Tooth Extractions in Bel Air, MD: Protect Your Oral Health After Removal
At Smith & Co. Dental Practitioners, we perform safe and gentle tooth extractions to protect your oral health when a tooth is beyond repair. Teeth may need to be extracted due to severe decay, advanced gum disease, trauma, infection, or to prepare for orthodontic treatment or wisdom tooth removal.
While extractions can be necessary, the loss of a single tooth can impact your chewing function, jaw alignment, and cause surrounding teeth to shift. That’s why we don’t just focus on removing the tooth—we also focus on preserving your long-term dental health.
The Extraction Process
At the time of extraction the doctor will need to numb your tooth, jawbone and gums that surround the area with a local anesthetic.
During the extraction process you will feel a lot of pressure. This is from the process of firmly rocking the tooth in order to widen the socket for removal.
You feel the pressure without pain as the anesthetic has numbed the nerves stopping the transference of pain, yet the nerves that transmit pressure are not profoundly affected.
If you do feel pain at any time during the extraction, please let us know right away.
Sectioning a tooth
Some teeth require sectioning. This is a very common procedure that is done when a tooth is so firmly anchored in its socket or the root is curved and the socket can’t expand enough to remove it. The doctor simply cuts the tooth into sections then removes each section one at a time.
After Care
Bleeding
Some bleeding may occur. Placing a piece of moist gauze over the empty tooth socket and biting down firmly for 45 minutes can control this.
Blood clots that form in the empty socket.
This is an important part of the healing process and you must be careful not to dislodge the clot.
- Avoid rinsing or spitting for 24 hours after the extraction.
- Avoid use of a straw, smoking or hot liquids.
Swelling
If swelling occurs you can place ice on your face for 10 minutes and off for 20 minutes. Repeat this cycle as you feel necessary for up to 24 hours.
Pain and Medications
If you experience pain you might use non-prescription pain relief medications such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen or any prescription that Dr. Smith may give you.
Eating
For most extractions just make sure you do your chewing away from the extraction site. Stay away from hot liquids and alcoholic beverages for 24 hours.
A soft diet may be recommended for 48 hours.
Brushing and Cleaning
After the extraction avoid brushing the teeth near the extraction site for one day. After that you can resume gentle cleaning. Avoid commercial mouth rinses, as they tend to irritate the site.
Beginning 48 hours after the extraction you can rinse with salt water (1/2 teaspoon in a cup of water) after meals and before bed.
Dry Socket
Dry socket is when a blood clot fails to form in the socket where the tooth has been extracted or the clot has been dislodged and the healing is significantly delayed.
Following the post-extraction instructions exactly will reduce the chances of developing dry socket. Dry sockets manifest themselves as a dull throbbing pain, which doesn’t appear until three to four days after the extraction. The pain can be moderate to severe and radiate from the extraction area. Dry socket may cause a bad taste or bad breath and the extraction site appears dry.
Call our office immediately at (410) 638-0920 for a follow-up appointment if this occurs. Dr. Smith will apply a medicated dressing to the dry socket to soothe the pain.
Healing
After a tooth has been extracted there will be a resulting hole in your jawbone where the tooth was. In time, this will eventually smooth and fill in with bone. This process can take many weeks or months. However after 1- 2 weeks you should no longer notice any inconvenience. It is often advantageous to place bone grafting materials in an extraction socket to preserve and augment bone for future tooth replacement options.