How Do You Clean Your Mouth After a Tooth Extraction?
If you have recently undergone a tooth extraction procedure, or planning to undergoe one in the near future, its good to know how you’ll be maintaining good oral hygiene once the procedure is complete. Since every surgery is different, what will be expected of you may vary depending on the procedure you’ve undergone. In this article, we will mainly be focusing on maintaining good oral hygiene after tooth removal.
What Is Tooth Extraction?
A tooth extraction is a common dental procedure that involves removing a damaged tooth from its socket. In most cases, tooth extraction is carried out as a last resort when your dentist finds it necessary to remove your teeth due tosevere decay, injury or infection.
What May Necessitate Tooth Removal?
Severe Tooth Decay, Damage or Infection
The most common effects of poor oral hygiene are tooth decay, and infection. if a patient ignores the early signs of infection or decay, the problem can grow extensively making it impossible for the tooth to be restored.furthermore, oral trauma due to an accident can cause the tooth to loosenor even fall off.
Overcrowding of Teeth
Some patients suffer from a medical condition that causes overcrowding of teeth. Patients with this disease have extra set of teeth that grow in a disorderly fashion due to lack of room in the mouth to accommodate the extra teeth making it difficult to chew and often resulting in bite related issues. Currently, there is no way of correcting overcrowding of teeth without having the extra sets being surgically removed.
Dental Implants
In some cases, the functionality of your tooth can only be restored through a dental implant. When that is the case, your dentist in Gilbertmay find it necessary to create room for the implants by removing theseverely damaged teeth that can not be restored.
How to Clean Your Mouth After Tooth Extraction
Patients who have undergone a tooth extraction surgery should not clean the teeth near the wound for atleast 24 hours. However, theyare allowed to brush and floss the teeth that are not near the wounded tooth socket. Here are afew tips on how to clean your mouth after extraction:
Use Warm Salt Water
A day after undergoing tooth extraction, use salt water to gently rinse the wound after having a meal, to get rid of any food particles that may have been left behind. To prepare the salt solution,measure half a teaspoon of salt and pour it in an 8oz. glass of warm water then stir.
When rinsing, ensure you do it slowly and carefully since doing it vigorously can cause the blood clot to loosen and cause bleeding. Do not use any mouthwash product when doing so and talk to your dentist for additional guidance if you suffer from hypertension.
Floss Your Teeth
Flossing your teeth can help remove any food particles that may have been left behindafter brushing. It is safe to floss after tooth removal so long as you avoid the wounded area to prevent any interference with the healing process.
Avoid Chewing With the Wounded Side
We recommend all patient who have undergone tooth extraction in Gilbert to use the side with no wound when chewing. This is because using the wounded side of your mouth when chewing can cause food debris to get stuck on the wound site and cause the blood clot to rupture.
Can Brushing Teeth Cause Dry Socket?
Dry sockets is a condition that occurs in a few patients after tooth removal and is as a result of damage or interference of the wound’s blood clotting process. To prevent this from happening to you, you need to be extra cautious when brushing your teeth so as to avoid the tooth brush bristles from coming in contact with the wound.
Can You Use Tooth Paste After Tooth Extraction?
We don’t recommend using tooth paste soon after tooth removal. That is because the use of toothpaste can cause build up and froth inside your mouth, which can easily get inside the wound. When practicing oral care after tooth extraction, use a dry brush instead.
Conclusion
Practicing good oral hygiene is essential after a tooth extraction to ensure your wound stays clean. However, some common dental cleaning practices could cause your wound to take longer than usual to heal. follow the tips we have provided in this article to keep your mouth clean and make your wound heal fast. If you plan to undergo a tooth extraction procedure, visit Town Square Dental for the best dental extraction services in Gilbert. We accept many payment methods, including major insurance providers to make it convenient for you to access affordable dental care.