Post Wisdom Teeth Removal Care: 10 things to do

Wisdom teeth extractions are mostly surgical extractions. Surgical extraction is the one in which some part of bone has to be removed in order to take the offending tooth out. Since this is a much more complex procedure than simple extraction, which only involves pulling the teeth out with a forceps, much more care is required for it.

After a surgical extraction, the dentist closes the wound with the help of sutures, so that proper healing can take place. So, it is also important to take care of the sutures which are applied.

The following is a list of instructions to follow so that you can have good post wisdom teeth removal care for your extraction wound.

1. Do not rinse or spit forcefully for at least 24 hours after your surgical extraction. The reason for this is that spitting forcefully creates negative pressure in the extraction wound, which can damage the extraction site very easily. This will lead to complications in the future.
2. Do not touch the extraction site with your fingers or your tongue. You may feel odd about the sutures in your mouth and they are very tempting for your tongue to touch but you must avoid it. It can disrupt the sutures, and also the blood clot. If this happens, your healing will be delayed and you may also get one of the complications described above.
3. Keep yourself hydrated. Drink plenty of fluids, not only in the form of water, but also in the form of shakes and smoothies. The benefit of taking shakes and smoothies is that it will cover up for your liquid diet apart from providing you with all the valuable nutrients.
4. Do not use straws! This is emphasized upon so much yet people still ignore this instruction. The use of straws creates negative pressure inside your mouth, which leads to clot disruption and further complications of extraction as described above.
5. After the first postoperative day, rinse and gargle with warm water containing salt. Practice this saltwater rinsing and gargles for a week after each meal. This saltwater rinsing and gargles will kill the bacteria in your mouth and will avoid any complications being caused due to those bacteria.
6. Use a soft diet after surgery. It can include many options like scrambled eggs, applesauce, soup etc.
7. Avoid hard and sticky food for 3-4 days after surgery. Eating hard foods can damage the extraction site and once this happens, your healing cycle will restart, which means that you will have to follow the instructions once again from the start and wait for a longer period for your healing to complete.
8. Avoid hot foods or drinks. Whenever you want to have something, either in the form of liquid diet, or solid diet, take it when it has cooled down to room temperature or below it. Hot food can lead to increased blood supply, increasing the chances of bleeding to start again.
9. Avoid strenuous exercise, due to the same reason as to why you should avoid hot foods. This can also lead to delayed healing and complications of extraction.
10. Avoid smoking and drinking alcohol. Although these are not good for your health generally, but especially after a surgery, you should avoid these at any cost!