3 Techniques That Make Tooth Extraction Recovery Quick and Manageable

Wounds in the mouth heal ten times faster than cuts on the body, making recovery from dental surgery much easier than recovery from other surgeries. Your mouth is primed to heal and with these simple techniques, you can help facilitate the process. Here are our best tips for quick and manageable recovery after tooth extraction.  We’re on your team before, during, and after oral surgery procedures. Here is the advice we offer our patients to help them maximize their recovery.

Control Your Pain

We want our patients to enjoy a comfortable and successful recovery from their tooth extractions. An important part of ensuring comfort is pain control. Your oral surgeon will likely recommend some type of pain medication, especially for the first days after your procedure. 

There are many options for pain control after tooth extraction. These include:

  • Over-the-Counter Pain Relievers- Most patients will use an over-the-counter medication, like Tylenol® or Advil®, to control discomfort after surgery. Over-the-counter treatments have been found to be more effective at reducing pain than opioid analgesics and have far fewer side effects. We’ll give our recommendations for safe over-the-counter options and how to use them effectively to control your discomfort after wisdom tooth extraction. 
  • Prescription Pain Medication– Some patients may need prescription pain medication for their recovery. Commonly prescribed pain relievers after oral surgery include Vicodin® and hydrocodone. These pain relievers are effective, but carry many side effects and can be addictive, especially if they are used improperly or for extended periods. 
  • Exparel®- We also offer a long-lasting, non-narcotic pain control option called Exparel. This medication is administered in our office right before your procedure and provides pain relief for up to three days. With Exparel, patients enjoy effective pain relief without having to remember medications. You’ll also avoid the side effects of narcotic pain medications including nausea, vomiting, constipation, and the potential for medication abuse. 

Controlling pain effectively helps you to rest and recover so your body can heal quickly.

Don’t Smoke

Nicotine is a powerful vasoconstrictor, meaning it constricts the blood vessels and reduces the amount of oxygen and nutrients available to your surgical site. Fewer nutrients mean slower healing and an increased likelihood of complications. Smoking can also cause dry socket, a painful complication that can sometimes arise after tooth extraction. Dry socket occurs when the blood clot that forms over the healing area dislodges prematurely. 

We ask our patients to stop smoking for several weeks before tooth extraction and throughout the recovery process.

Follow Your Recovery Instructions

Many of our patients are new to tooth extractions, but we’re certainly not. We perform this procedure frequently and have lots of experience guiding our patients through the recovery process successfully. We’ll provide detailed recovery instructions and we are available if you have any questions or concerns. Following our instructions closely will ensure that your mouth can heal effectively. 

If you have questions or concerns about the instructions we provide, reach out and let us know. We’re always happy to answer questions. If you experience any side effects that you weren’t expecting, get in touch. 

Schedule your tooth extraction in Austin, TX by calling Hill Country Oral Surgery at 512-327-7233.