Here at DICE Dental, we offer tooth extractions in Springfield to help alleviate pain or prevent infection. Extractions are a quick and successful procedure performed under anesthesia, so you won’t feel too much pain! However, the time immediately following your extraction is crucial to your health and smile. Here are the do’s and don’ts when it comes to your tooth extraction aftercare routine.

Do…

  • Relax. Relaxing for the first 24 hours is the most important step of tooth extraction aftercare. Remember, you’ve undergone surgery and were subjected to anesthetics. You may feel drowsy and tired, especially as the anesthesia wears off. Take it easy. Relax in bed, sleep, read, and watch movies. Use this as an excuse to do nothing.
  • Use Ice. If you’ve ever seen a teen or adult who just had their wisdom teeth removed, you may notice swelling and bruising in their face. This is common after extractions. Apply ice to your mouth for ten minutes at a time. This will help keep down the swelling.
  • Use Your Prescriptions. We’ll prescribe you pain medication to help ease your discomfort in the days following your surgery. We’ll also prescribe you antibiotics to help keep your extraction site clean and free of infection. Take these prescribed painkillers as opposed to Aspirin, which will thin your blood and delay healing.
  • Keep Your Wound Clean. For the first hour after your surgery, we’ll give you a piece of gauze to hold in place over your extraction site. This covers the exposed tissue and nerve endings and gives the site time to clot, which is crucial to healing. Then, 24 hours after your surgery, rinse your mouth out with a solution using 8 ounces of warm water and 1/2 a tablespoon of salt. This will keep your extraction site clean and prevent any bacteria or infection from forming.

Don’t…

  • Brush. This may sound odd. As a dentist, we’re always telling you to brush your teeth! But we ask that you avoid brushing your extraction site for a few days after surgery since the brush’s bristles can reopen your wound. If your blood clot is dislodged, this can cause a dry socket and expose your jawbone and nerves. Tooth extraction aftercare requires you to be very careful when navigating around your extraction site for the first few days.
  • Eat Crunchy Foods. Avoid crunchy or chewy foods, which can also dislodge the blood clot at your extraction site. Stay away from foods with seeds too, like that everything bagel or lemon poppyseed bar. Those small seeds can irritate and infect your extraction site. Opt for soft or mushy foods like yogurt, scrambled eggs, or soup. Even soda or alcohol can reopen the wound, so stay hydrated with water instead.
  • Poke Your Extraction Site. This is a tough one! It’s only natural to want to feel the extraction site with your tongue. Your mouth is going to feel a little strange with your tooth missing, but even rubbing your tongue over the site can dislodge the blood clot and cause bleeding.

Tooth Extractions at DICE Dental

We know how painful a broken or infected tooth can be. We offer tooth extractions in Springfield to help relieve your pain and get you back to smiling. Dr. Katie and her team will also walk you through all of the rules for tooth extraction aftercare to make sure your mouth heals quickly.

A simple extraction of a whole tooth at DICE costs only $99. A surgical extraction of a broken tooth is a little more involved and costs $149. While we don’t perform wisdom tooth extractions in Springfield, we do have some talented teams to refer you to.

We’re here to help you stop the pain and smile again. If you have any questions or would like to learn more, contact us today!