Recommendations after wisdom tooth removal, how to relieve pain and eliminate swelling

The wisdom tooth is one of the most difficult teeth to treat and remove. The reasons lie in the unpredictability of this tooth, namely: the number of roots, canals, their shape, the tooth is often not fully erupted, covered with a mucous membrane, sometimes even with bone. Also, all manipulations with this tooth are complicated by its localization and very limited access. In addition, many patients experience problems with wide mouth opening.

All this makes the removal process very difficult and traumatic, so after removing a wisdom tooth, a swollen cheek and pain are normal, and you should not be afraid of them. To help your body cope with symptoms and speed up healing, you need to follow your doctor's orders and follow simple symptoms management tips.

What to do after wisdom tooth removal

On this day, it is better to go home and relax: sleep, read a book, watch your favorite show or movie. It is not recommended to move a lot and intensively, or engage in physical labor.

Starting from the second day, it is necessary to rinse your mouth with antiseptics and take antibiotic medications to prevent the development of infectious and inflammatory diseases. The doctor decides which antibiotics to take after wisdom tooth removal. If there are no recommendations, then you can choose any medications with a wide spectrum of action.

Intense rinsing is not recommended, licking the blood clot is strictly prohibited, otherwise this will lead to the effect of a dry socket. A plug of clotted blood protects the resulting cavity and jaw bones from food particles and bacteria getting inside.

Do not consume hot or too cold foods, drinks, or overheat the body. Visiting the beach, baths, saunas is prohibited.

Smokers will have to give up cigarettes for 2, 3 days, or better yet for a week. Nicotine does not allow the wound to heal quickly, as it constricts blood vessels. Tissues are poorly saturated with oxygen and nutrients, and are more easily susceptible to infection.

A repeated visit to the doctor is necessary, even if the stitches do not need to be removed. The doctor will examine the wound, be able to identify complications in time and prescribe the correct treatment. You should not wait until the date of re-appointment if there is severe, ongoing pain, or the appearance of pus in the socket.

How long does swelling last?

The duration is directly related to the complexity of the surgical intervention. On average, after tooth extraction, swelling lasts for 3 days. Moreover, on the third day its development can reach its maximum. Then the swelling begins to gradually subside, at which time a hematoma may appear. The most important thing is to provide timely assistance to the body in treating the tumor and monitor whether the swollen area is amenable to simple therapeutic measures. However, if the healing period is prolonged, you should immediately consult your dentist.

If your temperature rises after wisdom tooth removal

The symptom may occur immediately after extirpation. This is due to the action of the immune system in response to tissue injury and invasion of foreign elements into the body.

Doctors recommend taking antipyretics and using cold compresses to remove heat locally.

If the patient then develops a fever several days after extirpation, this may indicate the presence of an inflammatory process. The most common is alveolitis. It is accompanied by acute pain, which can radiate to the throat, temple, ear, depending on where the hole is located. If, when you probe the hole with your tongue, you feel an empty cavity, then you need to urgently go to the dental clinic where the surgery was performed.

When should swelling occur?

There are situations when the development of noticeable edema is inevitable. They arise:

After an operation of increased complexity. Removal accompanied by damage to nearby tissues (for example, when it is necessary to saw out bone or incisions in the mucous membrane) leads to the appearance of edema. In some situations (for example, when the eighth tooth is removed), facial asymmetry is likely to occur.
When removed due to severe inflammation. Then an infection remains in the hole, which can become the main cause of swelling. If the operation is carried out in compliance with all the rules, then the dentist, seeing inflammation, is obliged to thoroughly rinse the wound with an antiseptic solution, and then apply the medicine. Sometimes antibiotics are prescribed. However, even then it cannot be said that the inflammatory process will not begin.
When cutting the gums on which there is an abscess, the dentist makes an incision to release the pus located in the soft tissues. If there was already a slight swelling during the procedure, it may increase slightly in size, which is normal.
When contacting people suffering from certain diseases. Quite often, according to the observations of dentists, patients who have high blood pressure complain about swelling of the cheek after tooth extraction, leading to the accumulation of a subcutaneous fat layer on the face. In such people, swelling may well appear even with normal removal, which proceeds without any complications.

How to relieve pain after wisdom tooth removal

The doctor prescribes drugs for pain relief to the patient. If there is no list, but the pain is severe, then you can buy Tempalgin, Baralgin, Ketanov and similar medications. Medicines must be taken according to instructions. If you take too many tablets, it will lead to side effects. One tablet is usually enough to stop an attack. Take three times a day.

In addition to medications, pain can be reduced with cold. A cold compress is applied to the cheek for 15 to 30 minutes up to four times a day. You can use pieces of ice or frozen food from the freezer. They are placed in a plastic bag and a towel, and then applied to the sore spot.

How to get rid of swelling at home

If there is no reason to see a doctor, but you want to get rid of the swelling as soon as possible, you can try the following methods:

Immediately after removal or surgery, apply a cold compress (water bottle, wet cloth). The application must be repeated throughout the day once every half hour for 5 minutes. ATTENTION! Using a cold compress on the second, third, etc. day is unacceptable.
Use special decongestant ointments.
Sleep with your pillow raised high.
After a few days, cold compresses are replaced with warm ones. A single session of the procedure should not exceed half an hour. Vasodilation and increased blood flow promote faster recovery.
use corticosteroids. Since this type of drug has many side effects, it is better to consult a doctor before taking it. You should resort to these medications only in cases of extreme necessity, when pain due to swelling interferes with normal daily activities.
These methods should be used if there are no complications: in other cases, it is recommended to consult a doctor for a detailed examination.

What can you eat after wisdom tooth removal?

It is forbidden to put anything in your mouth for two hours after extraction. During this time, a plug of condensed blood is formed and fixed on the socket, which is necessary to protect against the entry of various elements, including pathogens. If you are very thirsty, you can do this through a straw or in small sips.

On the first day, you can drink non-hot drinks and eat liquid porridge, yogurt, and soups. Over the next few days, you should adhere to the following recommendations:

food must be at a comfortable temperature; hot and too cold food is prohibited, including drinks;
it is necessary to exclude solid foods that can injure the gums;
You need to chew food on the side that has not undergone surgery;
After each dose, you need to rinse your mouth with a warm saline solution;
If your immune system is weakened, you can take additional multivitamins.

It is better to refuse or limit sweet, spicy foods, alcohol, and carbonated drinks.

Situations in which swelling is not a cause for concern

In many cases, swelling that occurs after tooth extraction is normal and should not cause alarm.

There is no need to worry if:

The swelling is mild and does not increase over time. If tooth extraction turned out to be traumatic or was carried out against the background of severe inflammation, then slight swelling is allowed to appear, which should go away on its own in a couple of days.
Body temperature is slightly elevated, but does not increase over time, or is completely within acceptable values. Removing a tooth when it is inflamed can cause a slight increase in temperature, which, if the source of pain has been eliminated, quickly subsides.
There is no increasing pain. A sign of normality is the presence of slight pain (after all, removal is a surgical procedure during which soft tissues are injured), gradually decreasing over time. If the pain does not go away, or its strength increases, then this indicates either increasing inflammation or the occurrence of any complications.
The hole left after the operation is closed with a blood clot. Naturally, after the procedure, the hole is filled with rapidly clotting blood. This clot reliably protects the tissue, preventing the development of an inflammatory process.

After removal, the cheek may look swollen for one day - this is a period during which you should not worry. If after 24 hours there is no obvious deterioration and the swelling decreases, there is no need to waste time on a visit to the dentist. But if at least one of the symptoms listed above is present, this indicates the need to make an appointment with a dentist as quickly as possible in order to prevent the situation from worsening.

How to rinse your mouth after wisdom tooth removal

The first few hours after extirpation, rinsing is strictly prohibited. This can lead to the natural plug being washed away, exposing the socket and bone. If bacteria penetrate inside, alveolitis or osteomyelitis will develop.

From the second day, carefully, not intensively, rinse your mouth with various antiseptics:

chlorhexidine;
miramestin;
furatsilin;
diluted potassium permanganate.

At home, you can prepare a solution with salt, soda, and add a few drops of iodine to the water. Herbal decoctions with sage, eucalyptus, chamomile, calendula, and oak bark perfectly relieve swelling and inflammation.

In what cases should you consult a doctor?

Have you had your wisdom tooth removed, and after a couple of days or more have you noticed swelling that is increasing? What to do? Such symptoms cannot be ignored. Urgently need to visit the dentist! You should contact the clinic as soon as possible in case of high fever, discharge of pus, growing swelling, severe redness of the gums and bleeding, so that the situation does not worsen. The doctor will take the necessary measures. The patient may need to wash the hole, open the abscess, and prescribe medications.

If your cheek is swollen and hurts, or swelling has taken over the area under the eye, you cannot do without medical help. Monitor your health, and if there is a sharp deterioration, call an ambulance. You should contact your dentist if you have difficulty swallowing, chewing food, or opening your mouth. The patient feels a deterioration in health when the blood clot is washed out of the socket. In its absence, inflammation often appears. Therapy consists of applying medications that will quickly relieve discomfort.

The clot may suppurate and alveolitis may develop. Self-prescribing antibiotics is unacceptable. Only a doctor can alleviate the patient’s condition, clean the hole, and place it in medicine. It happens that a hematoma develops. At first, it does not cause painful attacks or swelling. However, as soon as obvious signs appear, a visit to the dentist is mandatory. The doctor will open the hematoma and prescribe therapy.

How long does it take for gums to heal after wisdom tooth removal?

It is impossible to answer this question unambiguously, since the answer depends on the following factors:

difficulties of extirpation - with a simple procedure, the tissues are minimally injured, which means the hole will heal within a few days; with incisions in the gums, the tissues heal for several weeks;
age - faster for young people;
the presence of complications, inflammatory processes that delay healing indefinitely until the infection is eliminated;
compliance with doctor's instructions for the rehabilitation period;
individual characteristics of the body.

Preventive measures

Since the likelihood of swelling after tooth extraction is quite high, the following recommendations should be followed to minimize the risk of cheek swelling (the same rules apply in cases where swelling has already formed and needs to be removed as soon as possible):

use oral baths (the salt liquid is only kept in the mouth without rinsing, since otherwise infection of the hole may occur);
use anesthetics to relieve pain. As a rule, these are Ketanov, Ibuprofen and other similar drugs that reduce the inflammatory process and relieve pain. The most important thing is to follow the dosage indicated in the instructions;
follow the diet. If an operation has been performed, then on the first day you should not eat hard or hot food, as it can cause injury to the already damaged gum. During the week after surgery, the basis of the diet should be soft and non-spicy foods. Until the swelling goes away, it is better to chew on the other side of the mouth, doing it slowly;
Avoid taking hot baths, as this may cause bleeding from the socket;
When brushing your teeth, skip the operated area until the swelling goes away.
On average, swelling subsides within 2-3 days from the date of surgery: if this does not happen, you will have to contact the dentist again for an examination and additional research if necessary.

Types of inflammation

The most common types of inflammation that occur after tooth extraction are:

Alveolitis is an inflammation of the walls of the empty socket of an extracted tooth. The patient suffers from swelling, redness, and “tugging” pain. Weakness, malaise appear, and body temperature rises.
Gingivitis is inflammation caused by tooth extraction. The tissues turn red, begin to swell and bleed.
Periostitis is an inflammation of the jaw bone (periosteum). The disease is characterized by severe toothache, swelling of the gums, gumboil, and distortion of the facial contour. Pathological mobility of the tooth appears, lymph nodes are palpated in the face and neck.
Periodontitis is inflammation of the periodontium, the area around the root of the tooth. The disease is characterized by aching or sharp pain in the tooth, which intensifies when biting. Without treatment, the pain gradually turns into throbbing, tearing pain. The patient complains of severe weakness, fever, and sleep disturbances.
Trauma to the gums from dental fragments. With mechanical damage to tissues, swelling, redness appear, and spontaneous pain begins, intensifying when touched. If the injury persists for a long time, a dark pressure ulcer with purulent and serous discharge may form at the site of injury.

Treatment of inflammation

Treatment of gum inflammation after tooth extraction depends on the disease that arose during the operation. If a problem is suspected, the patient is advised to consult a doctor. An experienced dentist will determine the nature of the inflammation and prescribe proper treatment.

In case of alveolitis, tissue curettage is performed, all contents are scraped out of the hole, and the tissues are sanitized. The doctor places a swab with an antiseptic on the wound.
Periostitis is usually treated surgically. The doctor opens the rotting lesions and carries out medical treatment using anti-inflammatory, painkillers and antibiotics.
Gingivitis requires the removal of tartar, normalization of oral hygiene and gum care using special rinses.
For periodontitis, complex treatment is carried out using antibiotics, antiseptics, as well as anti-inflammatory and painkillers.
Broken tooth fragments are removed by a surgeon; rinses, applications, and baths with antiseptics can be used to relieve inflammation.

Sometimes, for inflammation of the gums after tooth extraction, the patient is prescribed physiotherapeutic procedures, for example, exposure to a helium-neon laser, a course of fluctuarization. Also, gums can become inflamed after brushing your teeth.

With proper treatment of gum inflammation after tooth extraction, the socket is restored in about 10 days, and the outbreak itself disappears within two weeks.