary and cause anxiety depending on which tooth needs extraction from your mouth.

However, the reasons for the removal are often expected because the conditions that demand tooth removal include decay, injuries, jawbone deterioration, and wisdom teeth causing crowding and infections in your mouth.

Whatever the reasons for the removal, the procedure benefits your dental and overall health.

Losing teeth causes concerns in your mind primarily because you think you are undergoing a painful procedure that will leave you short of one or more teeth, cost money for the removal, and cost more if you have to replace them with artificial dental prosthetics.

However, except for wisdom teeth located in the posterior region of your mouth and remaining invisible to everyone, you must consider replacing teeth in other parts of your mouth that might impact your smile, biting and chewing, and your facial appearance.

When you are suggested dental extraction in San Clemente, you consider all the above issues without considering what you cannot do after getting your teeth extracted.

You think of getting replacements for the extracted teeth, your facial appearance, and biting and chewing without thinking about the more delicate intricacies of tooth removal, compelling you to avoid certain things after removing the tooth or teeth.

Is Tooth Extraction Painful?

Tooth extraction undoubtedly causes some pain during and after the removal.

However, you will experience no discomfort during the extraction because the dentist numbs the affected tooth and the surrounding gums with local anesthesia to ensure you remain oblivious to the pain in your mouth.

You can expect to feel pressure as the dentist works in your mouth to loosen teeth with elevators before removing them with forceps.

After three to four hours of tooth extraction, the pain from the extraction site starts affecting you as the anesthesia wears off.

Thankfully you receive a prescription or suggestions from the dentist performing the procedure to take painkillers and antibiotics if required to alleviate the discomfort you experience and recover quickly without complications.

So long as you observe your dentist’s instructions, you can expect the pain to subside within 72 hours after tooth extraction.

If you want to replace your extracted teeth, the dental office in San Clemente can also offer replacement solutions with dental implants and other restorative solutions to ensure your mouth functionality isn’t impacted.

What to Avoid after Wisdom Tooth Extraction?

Wisdom teeth, your third molars, are the last permanent teeth to erupt between 17 and 21 when insufficient space exists in your jaw to accommodate them.

Wisdom teeth are challenging to clean because of their position and a cause for concern because they are responsible for tooth decay and gum disease. Dentists suggest removing wisdom teeth as a preventive measure to help avoid dental infections needing frequent treatments.

If you have impacted wisdom teeth, the programmatic tooth impacts the neighboring teeth by growing at an angle and remaining trapped below the gum line.

In such cases, you must have an intensive procedure requiring surgical removal of the programmatic tooth and indulge in caring for the surgical site appropriately to ensure you don’t become a victim of infections in the mouth.

Thankfully you don’t have to worry about replacing wisdom teeth or discussing replacement solutions with the dentist because the teeth are better out of your mouth and inside it.

If you have wisdom teeth removed, the dentist provides a list of things you must avoid after the procedure to ensure a quick recovery and start your regular activities as soon as possible.

What to Avoid after Wisdom Teeth Removal?

The dentist suggests not smoking or consuming alcohol 24 hours before the procedure until 48 hours after the removal. Smoking and alcohol can delay recovery and result in mouth infections.

Therefore you must refrain from these practices until you have recovered from wisdom tooth removal.

The dentist suggests not using straws for drinking liquids because the suction can dislodge the blood clot at the surgical site, resulting in a dry socket.

Dry sockets are painful and require additional treatments from the dentist with sedative dressings and antibiotics to delay your recovery by several days.

You must avoid hot liquids because they can increase swelling. If you are accustomed to using over-the-counter mouthwash, the dentist recommends not using the product because most brands contain 20 percent alcohol, which can slow healing.

In addition, dentists suggest not to rinse your mouth vigorously or have hard foods that might irritate the surgical site and cause the blood clot to dislodge.

Wisdom teeth extractions require additional care because you undergo a surgical procedure for the removal.

However, if you follow your dentist’s instructions, you can recover comfortably without complications, even after having wisdom teeth or all your teeth removed in a single sitting with the dentist.

Seascape Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry — San Clemente performs tooth removal procedures frequently and provides implants if you need to replace your extracted teeth.

Therefore if you need dental extractions, we suggest arranging an appointment with this practice to get your teeth removed and replaced if required using implants or restorative solutions.