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Advice after tooth extraction

Here you will find advice for before and after a tooth extraction. If you follow it, the wound heals faster and you are more comfortable. The advice applies above all to surgical tooth extraction, which is a larger procedure. Your dentist will give you more detailed recommendations.

A cold pack, a glass of water and gauze pads on a tray in the treatment room

Before the extraction

How to prepare for the procedure.

  1. Ideally, book the procedure in the morning or around lunchtime, and no later than 15–16. Your body then copes with the strain more easily, and any pain afterwards does not disturb your sleep at night.
  2. Eat a proper meal 1.5–2 hours before your visit. A lot of saliva can make the oral surgeon’s work harder.
  3. Avoid alcohol and smoking on the day of the procedure. Otherwise the risk of swelling and prolonged bleeding increases.
  4. If you are very nervous, you can take a mild sedative beforehand, or ask your dentist to help with this.
  5. Sometimes we ask you to have a professional oral hygiene treatment before the procedure. In some cases other treatment is needed first as well, otherwise healing takes a long time.

After the extraction: the first 24 hours

What to do in the first few hours and the first day.

  1. Reduce swelling by holding an ice pack against your cheek, with a layer of cloth in between. Keep it on for no more than 10–15 minutes at a time.
  2. Do not eat for 2–3 hours. Even better, wait until the anaesthetic has worn off completely.
  3. Do not rinse your mouth during the first 24 hours.
  4. Ideally, avoid flying for the first 24 hours.
  5. Take it easy for the first 1–3 days. Do nothing that raises your blood pressure, as it can cause further bleeding.
  6. Sleep with extra pillows so that your head is raised. If you lie too flat, blood can collect in your mouth and healing can take longer.
  7. Do not smoke, drink through a straw or spit. This can dislodge the blood clot from the tooth socket too early.

Throughout healing

How to protect the socket while the wound heals.

  1. Eat and drink only soft food and soft drinks that are not hot. Avoid spicy, salty, sour and sweet food.
  2. Start rinsing your mouth with salt water the day after the procedure.
  3. Do not drink alcohol. It can cause bleeding from the socket.
  4. Avoid hot baths, saunas and swimming pools.
  5. Do not touch the socket with your tongue, and chew on the opposite side from the extracted tooth.
A bright treatment room with a blue dental chair and a window

When to contact us

If you have bleeding, a fever or increased swelling, call us or come by the clinic. We see emergency cases and are happy to give you further advice.

Call us on 08-650 10 60

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