Fear Not, Tooth Extraction Not That Bad

Extracting a tooth can be one of the most complicated and unpredictable parts of dental practice especially if part of tooth is decayed.

The biggest challenge is extracting not the tooth itself but the tooth root. The dentist must have the specialist to remove the root or risk bacterial infection. Before scheduling the procedure, your dentist will take an X-ray of your tooth. Be sure to tell your dentist about any medications you take, as well as vitamins, supplements, or any medical condition.

The biggest fear that everyone has is having a dentist drill your tooth. I understand the sound is the scariest of all. Nevertheless, Not every case needs a big surgery. Sometimes simple surgery only requires an elevator to remove the tooth. Only serious conditions require a drill. Serious surgery requires anesthesia, so you will not be awake during the whole surgery. The reason why we need a drill, sometime we cannot pull the whole tooth including the tooth root. We have to cut the tooth in half then drill a screw into the tooth root and pull with the screw.

You also need to know post surgeries. For example after you extract wisdom teeth The most common post tooth extraction symptom is dry socket. Dry socket also termed as alveolar osteitis is a painful condition many people suffer from post dental extraction as soon as the tooth is removed blood fills the socket forming a blood Clot dry socket occurs when this blood clot at the extraction site is dislodged prematurely fails to develop or dissolves before healing.

It normally takes a few days to recover after a tooth extraction. The following steps help ensure that your recovery goes smoothly.

1). Use an ice pack to your cheek directly after the procedure to reduce swelling.

2). Take any medications as prescribed, including over-the-counter painkillers.

3). Rest and relax for the first 24 hours. Do not jump immediately into your regular routine the following day.

4). Don’t use a straw for the first 24 hours. As the act of sucking can cause dislodgement of the clot frequently replacing the gauze pads used immediately after extraction pulls out the clot prematurely

5). Don’t smoke. As smoking it slows the healing by contaminating the wound the act of smoking causes formation of negative pressure in the mouth

6). Use pillows to prop your head up when you lie down.

7). Brush and floss your teeth like normal, but avoid the extraction site.

8). The day after the procedure, eat soft foods, such as yogurt, pudding, and applesauce.

9). After 24 hours, add a half-teaspoon of salt to eight ounces of warm water to rinse out your mouth.

10). Consumption of hard sticky foods and as you heal over the next few days, you can slowly reintroduce other foods into your diet.

If you are experiencing pain that isn’t going away after several days or signs of an infection —including fever, pain, and pus or drainage from the incision — make an appointment to see your dentist as soon as possible.