After surgery
After a tooth extraction
This page applies after removal of a single tooth. If several teeth were removed, use the multiple-extractions page instead. If you had sedation, also read recovery after anesthesia.
DRAFT — clinical review required v0.1-draft Clinical director (unassigned)
Your written instructions come first
This page is general education. The written instructions and prescriptions your surgeon gives you are specific to your procedure and health, and they always take priority over anything on this website.
Caring for the extraction site
A blood clot forms in the socket and protects it while new tissue grows. Most of this checklist is about protecting that clot.
Control bleeding with gentle pressure
Bite gently but firmly on the gauze placed over the site, keeping steady pressure as your written instructions describe. Change the gauze as directed. Some oozing and blood-tinged saliva are expected at first; steady pressure is what slows it.
Protect the clot
During the early healing period described in your written instructions, avoid drinking through straws, smoking or vaping, spitting forcefully, and vigorous rinsing. The suction and pressure from these can dislodge the clot and set healing back. Do not poke the site with your tongue, fingers, or utensils.
Eat soft and cool at first
Start with cool or lukewarm soft foods and plenty of fluids — without a straw. Move toward your normal diet as comfort allows and your written instructions describe. Avoid hot, hard, crunchy, spicy, and small-seeded foods near the site early on, and chew away from it.
Ease back into activity
Rest after surgery and avoid strenuous activity, heavy lifting, and bending over until your surgeon advises otherwise. Exertion raises blood pressure and can restart bleeding.
Resume oral hygiene gently
Keep the rest of your mouth clean with gentle brushing, staying clear of the surgical site at first. Begin any rinsing only when and how your written instructions say to — usually gentle, never vigorous, in the early period.
Use medications as written
Take the prescriptions and over-the-counter medications you were directed to use exactly as written, and call us with any question before changing them.
What is expected — and when to call
Healing time varies by patient and procedure; your surgeon will give you a personal timeline. Use this guide for judgment calls.
Usually expected
- Some oozing or blood-tinged saliva, easing with pressure
- Swelling and bruising near the site
- Discomfort managed with the medications you were directed to use
- Mild jaw stiffness
Call our office if
- Bleeding that does not slow with steady gauze pressure as directed
- Pain that starts to increase again a few days after surgery instead of continuing to ease
- Fever, or increasing swelling, warmth, or discharge from the site
- A persistent bad taste or odor that is getting worse
- Numbness or tingling that persists beyond what your written instructions describe
Call 911 or go to the ER if
- Difficulty breathing or swallowing
- Bleeding that will not stop
- Rapidly spreading swelling of the face or neck
- High fever with facial swelling
Questions or urgent concerns
When in doubt, call. A quick phone call is always the right move.
Call our office at 908-520-2694. After hours: for a life-threatening emergency, dial 911
Ready to talk through your plan?
Request a consultation and our team will follow up to schedule your visit.