Sleeping Must Be Done Elevated Following any type of oral surgery, including a tooth extraction, you should sleep elevated for the first 2-3 nights. This allows your body to drain more of the fluid away from the extraction site.
Get plenty of rest – Your body needs time to heal after tooth extraction. It is important that you rest for at least the first 24 hours and avoid strenuous activity for at least 48 hours. Rest or sleep with head elevated – Sleeping with your head elevated on extra pillows will help the blood clot and promote healing.
How long do I have to sleep elevated/keep sitting up after wisdom tooth removal? Elevated sleeping is recommended for the first and second day of surgery. Sleep with your head elevated for at least 72 hours or until the bleeding has stopped.
Following any type of oral surgery, including a tooth extraction, you should sleep elevated for the first 2-3 nights. This allows your body to drain more of the fluid away from the extraction site. If you were to lie flat on your back, the amount of swelling is much more likely to increase.
You should never sleep with gauze in your mouth because it's a potential choking hazard. It's also critical to take care not to fall asleep when you're lying down with gauze in your mouth, especially if you're taking medications that may cause drowsiness.
In most cases, walking and light physical activity is encouraged after the first day. This will also help with swelling and help get patients back into their normal routines. Depending on the procedure, patient should avoid vigorous physical activity for 3-5 days.
Don't: Drink Carbonated Beverages or Alcohol
Both alcohol and carbonated beverages can damage the clot in your extraction site and cause complications, so avoid drinking them for at least four days after your extraction.
Don't rinse for 24 hours
Don't disrupt the extraction site during this time, as a blood clot forms in the empty tooth socket to start the natural healing process. Avoid rinsing with mouthwash or swishing water in your mouth for the first day, because the motion could dislodge the blood clot.
Some patients who undergo tooth extraction may want to take a day off from work just to make sure they can rest well and address the immediate side effects of the procedure. Other patients may not need to spend a day recovering and will be able to return to work the next day so long as it is not physically demanding.
The answer is, it depends. What kind of job do you have? An office or desk job with little physical labor will be easier to return to the next day. If your work requires heavy lifting or serious movement, you probably want to stay home for a day or two, or even longer.
Saltwater rinse
Don't rinse your mouth for the first 24 hours after surgery. After that, if food lodges in a wisdom tooth hole, you can rinse your mouth with warm salt water (saline) to help dislodge the food.
Relax for at least 24 hours after the extraction. Limit activity for the next day or two. Avoid rinsing or spitting forcefully for 24 hours after the extraction to avoid dislodging the clot that forms in the socket.
Exercising Too Soon Can Lead to Dry Socket
It happens when the blood clot at the site of the extraction fails to develop, or it dissolves before your wound heals. If you begin to exercise sooner than your doctor advises, you run the risk of developing it.
After extraction, having an aching jaw for a day or two should be a cause of concern even after a complicated procedure. Have a check-in with your dentist for treatment. Throbbing or radiating pain that painkillers cannot manage. The pain could result from a dry socket that exposes the nerves.
The symptoms of dry socket can vary, but may include: severe pain, visible bone, bad breath, a foul taste in your mouth, and radiating pain to your ear, eye, neck or temple. The partial or complete blood clot loss at the tooth extraction site looks and feels like an empty socket.
Dry socket may be caused by a range of factors, such as an underlying infection in the mouth, trauma from the tooth extraction or problems with the jawbone. The condition occurs more often with wisdom teeth in the lower jaw than with other teeth. You are also more likely than others to develop dry socket if you: smoke.
When Can I Stop Worrying About Dry Socket? Until the full recovery of your extraction site, a dry socket can form if you fail to follow the care tips. Usually, a week (7-8 days) after wisdom tooth extraction, you can stop worrying about a dry socket as gums take this much time to close fully.
Rest for at least 24 hours and elevate your head when lying down. Apply an ice pack to your cheek at 20-minute intervals to reduce swelling. Avoid rinsing your mouth, spitting, smoking, or drinking through a straw because this can dislodge your blood clot and cause a painful secondary condition called dry socket.
After a tooth extraction, you should develop a blood clot in the socket (hole) that's left behind. It'll look like a dark-colored scab. But if you have a dry socket, the clot will be absent and you'll be able to see bone. For this reason, dry sockets usually appear white.
Many people are not aware that what they eat can affect healing after an extraction. It is recommended to eat food that does not pose a risk of leaving remnants behind. This includes nuts, popcorn, rice, and pasta. These types of foods can dislodge blood clots from extraction sites and cause dry socket.
6) After eating you will most likely get food in the extraction socket. Do not pick the food out of the socket. Instead gently rinse or swish the food out. Picking the food out very often disturbs the blood clot and initiates further bleeding.
Avoid heavy meals the night before and try to get enough sleep so that you are well rested.
Keep gauze on the surgical area with some pressure (biting) for 30–45 minutes. Remove the gauze after 30–45 minutes and replace it with a new piece of gauze if you are still bleeding. It is important to make sure the gauze is directly on the surgical site. Firm pressure for another hour should stop the bleeding.
Swallowing your saliva will create enough pressure to stop the residual bleeding and stabilize the blood clot. Swallowing your saliva will prevent DRY-SOCKET PAIN.
Another common symptom of a dry socket is a bad or sour taste in your mouth. This can be one of the first signs of infection, so don't let that smell linger without taking swift action. Swish warm salt water or a dentist-recommended rinse in your mouth gently before getting on the books at your local dental office.