In this article, we will discuss the important points given by an Orange Park general dentist for healing and preventing any dental complications. Here are key steps to follow:

• Control Bleeding: Bite down on the gauze your dentist placed for 30-45 minutes to start a clot. If you’re still bleeding, remove the gauze, and place a new one on that spot. Apply more pressure gently.
• Control Pain and Swelling: Take prescription or over-the-counter pain medicine as directed. Placing an ice pack outside the mouth will help eliminate the swelling
• Stick to soft things for a while and avoid having anything too hot, spicy, or hard as it can cause your extraction site irritation.
• Drink plenty of fluids, but don’t use a straw because the sucking motion can cause your blood clot to become dislodged
• Oral hygiene: just be careful when brushing your teeth, but don’t forget to keep up with your oral hygiene. — Rinse your mouth with a saltwater solution until 24 hours after the procedure to prevent any infection.
• Smoking and Alcohol should be avoided for 48 hours, as both of them slow down the healing process and increase the chances of post-extraction troubles.
• Follow-up appointment: If you have a follow-up after your surgery, make sure to go so your dentist can check the healing process and even take off some stitches if it’s needed.

Potential Complications

Although dental extractions are generally safe, they rarely cause complications. if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, you must consider these and speak to your dentist:

• Dry Socket: If the blood clot at the extraction site becomes loose or dissolves before your wound has healed, then the bone and nerves become exposed. Symptoms include severe pain and an unpleasant taste or odor from the mouth
• Infection: You will have a fever and it may hurt in the extraction area, swelling in the cheek again, or pus discharging from the site of extraction.
• Bleeding: If you are still bleeding for more than 24 hours, contact your dentist.
• Injury to the Nerves: In very rare cases, lower wisdom teeth extraction can cause injury to a nerve that results in numbness or tingling lips, tongue, or chin.

If you follow your dentist’s post-operative directions and aftercare guidelines, you can reduce the likelihood of complications occurring, as well as help ensure that everything heals properly.