Dentists suggest tooth extractions for various reasons. For example, you may have tooth decay causing complications in your mouth, while others may need tooth removal to proceed with orthodontic treatment. Adults routinely need wisdom teeth extractions between 17 and 25.
Tooth extractions are painful, so understanding the risks of pain and infection before undergoing the procedure is essential. While tooth extractions in Pleasanton, CA, are relatively standard, you may experience the common side effects of the process, like pain in the extraction site, swelling in your gums and cheeks, et cetera. The swelling you experience may vary from others, but you can expect your cheeks to swell like chipmunks for some time. However, the problem is expected and subsides with time as you recover from the tooth extraction.
Why Are Swollen Gums Common after Tooth Extraction?
It is perfectly normal to expect some swelling after oral surgery. In reality, it is a part of your body’s natural healing process. When the body tissues sustain damage, fluids and blood cells populate the area causing it to swell. In addition, inflammation is expected as tooth extraction causes trauma to the gums and surrounding tissues.
How Much Swelling to Expect After Tooth Removal?
Any swelling you notice appears in the skin tissues near the extraction site. Therefore if you have a tooth extracted from the left side of your mouth will not experience swelling on the opposite side. Likewise, you can expect minimal swelling if you have a visible tooth growing customarily removed. Experienced professionals like the dentist in Pleasanton, CA, often extract teeth without damaging the nearby gum and facial tissues.
If you underwent a complex oral surgery, the procedure could cause more swelling extending further from the surgical site. For example, removing decayed, broken, or impacted teeth leads to additional surgical procedures like tissue flapping or bone trimming, which can result in extensive swelling. Therefore if your tooth extraction was complicated, you could also expect chipmunks cheeks.
You can expect the swelling to peak between 48 to 72 hours after the surgical process and resolve by itself within a day or two.
How to Prevent Swollen Gums after Tooth Extraction?
Tooth extraction is painful and results in damage to your body tissues causing fluids and blood cells to populate the area, as mentioned earlier. Therefore preventing gum swelling after a tooth extraction is practically impossible because it is an essential part of the recovery process. However, you receive post-operative instructions from the dentist in 94566 to minimize swelling after your tooth extraction procedure.
Treatment Options for Swollen Gums After Tooth Extraction
Immediately after tooth extraction, the dentist suggests you begin the ice therapy regimen. You can use a dry cloth around a bag of crushed ice, place it on the outside of your mouth for 15-minute intervals and remove it afterward to ensure it doesn’t cause tissue damage. You can repeat the ice therapy for the first 48 hours after oral surgery.
After 72 hours, you can substitute ice therapy for heat. For example, you can use a hot water bottle or warm compress and follow the same procedure as ice therapy.
Unfortunately, if the swelling does not subside after 72 hours or worsens, you must contact the dentist to arrange a follow-up consultation. Continuing swelling in your gums and cheeks indicates signs of an infection needing immediate treatment.
The professional team at the dentist’s office has the training, qualifications, and experience to perform a range of oral surgeries. They will recommend a treatment suitable for your needs when you visit them with swelling in your gums, even after 72 hours.
If the surgical site is infected, it results in continued swelling; you may need sedative dressings to overcome the problem and another meeting with the dentist after the surgical site heals. The sedative dressings also inhibit pain accompanying the swelling, and the dentist may prescribe antibiotics to deal with the infection.
Swelling after tooth extractions are routine. While the causes of the swelling are damage to the body tissue and treatment includes straightforward measures like using ice and heat therapy, prevention is practically impossible because of the procedure. However, if you are unfortunate to experience an infection at the extraction site, dentists provide suitable remedies to ensure you overcome the issue as soon as possible.
Elite Dental and Orthodontics perform numerous extractions using minimally invasive techniques to ensure patients experience minimal discomfort, including swelling after tooth removal. Kindly arrange a meeting with them if you need a tooth removed and want to avoid unnecessary complications after the process.