If you recently had wisdom teeth removal or other extractions, it’s important to understand the healing process. The time it takes for the socket to heal can vary from patient to patient. It’s crucial to avoid work or school in the first few days after the dental procedure. Recovery time may be longer if the blood clot around the damaged teeth becomes dislodged or if an infection occurs. Consulting a dental professional is advisable for proper guidance.
This page covers the tooth extraction recovery process and how different factors can affect the healing time. It also provides tips on proper aftercare to speed up the healing process and ensure effective treatment and repair.
Factors that can affect tooth extraction healing time.
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Wound size: normally, the healing process and time is supposed to generally be the same for any extraction. More larger, deeper or wider wound at the extraction site might take longer time to fully heal than comparative smaller ones.
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Location of the tooth: the location and nature of the tooth really matters. For an example, the healing time for surgically removed wisdom tooth will require longer time than someone who just pulled his lower incisor or baby tooth. (1)
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Patient’s health condition: the health condition of the patient that just extracted his or her tooth also matters. Patients suffering from diabetes might take longer time to heal, there might be need for special treatments for their body tissues to heal properly.
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Patient’s compliance with aftercare instructions: immediately after the extraction procedure, the dentist or surgeon will have to give you a list of instructions that you must follow in order to heal properly. Your compliance with the instructions and after care can affect the healing time and process.
How long it takes to recover from an extraction
One, more thing there are two other factors that I failed to mention earlier. I don’t know if you are aware that there are numerous types of tooth extraction. The tooth extraction method that was used to remove your tooth can affect the healing time. This are the two basic categories of tooth extraction:
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Simple extraction: the simple tooth extraction technique involves loosening and pulling of the affected teeth with the use of specialized levers known as elevators and forceps. The recovery process after simple extraction is usually very brief as it involves less tissue damage.
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Surgical extraction: during the surgical extraction procedure, the dentist or surgeon will have to make a small incision on the gums and jawbone supporting the affected tooth. The recovery time and process is a bit longer as it involves more tissue damage.
Whatever the method of multiple tooth extractions or wisdom tooth removal surgery may be, the dentist will likely recommend that a patient should take it easy for the first 48-72 hours after the procedure, to allow the formation of blood clot over the tooth hole.
However, the healing time after wisdom teeth extractions surgery is a gradual process. The patient should see improvement in the hole every day. So, I am going to break the recovery time into different stages for better understanding.
First 24 hours after the extraction
Immediately after the extraction of multiple teeth, including wisdom teeth, the fresh empty tooth holes will fill with blood up to the level of the gum tissue surrounding them. At this stage, the formation of blood clot will begin. The blood clot, composed of platelets, red and white blood cells, forms a semi-solid covering over the wounds. Within the first 24 hours, the clots should form properly and the bleeding from your tooth holes should stop. The traumatized gum tissues surrounding the empty sockets may appear whitish in color.
At the particular stage of tooth extraction recovery, the patient’s body won’t do much healing. They will not experience any pain or discomfort either, as the effects of the surgery’s anesthetic would still be very much active. The recovery time for tooth extraction varies depending on the individual.
2 – 3 days after the extraction
After multiple tooth extractions, such as wisdom teeth removal, you will experience swelling in the tissues surrounding the extraction sites and possibly your face. The swelling and discomforts should peak within the first 2 to 3 days after the extractions. However, the swelling and discomforts will start to subside after the first 48 – 72 hours, leading to a faster recovery time.
4 – 6 day after the extraction
Between the first few days after multiple tooth extractions, the gum tissue surrounding your wisdom teeth surgery would start to heal more rapidly. Slight pain from the recovery time would still be felt at this stage, but your extraction area should look much improved, causing little or no pain and discomforts. Within this period, you can resume work or school, but you will need to be mindful of the extraction site.
7 days after the extraction
At the seventh day after multiple tooth extractions, the gum tissues surrounding the wisdom teeth extraction site should have undergone significant repair. The hole of the wound will start to become smaller due to the development of new body tissues. At this point, discomforts such as jaw stiffness and soreness should completely go away. You will need to return to the dentist for removal of any remaining stitches from the surgery site.
2 weeks and above after the extraction
At this particular period of time, you will no longer feel any pain or discomfort in your teeth. The diameter of the empty tooth socket should have reduced drastically. The surrounding gums may heal and cover the tooth hole completely by the end of two weeks. You can view the image below to understand more on tooth extraction healing time and process.
Image source – animated-teeth.com
Tips to speed up the recovery
The formation of blood clot over the extraction site is an essential part of the healing process. The blood clot helps to prevent bleeding, it protects the wound against infection, it allows new tissue growth and also offers protection to the exposed bone.(2) You should try as much as possible not to dislodge the blood clot in the first 24 hours after the extraction. Here are some of tips on how to ensure a speedy recovery from an extraction.
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To ensure proper tooth extraction recovery, it is important to avoid using a straw, mouth rinse, or spitting for the first 24 hours. This will allow for the formation of a healthy blood clot after post tooth extraction or multiple tooth extractions.
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Do not brush or floss your teeth, or chew anything next to the tooth extraction site for the first few days.
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To prevent infection after a post tooth extraction, it is important to avoid alcoholic drinks or smoking.
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Take only the recommended medications after the tooth extraction procedure by the dentist.
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Prevent the formation of dry socket by limiting physical activity to avoid dislodging the tooth clot. If possible, avoid going to work or school within the first 3 days after the tooth extraction.
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After a post tooth extraction, it is important to avoid hard foods. Instead, opt for soft foods that require little or no chewing for the first few days.
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You can apply an ice pack to the tooth extraction site to reduce pain and swelling. Hold an ice pack on your face above the tooth extraction site for about 15 minutes. This will help reduce pain and swelling, especially within the first 2-3 days after the tooth extraction.
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Within the first few days, you may try rraising your head when sleeping to feel more comfortable. Keeping your head in an elevated position will help to reduce bleeding and discomforts.
Bottom line
With proper aftercare, recovery after an extraction takes around 2 weeks. Apart from the surrounding body tissues, the amount of time it will takes for bone healing will greatly depend on the size of the original wound. It may take up to three months or more for the underlying bone at the extraction site to heal completely. Without proper after care, a patient may develop an infection at the empty socket.
Certain symptoms of an infection includes increased pain and swelling, you may also notice yellow or white pus around the wound. An infection or dislodged blood clot can make the healing process to take longer than expected. If the pain continues to become more intense instead of getting better, you should go back and see your dentist.