How To Speed Up Your Tooth Extraction Recovery

One of the first steps of the dental implant process is to remove your tooth or teeth. Once your gums have had time to heal, one of our dentists at Gentle Dentistry will surgically place the dental implant. To ensure that your gums heal properly and that you don’t get an infection, we have created a brief list of care instructions. Although we will send you home with detailed instructions, a little reiteration never hurts.

Rinse It

Don’t rinse your mouth for about 24 hours after your extraction. Then, you can mix half a teaspoon of iodized table salt with eight ounces of water and gently rinse your mouth with it. Because salt is a natural disinfectant, it will help prevent you from developing oral infections. Rinsing will also help get any trapped food or germs out of the incision site as it heals.

Eat Soft Foods

If you have been looking for an excuse to eat mashed potatoes and ice cream, look no further than a tooth extraction. Because you won’t be able to chew most foods, we encourage our patients to eat a soft-food diet so that you can give your recently pulled tooth plenty of time to heal without getting exacerbated.

Don’t Brush The Extraction Site

Continue brushing and flossing your teeth at least twice a day, but make sure that you don’t brush the extraction site. When you brush near it, use soft, gentle strokes so that you don’t apply too much pressure near it and rip your stitches open.

These are just a few ways to help speed up your recovery after you have teeth pulled. If you experience worsening pain, bleeding, or swelling, make sure to contact our office right away because these may be signs of an infection.

To learn more about having your tooth pulled or how to prepare for dental implants, schedule a consultation with us at our Tampa office today by calling (813) 734-7102.