You’ve probably felt pain in your dentition for a while now. You’re resolving to see a dentist for tooth extraction. Fortunately, this article is your first step to recovery after tooth extraction.
The proper tooth extraction process is a delicate one. However, it’s not usually as painful as popular opinion paints it. So don’t get anxious over the extraction procedures. It’ll go just fine.
You’re likely, however, asking – how long does it take to recover from tooth extraction? Well, you’re about to get a comprehensive answer to the question. Also, we’ll address factors that may affect the healing timeline.
And finally, we’ll provide you with tips on things to do and avoid after your tooth extraction. Let’s get into it.
Length of Recovery Time After Tooth Extraction
Honestly, there is no ready answer to how long recovery from a tooth extraction procedure takes. While a time range is feasible, some factors come into play to determine exactly how long your recovery from tooth extraction will take.
Tooth extraction recovery can take as short as one week and as long as 4 months. But the length will depend on your tooth extraction peculiarities.
Your overall health condition is a determining factor when it comes to recovery after tooth extraction. Likewise, your dental health history, size, and aftercare position are crucial. Also, your ability to adhere to directions is critical.
Typically, there are two forms of tooth extraction procedures. Therefore, the one you have tends to determine the length of your recovery process.
Simple Extraction
Only visible teeth can undergo simple extractions. In other words, any tooth needing extraction must be already grown on your gum. Such teeth may need extraction for different reasons that include:
- Crowding
- Infection
- Chronic decay
Simple Extraction Recovery Time
A simple extraction on a small tooth will leave a hole. This hole will take an average of 7 days to heal completely. This short duration is because small teeth usually have a single root.
Extracting a tooth with many roots or significant size can trigger a longer recovery time. However, you should experience the first major healing by the end of 3 weeks. This first healing is the gradual hole closure. But the complete healing and erasure of the hole’s scar may last months.
Also, a local anesthetic will help numb the tooth area during the simple extraction process. The numbness means you may remain conscious through the extraction process.
So, will tooth extraction hurt during the extraction procedure? No. Will you feel pain after tooth extraction? Most likely. However, simple over-the-counter relief medication will help reduce the pain significantly.
Surgical Extraction
Firstly, here are reasons surgical methods may be useful during teeth extraction:
- You need surgical extraction if a tooth in distress doesn’t surface through the gum.
- You’ll require surgical extraction if the problematic tooth is your canine.
- You may require surgical extraction if you need to wear braces.
- A surgical extraction may be necessary if you have tooth crack or breakage residue. These residuals could be a result of tooth splatter during a simple extraction.
Like simple extraction, surgical extraction also requires a local anesthetic to numb the treatment area during surgery.
Furthermore, surgical extraction is more intensive than a simple extraction. Unlike the latter, the former requires splitting tissues and bones beneath the gum-line during extraction surgery. This intensity makes the hole closure and total healing take a more extended period after the surgical procedure.
Nevertheless, the healing time frame for surgical extraction should be between 6-7 weeks. By then, the hole will be near the final closure. So, for you, it’ll be a step closer to recovery from tooth extraction. Meanwhile, it may take months before the hole scar completely heals.
Tooth Hole Healing Stages
Healing after a tooth extraction is a gradual process. But it commences once the extraction process is complete.
Here are things that happen at each phase of healing for surgical extraction:
24-48 Hours Post Surgery
A blood clot starts forming over the hole after the first few hours of tooth extraction.
This clot prevents the entry of food fragments and bacteria into the hole. This phase is vital in healing because it ensures the formation of bones and gum tissue.
Tissues start forming in the hole almost immediately after the extraction procedure concludes.
There tends to be bleeding during extraction. But immediately extraction ends, the bleeding drastically reduces. Meanwhile, you may experience swollen mouth and extra-softness on the side where your tooth extraction took place.
7 to 21 days Post Surgery
The tooth hole closure will be more evident at this stage. The closure will be evident through tissue repair and regeneration. Every stitch during the extraction process will undergo removal or natural dissolution.
Large teeth usually have more roots and thus require extensive extractions. An example of such teeth is molars. In addition, these teeth types take the longest to heal due to their makeup and size.
1 to 4 Months Post Surgery
Your tooth hole should experience total closure and complete healing at the end of this duration. Also, there’ll be a new bone growth to fill your tooth hole in this phase.
Here are things that happen at each phase of healing for simple extraction:
First 48-72 hours Post Extraction
Simple extractions usually entail uprooting visible teeth in the mouth. As a result, the recovery process is shorter.
Your dentist will often advise you to rest for the first three days after a tooth extraction procedure. This break is to allow blood clotting in the treatment area. Afterward, you should be fit to resume your daily physical activities.
3-4 Weeks Post Extraction
3-to 4 weeks is enough time for the soft tissue to heal completely. You may need extra time off physical activities if your other health conditions demand it. However, usually, you should be fit to go at this stage.
Related Article: How Long Before You Can Eat After a Filling?
Factors That Can Influence Tooth Extraction Healing Time
A lot of factors can influence how long recovery from a tooth extraction procedure takes. The elements may vary depending on the patient in question.
Risk Factors During Healing
There are different risk factors that a dental patient may face after extraction. These risk factors may prolong the timeline for tooth extraction recovery.
One major factor is the failure of blood to clot over the tooth hole or its improper clotting. Any of these events can lead to a dry socket.
Dry Socket
Dry socket is a situation whereby blood clots are unavailable in a tooth hole. This problem tampers with the development of new bones and tissues. The tampering is possible because the bones and tissues need the blood clot as a foundation to build on.
You’re highly susceptible to dry socket if you’re in the following shoes:
- If you nurse an infection in your tooth hole.
- If you didn’t treat an injury gotten from an extraction procedure.
- If you once had dry socket.
- If you’re a chronic smoker, vaper or chewer of nicotine products.
- Administer medications such as oral contraceptives.
- If you keep the treatment area accessible to food particles and bacteria.
Importantly, you should contact your doctor if you experience dry sockets or other forms of infection. Here are signs you have dry sockets and need to see your tooth extraction dentist:
- Extreme swelling 72 hours or more after extraction or surgery.
- Severe pain after tooth extraction or an entirely new painful feeling.
- Excessive itchy, ticklish, or oversensitive feelings around the treatment area.
- Uncontrolled bleeding
- Sudden fever after the extraction or surgery.
- Untraceable numbness.
- Nasal emission of blood or pus.
- Lingering bad taste after mouth rinsing.
- Naked bone growth in the hole. This sort of growth can significantly delay recovery from tooth extraction.
- The tooth hole doesn’t develop a visible clot nor show closure signs after 2 to 4 days.
You can try over-the-counter painkillers if your dry socket symptoms are painful. But endeavour to see your dentist if it escalates.
Treatment of Potential Infections or Complications
Your doctor will likely administer prescriptions once you report post-extraction complications. These prescriptions may include oral antibiotics and antiseptic or antimicrobial mouthwash.
Two things may happen when you report dry sockets to your dentist. First, your dentist will likely flush out the treatment area to cleanse it of lodging particles. Similarly, your dentist may fill the socket with gauze and medication.
Things to Avoid During Tooth Extraction Recovery
There are things you shouldn’t do when you’re in the process of recovery from tooth extraction. Doing these things can:
- Elongate your recovery time.
- Influence how long pain lasts after tooth extraction.
- Cause further complications
Thus, it will help if you didn’t do the following after tooth extraction:
- Don’t wash or rinse the treatment area for the first 24 hours.
- Avoid hot or cold drinks for the first three days.
- Abstain from intense physical activities that may trigger excessive blood flow.
- Stay away from anything that’ll trigger suction in your mouth for the first four days after the extraction. Suction habits include using straws to take drinks and forceful spitting. And, they
- Avoid alcoholic beverages and alcoholic mouthwash for at least 24 hours after extraction or surgery.
- Abstain from foods that form lumps and lodge in the fresh hole. Such foods include nuts.
Must-Know Aftercare Tips for Tooth Extraction
Here are things to guide you through your healing time post tooth extraction.
Sticking to these precautions not only aids your recovery from tooth extraction. But these tips also help you avoid complications after tooth extraction.
Tooth Extraction After-care
Aftercare cautions may vary depending on different factors. The patient’s general health status, alongside the type of extraction and tooth location, are deciding factors. However, you should experience healing signs between 7-10 days regardless of those factors.
Blood clot formation is essential for the healing of the tooth socket. Avoid things that will tamper with it or dislodge it. Dislodging it can result in dry sockets which can be unbearable.
The following are tips to help you through your recovery from tooth extraction:
- On the first night after tooth extraction, take painkillers.
- Don’t tamper with the gauze pad for the first 3-4 hours after extraction procedures.
- It is soothing to use ice bags in the treatment area immediately after extraction. However, the application of ice bags should not last more than 10minutes at a go. Any time exceeding 10 minutes may lead to tissue damage.
- 24-hour bed rest after extraction is vital before any physical exertion. It would help if you did minimally strenuous things for the first week after extraction.
- Avoid mouth rinsing, spitting, or straw for 24 hours after procedures.
- Rinse your mouth with salt after one day with a salt solution. You should make the solution using warm water and half a tablespoon of salt.
- Sleep with your head in a position that props it. You can use pillows to support this head posture. Avoid lying flat.
- Floss and brush your teeth through this time but avoid the extraction area.
- Rest well. Nothing equates to good rest.
- Speak with your dentist to know what medications to avoid during this recovery phase. Medicines like blood thinners can prolong your healing process.
- Take water very well. Also, ensure the water is at room temperature.
Foods to Eat During Recovery
Some foods are very suitable for the healing process after tooth extraction. Their suitability stems from the fact that they don’t tamper with tooth extraction sites during recovery.
These foods include pudding, soup, yogurt, applesauce, smoothies, and water. Later on, you’ll be able to add solid foods to your diet. But, avoid solid foods till the extraction hole seals up.
Related Article: Cavity Filling: Cost, Procedure & Aftercare
Final Thoughts
Dental issues are very delicate and can cause unbearable pain when severe. In addition, healing these chronic dental problems may require extraction.
However, you needn’t worry about the aftermath of extraction. Recovery is not a painful process. In addition, it takes between one week to 4 months to recover, depending on your extraction factors.
Also, careful adherence to the aftercare tips in earlier sections will not only guide you through healing. But it’ll also boost your chances of early recovery from tooth extraction.
Most importantly, having competent dentists carry out your extraction contributes to your chances of speedy recovery. Fortunately, you can visit Osmin Denture for safe, effective, pain-free tooth extraction procedures.
Contact us today to start your dental relief journey.