Have you been ignoring the pain, redness, swelling, and irritation associated with your wisdom teeth? If the answer is yes, it is time for you to seek medical attention from the dentist in order to determine the best treatment options. More than likely, the answer is going to be you must have your wisdom teeth removed in order to address this specific issue interfering with your daily life. After the decision has been made by yourself, and the physician, it is imperative that the right oral surgeon is involved to perform the surgery. The removal of one’s wisdom teeth can be very straightforward as long as everything goes according to plan. The surgery should only take between 45 minutes and 2 hours at the longest. Once the surgery is finished, if the surgeon had to remove the wisdom teeth from the gum or bone, more than likely you will be sore and notice swelling and pain, with some bleeding at the site where the surgery took place. Now, the way to quickly heal is to follow these simple steps that will help you overcome this obstacle faster.
The first thing to do is to make sure that you address the pain associated with the aftermath of the surgery. It is recommended by many to not only take the medication prescribed by the dentist for the pain, but to also add over the counter Ibuprofen in an alternating fashion. This will help you get ahead of the pain, before it gets too bad to control. Also, it is imperative that if the dentist prescribed you antibiotics in order to treat a prior infection or to prevent a future infection, that you finish the antibiotics fully, even if you feel better before the course of the antibiotics is scheduled to end.
Another important factor to remember is that with this surgery, you will notice swelling and an icepack can be your best friend during this situation. Just make sure to remember that there should be something between the ice and your skin at all times, and that you should only keep the icepack on your skin for 20 minutes at a time. Then you should remove the icepack and leave it off for at least 20-30 minutes before reapplying. The last thing one needs to add to their list is frostbite; so please follow the recommended guidelines associated with the icepack application.
Remember you just had surgery, so there will be some bleeding associated with the affected area. However, make sure that the bleeding is not excessive and that you are consistently changing the gauze and keeping the mouth area clean. Do not brush your teeth the first 24 hours; but after that time period brush your teeth gently and stay clear of the surgical area as you do not want to brush away the blood clots on the wisdom teeth incision. Remember, there are sutures in the area and they will dissolve in approximately a week.
If for some reason the swelling and pain persists longer than 5 days, or you begin to notice a fever call your physician immediately. While most of the time after wisdom teeth are removed there are no complications, it is a surgery, and thus, there are associated risks. Some of those risks include infection and dry sockets. Dry sockets occur when the blood clot is removed from the area where the wisdom teeth were extracted thus making the area vulnerable to infection. Thus, your physician will have to pack it with medicated gauze to prevent infection. If dry socket does occur it can delay your healing by several weeks. Therefore, it is imperative to follow these guidelines.
Another risk associated with surgical removal of the wisdom teeth is nerve damage. These nerves control the lips, chin, and tongue. While this is a very rare and hardly ever seen complication, it still does occur and therefore must be addressed. Sometimes the nerve damage can be temporary and most people who are affected do regain nerve sensation; there are a small fraction of the population that do have permanent nerve damage.
Remember, since you just had surgery to drink plenty of fluids; eat only soft foods, and brush gently after the first 24 hours. Follow up with your physician to make sure healing is occurring properly and treat your pain efficiently and you will be on the way to recovery in no time.