It can take up to 2 weeks to recover from the surgery for having your wisdom tooth or teeth removed. During this time, you may have: a swollen mouth and cheeks – this will be worse for the first few days but will gradually improve; gently pressing a cold cloth to your face helps reduce the swelling.
Use an Ice Pack. Using an ice pack on the outside of your cheek can reduce swelling, speed up healing, and provide some relief from any discomfort. However, if the ice causes any strange itching sensations, or increased pain, then stop using it immediately and consult your dentist if the symptoms continue.
You must avoid eating foods that require chewing during the first 24 hours after tooth extraction surgery. Instead, you must exist on liquids like milkshakes, applesauce, smoothies, et cetera.
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.
Using gauze for an extended period can prevent the formation of a blood clot and delay the healing process, leading to complications like dry socket, infection, and prolonged pain.
Bite hard on the gauze for 30 minutes if you are dismissed with gauze in your mouth. Remove the gauze after 30 minutes and do NOT place new gauze in your mouth if bleeding has stopped. A trail of blood in your saliva is NOT bleeding. Residual bleeding can last up to 36 hours.
Unpleasant Taste. 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.
In contrast, with a dry socket, the pain will improve and then suddenly get worse, which could be more painful than the extraction procedure. The pain of a dry socket may throb and radiate across a large area of the jaw or up towards the ear.
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.
Additionally, dairy products are harder for your body to digest as they contain casein protein, which slows down digestion significantly and increases inflammation throughout the body. This can delay the healing process and cause more discomfort.
Pasta is totally doable if you prepare it right. Macaroni and cheese is perfect because you can swallow the tiny noodles whole or chew them with your front teeth. You can also overcook your pasta noodles to make sure they are soft and easy to chew.
Watch Your Diet
While you are at it, avoid spiced foods because they can irritate the gums and cause pain as well as slow down the healing process. Sugar is also harmful as it supports the growth of bacteria in the mouth.
By day 3, your gum swelling should subside and your open wound from extraction will begin to close. In 7 days, your gums should be very close to being completely healed with minimal sensitivity or pain. These are all signs that your gums are healing nicely and in the expected time frame.
Failure to Administer Antibiotics After Tooth Extraction Leads to Infection.
The Options of Treatment
Vessal G et al., [16] and Bezerra TP et al., [17] studied the use of antibiotics in the management of dry socket, and they reported that the most commonly used antibiotics is amoxicillin.
The socket may look empty. Bone that you can see in the socket. Pain that spreads from the socket to your ear, eye, temple or neck on the same side of your face as the tooth removal.
Instead of a dark blood clot, there will just be whitish bone. The pain typically starts about 2 days after the tooth was pulled. Over time it becomes more severe and can radiate to your ear. Other symptoms of dry socket include bad breath and an unpleasant smell and taste in your mouth.
How will I know if my blood clot fell out? If you develop dry sockets, the pain will let you know that your wound is no longer protected. Swelling is also an indication you have lost your blood clot, as is the taste of blood in your mouth.
You may substitute a moistened tea bag for the gauze. We do not recommend sleeping with gauze in the mouth unless the surgical site is actively bleeding.
If you have gauze pads in your mouth to help with the bleeding, it's important to have someone present while you sleep to reduce the risk of choking on the gauze. Dartmouth-Hitchcock recommends asking someone to wake you up approximately every 20 minutes so you can check the gauze.
Remove the gauze.
Post-surgery bleeding should only last a few minutes. While gauze is necessary, you don't want to sleep with it. It can be uncomfortable, and you could even choke on it accidentally. Therefore, you'll want to remove the gauze before sleeping.