You’ve just come out of a quick tooth extraction at Azalea Dental. Now what? Understandably, you’re curious or even concerned about what comes next. Whether we removed a damaged tooth or performed an extraction to help improve the aesthetics of your smile, pulling a tooth isn’t the end of your care. Below, we walk you through the period after getting a tooth removed, including how we restore your lost tooth.
The First Days Post-Extraction
Our dentist, Dr. James Hargrove, will provide you with immediate post-op care guidelines. We don’t want you to go home feeling unprepared, so our aftercare instructions cover everything and are easy to understand.
- Wound Healing: Over a couple weeks, the extraction site will close.. We provide tips on how to ice the area and control bleeding.
- Pain Management: Over-the-counter drugs can typically manage your pain, but we can provide a prescription for more serious discomfort.
- Dietary Adjustments: Unsurprisingly, you’ll need to adjust what you eat after losing a tooth! Stick to soft foods like soups, mashed potatoes, or applesauce. Avoid alcohol, hot drinks, and foods that could irritate your extraction site. Don’t drink through a straw.
- Oral Hygiene: Maintain good oral hygiene by continuing to brush and floss around the area, but be gentle so that you don’t dislodge the clot.
Goodbye Gap: Dental Bridges
Once you’ve healed from your oral surgery, we can start considering ways to cover up the space. A dental bridge can replace up to three teeth in a row. The bridge is anchored in place by neighboring teeth—we put crowns on those teeth, and those crowns support an artificial tooth or teeth between them. The crowns and tooth replacements are designed to match your natural tooth color and shape!
Tough Tooth Replacements: Dental Implants
For a more permanent solution, you can go with dental implants. For this, Dr. Hargrove surgically places a post into your jawbone where we extracted your tooth. This serves as a new tooth root for an artificial tooth. This is one of the biggest benefits of implants. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, experiencing bone loss after a tooth extraction is “almost inevitable.” Implants help stimulate your jaw bone and allow you to chew again, preventing that bone loss.
Purposeful Tooth Extraction: Orthodontic Care
We may have pulled your tooth because your mouth is overcrowded. Azalea Dental provides orthodontic care in the form of Dandy clear aligners. To ensure your teeth have enough space to move into a better alignment, we might remove some problem teeth. Following your Baton Rouge tooth extraction, we can create custom aligners to start shifting your smile.
Before and After Oral Surgery Near Me
Having a tooth pulled is a step on your dental health journey, not the end of it. Azalea Dental’s tooth extractions near you in Baton Rouge give us a starting point for rehabilitating your smile. Let us personally guide you through oral surgery, post-op aftercare, and the satisfying restoration process. Contact us today to set up your appointment.
