After-Care Instructions for Your Wisdom Teeth Removal

Following the after-care instructions given to you by our dentists after your wisdom teeth removal is very important. If the surgical site is disturbed/not taken care of properly, this can potentially give way to a “dry socket”. This essentially means an exposed jaw bone, which will be very painful.

Avoid this situation entirely by following the below steps.

Changing the gauze

Your surgical site will have gauze placed over it and before you leave our practice, we’ll teach you how to change it properly. It’s important that you wet the gauze before putting it in place to avoid it from sticking to the blood clot underneath and pulling it out when you’re next changing the gauze.

Rinsing

We recommend waiting at least 24 hours before rinsing your mouth out. Use a mixture of warm water and salt to swish around gently in your mouth. Avoid spitting out hard and putting unnecessary pressure on your clot; allow the mixture to gently fall out. Do this a few times a day for the next couple of weeks.



Drinking beverages

Avoid fizzy and alcoholic drinks. It’s best to stick to water and you should be really careful about how you drink. Don’t drink through straws and avoid suction of any sort as this can give way to a painful dry socket.



Eating foods

While sticking to a liquid diet is not required, you should stick to soft foods (like mashed potatoes, yoghurt and soft bread) to begin with. These don’t require much chewing so it will be far easier to manage.

Call our team at Smiles of Lalor for expert wisdom tooth extraction services and we’ll give you the best after-care instructions in order to avoid complications!