Some patients need not undergo wisdom tooth removal when their third molars come out in the correct position. However, it becomes necessary when a patient’s wisdom tooth is impacted. This means that his mouth does not have enough space for the third molar to properly develop. Another reason might be that its growth only causes damage to the neighboring teeth or the jaw bone. Dentists take a digital X-ray of the mouth to ensure that extraction is the best course of action.
The removal of a third molar no longer requires a tooth replacement. However, patients need to be extra cautious in caring for their mouth after the procedure to prevent tooth extraction infection. Conversely, how do you determine the signs and symptoms of an infection after the rear tooth extraction?
10 Signs of wisdom tooth removal infection
- You experience difficulty in breathing or swallowing your food.
- There’s excessive bleeding in the surgical site.
- The gums surrounding the extraction site is swelling.
- You have bad breath or taste in the mouth even after you gargle with a saltwater rinse.
- The feeling is numbness is past 24 hours since the wisdom tooth removal.
- Pus is developing in the socket.
- It’s painful when you open and close your mouth.
- You still feel dental pain even after taking prescribed medications.
- You have a high temperature within the week following the procedure.
- There is blood or pus discharge from your nose.
You need to immediately seek your dentist’s help at the first sign of any of the tooth extraction infection symptoms. These should not be taken lightly as they may escalate to other dental problems.
Caring for your mouth after wisdom tooth removal
Caring for yourself after any surgical procedure is imperative. After your wisdom tooth removal appointment, you have to clear your schedule so you can go home and take a rest. Your body needs it so you can recover faster and be back to your daily routine after 72 hours. During this period, avoid doing physical or strenuous activities that may increase your blood pressure. In this manner, excessive bleeding is prevented. Enjoy more cold food to constrict the blood vessels in your mouth and encourage blood clot formation on the extraction site. The sooner blood clot is formed, the higher chances of evading wisdom tooth extraction infection.
Wisdom tooth extraction in London, Ontario is one of the common dental procedures that you may need to undergo. There’s nothing to be anxious about as long as you heed your dentist’s instructions after the tooth removal.
Hello. I thought I’d start off this blog by writing a little about things that occasionally happen after an extraction.
Infection
Infections are marked by fever, pain, swelling, and redness. They generally occur a few days after a procedure, requiring time to evolve. However, there are also late infections that occur 3-4 weeks after an extraction.
In the healthy patient who had an extraction, infection is rare. With wisdom teeth, sometimes a bit of food debris gets stuck under the gums and develops into a small abscess. The patient experiences tenderness over the area, a bad taste, persistent swelling, and malaise. A small abscess like this is generally treated by numbing the area, opening up the surgical site, and irrigating it thoroughly with sterile saline. Typically this clears the source of the infection and the abscess resolves. Antibiotics are administered.
Receiving post operative antibiotics does not mean you will not get an infection. In fact the rate of infection after wisdom tooth extraction is similar between patients who receive antibiotics and those who do not.
Dry Socket
A dry socket (Alveolar Osteitis) is a condition where the blood clot disappears before it can turn into early stages of bone formation. The bony walls of the socket are exposed to air and cold, which are exquisitely sensitive. As with an infection, dry socket often evolves around 3 days after an extraction, and most commonly occurs in lower wisdom tooth extractions. Smoking, birth control pills, and hygiene are risk factors for dry socket.
You may have a dry socket if you experience more pain, of a different quality, a few days after the extraction. Come back in to the office. Do not wait for your post op appointment. The treatment of a dry socket is simple, consisting of packing the socket with a menthol/eucalyptus oil gauze that eliminates the pain immediately. This packing may need to be changed every other day until the gum tissue grows down and lines the socket.
Well, that’s all for tonight.