How To Avoid Dry Socket After Getting A Tooth Pulled

How To Avoid Dry Socket After Getting A Tooth Pulled‍

Even if modern dentistry has a lot of amazing procedures that can treat even badly damaged teeth, sometimes it’s impossible to avoid an extraction.

If one of your teeth needs to be pulled, you will need to take a few precautions at home to help your body heal and avoid a complication known as “dry socket”.

Here’s a brief overview of what dry socket is, and how you can avoid it:

What Is a Dry Socket?‍

Right after a tooth is pulled, the dentist will ask you to bite down on a gauze and hold it for a few minutes, to help control the bleeding. This also helps form a blood clot where the tooth used to be.

This clot has a very important purpose. Once the tooth is removed, all the tissues underneath are exposed, such as the jaw bone, nerves, and gum tissue. These are extremely sensitive, and the blood clot is there to fill the void and protect them.

Dry socket is a condition that occurs when the blood clot is dislodged. It’s often extremely painful and can delay post-extraction healing by quite a bit.

How to Avoid Dry Socket‍

Luckily, dry socket is a really rare complication because caring for the blood clot doesn’t involve anything too complicated.

Your dentist may be able to provide you with more personalized tips, but in general, you will need to:

1. Don’t Touch the Clot

You should not directly touch the clot with your finger, tongue, or toothbrush until the gums heal over it, to avoid dislodging the clot.

Additionally, you should chew on the other side of your mouth for a few days.

2. Eat Softer Foods

Even if you don’t chew directly over the clot, hard foods can still pose a risk. It’s better to stick with mashed foods, yogurt, smoothies, and soups for a few days.

3. Take Care of Your Oral Health

You need to brush around the extraction site and make sure you ocean your teeth after every meal, and floss daily. You can also use saline water or gentle mouthwash.

4. Avoid Straws, Spitting, and Smoking

These actions create a suction motion that increases the risk of dry socket. Moreover, smoking and tobacco products also increase your blood pressure and delay healing.

5. Don’t Exercise for a Few Days

Physical activity increases your blood pressure, and therefore you have a higher risk of bleeding and developing dry socket. Take a break from the gym for a few days, and slowly ease back into it.

Getting an Extraction at South Austin Dental Associates‍

If you have a badly damaged tooth and think it may need to be extracted, Dr. Evan Matthysse and Dr. John Chelkowski can help.

To get started, you can book a consultation at South Austin Dental Associates online, or call us at (512) 444-1133 for more information.