What Helps Gums Heal Faster After Extraction?

Tooth extractions are not exciting dental experiences, partly because you will lose your tooth or teeth. No one enjoys losing teeth. However, when our dentist in Sanborn, IA, recommends that you undergo an extraction, it means that there is no other way to save your tooth and enhance your oral health.

Even though the procedure is not exciting, it is necessary. It helps alleviate pain and remove infected and severely damaged teeth.

So, after a tooth extraction treatment, how do you keep your gums healthy, and how can you speed up healing? These are some of the questions and concerns that will be answered as you continue reading. Let’s get to it!

Tooth Extraction Aftercare Tips

How long your healing will take depends on the extraction type you undergo. If it’s a simple extraction, then it might take about a week or even 10 days for healing to take place. On the other hand, surgical extraction might take a bit longer, nearly a month, especially if the tooth had more than one root.

But in both scenarios, one underlying factor guarantees a quick recovery: proper aftercare. You cannot expect your gums to heal if you are cavalier about caring for them. If you don’t start caring for your teeth immediately after the extraction, the clotting process might be interfered with, and you might develop a dry socket, which is quite painful.

So, ensure that you adhere to our dentist’s aftercare instructions, which might include and not limited to the following:

• Bite down gauze our dentist places after extraction for about an hour, which is done to stop the bleeding and jumpstart the clotting process. Don’t talk, spit, or disturb the extraction area with your fingers or tongue. Remove the gauze after an hour.
• Take the pain medication our dentist will prescribe to help deal with the pain and discomfort. You also will need to take the antibiotics that our dentist gives you to help prevent infection
• Place an icepack on your face at the extraction site to reduce bleeding and controls swelling since the cold constricts the blood vessels. After 48 hours, the swelling should have gone down.
• Watch what you eat. Don’t take anything until the anesthesia wears off. Plus, don’t just lunge into your normal diet. Soft foods are the way to go. Immediately after extraction, take very soft foods such as yogurt and ice cream.
• Don’t spit or use straws since this action will dislodge the blood clot, which is very vital in the healing process
• Gargle with a warm saline rinse after 24 hours. Gargle slowly without any pressure; just move the saline rinse from one cheek to the other several times, and then open your mouth over the sink and let the water pour out. Don’t spit!
• Clean your teeth after 24 hours, but avoid brushing close to the extraction site
• Avoid smoking since tobacco will hinder the healing process, and the action of smoking will cause the clot to dislodge
• Avoid alcohol since it increases bleeding
• Get plenty of rest, and elevate the head to reduce bleeding. Avoid sleeping on the extraction site
• Avoid strenuous activity for three or four days to reduce blood flow to the extraction site

What Should You Eat After Tooth Extraction?

Before you check what you eat, you need to check how you eat. You ought to chew on the opposite of the mouth from the extraction site. Don’t use straws especially because you will be on a liquid diet for approximately two days.

Remember that the gum is sore and needs time to heal. Therefore, start with soft foods and liquids as you work your way back to your normal diet, which might be after a week. You can start with ice cream, yogurt, pudding, Jell-O, etc. These cool soft foods will do the trick. Anything hot will hurt you.

During the first days, go for easy-to-chew foods such as mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, pancakes, etc. Eat these lukewarm foods.

Avoid anything crunchy, hard, sticky, and hot until the extraction site is healed.

Regular Check-Ups for a Faster and Healthier Recovery

It is always good to journey with our dentist in Sanborn, IA, during your recovery. Our dentist will help you in case something isn’t okay. You might also know if you are doing things correctly and what you might need to tweak to get better results.

Our dentist is always available at Sanborn Dental Associates (Boelter & Gross) to ensure your recovery goes smoothly after tooth extraction. Contact us today.