Mistakes to Avoid to Help Prevent Dry Socket after Your Wisdom Tooth Extraction
Posted on: 8 October 2018
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If you have just had oral surgery to remove a wisdom tooth, you may wonder if there is anything you should or should not be doing to help keep from developing a painful dry socket. If so, make sure you avoid the following mistakes for a couple of days. If you don't avoid these mistakes, they could dislodge the blood clot and leave your socket open after your wisdom tooth extraction.
Drinking Carbonated Drinks
If your stomach is a little upset after the anesthesia used during the extraction, you may be tempted to drink some ginger ale to help calm it down. However, the carbonation in the drink could irritate and cause the dissolution of the socket's clot.
If you really want to drink a carbonated beverage, stir it up for about a minute beforehand. This will break up the bubbles, making it flat enough not to affect your surgical site.
Sucking on a Straw or Candy
When drinking any beverages, you want to make sure you do not use a straw. Likewise, if you are tempted to suck on a piece of candy to help keep your mouth moist, you should avoid doing so.
Both of the above use a sucking action that can create pressure within your mouth. Whenever you suck on the straw or candy, suction is created that could pull the clot out of the socket.
Until your extraction site has healed for a few days, drink any beverages straight from a cup. You should also forego sucking on any candy, not just because of the suction it creates, but also becuase of the temptation there is to bite down on the candy. This could rupture the clot and remove it from the socket.
Smoking Cigarettes
Drinking from a straw and sucking on candy are not the only things that create suction in your mouth. Whenever you smoke a cigarette, you create the same pressure whenever you take a draw.
However, this is not the only reason why you should avoid smoking after your wisdom tooth extraction. The chemicals and tar in the cigarette smoke can decrease blood circulation and slow down healing. This could extend your recovery time and increase the risk of developing a dry socket.
Avoiding the above mistakes for a couple of days following your wisdom tooth extraction can help you prevent the development of a dry socket. If you have any questions or suspect that you have a dry socket, contact the dentist who performed your oral surgery for further guidance.