5 Tips To Guarantee Wisdom Teeth Extraction Recovery In Ohio
It can feel like it happens suddenly – you feel like something is cutting your gums or there may be pain in the back of your mouth. You see a dentist and they tell you that your wisdom teeth are erupting. They may cause crowding in your mouth, so they need to be extracted. It’s a routine procedure, but you are also worried about complications.
Fear not. Columbus dentists have 5 tips to guarantee wisdom teeth recovery in Ohio. Read on to learn more.
Gauze Pads: How To Stop Bleeding After Getting Your Wisdom Teeth Pulled
The best time to use the gauze pads that you are given when you leave the dentist’s office is when you are still numb from the anesthetic. Take that gauze pad, wad it into a ball, place it over the site and bite hard. It can take as little as an hour for the bleeding to fully stop and the need for gauze pads to diminish. There may be some blood oozing a bit even as late as a day later. Just use another gauze pad and it should stop quickly.
Wisdom Teeth Removal Pain Relief Strategies
Ideally you will have taken the day off from work or school. You need to rest to help you heal from this. Once the anesthetic wears off, you may start feeling discomfort. You can take an over-the-counter painkiller like Tylenol to manage that. Be sure to follow the directions and only take the directed amount.
Your face may or may not swell up after the tooth extraction. It’s best to be proactive to try to prevent that from happening. Put ice on the area for 20 minutes at a time – covering the ice or cold pack with a towel to prevent possible frostbite. Doing that will minimize the swelling. It will also numb the area more and work to ease the pain. Not doing this ups the risk of swelling. After the third day, you can put a warm compress on to improve the flow of blood in the area.
Brush Your Teeth Gently To Keep Your Mouth Clean
You want to keep your teeth and mouth clean even with stitches and a blood clot in there. This is to prevent any possible gum disease from beginning to set in while you allow your mouth to heal. Do not brush hard and try to keep the brush head away from the gap in your mouth. If you are in that vicinity then really focus on slowing down and being gentle with the surrounding teeth.
Another thing you can do to keep the chance of infection low is to gently swish your mouth with warm salt water. This will keep any bacteria from forming and have your mouth feeling sterile. Don’t do it too hard and wait around 24 hours or a bit longer to do it to allow the blood clot that is protecting the area to really gain a hold over the gums.
Avoid Smoking & Drinking Alcohol After The Tooth Extraction Procedure
Just like drinking from a straw, the act of taking a puff on a cigarette can be risky when it comes to keeping the blood clot that is covering the empty space in its place. The same goes for when you exhale the smoke. This can cause dry socket, which is a very painful condition where the bone and nerve are exposed in the empty area. Also, the nicotine and other chemicals in the cigarette can cause more bleeding.
You might be tempted to unwind with an alcoholic beverage after the tooth extraction. Don’t do it. Alcohol can also increase the chance of your loosening the blood clot, since it can also prevent it from forming. Avoid mouthwash with alcohol in it too, for the first 24 hours. On top of that, alcohol is not a good thing to have if you are taking painkillers for the post-extraction discomfort.
What Should I Eat After A Wisdom Tooth Removal?
It’s best to have soft foods or liquids. Soups like pumpkin or tomato are good choices. The same goes for broth. Yogurt, too, but try to get Greek ones, if possible, since they have a lot of vitamins in them. Go for mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, applesauce, and smoothies – no straws for that, though. It would be a good idea to eat like that for roughly a week and then slowly incorporate your regular diet again.
Usually having wisdom teeth removed results in only a day or two of true discomfort then things get better. If that doesn’t happen, then you should contact your Ohio dentist to make sure that an infection has not set it. Don’t try to wait it out, it will only make it worse. Otherwise, you should be resuming your life a week or so later without any wisdom teeth.
Contact Our Experienced Dentists In Columbus, OH
The staff at US Dental Medical will gladly work with you on your wisdom tooth removal and give you clear instructions on what to do afterwards. Give them a call today to make an appointment: 614-252-3181.
US Dental and Medical Care
949 E Livingston Ave,
Columbus, OH 43205
Phone: (614) 252-3181
Website: https://usdentalmedical.com
