BLOG

Tips for Managing Pain After a Tooth Extraction

TL;DR:

Recovering from a tooth extraction doesn’t have to be painful or complicated. With the right post-op care, you can minimize discomfort, avoid complications, and speed up healing for a healthier smile.

Readers will discover:

What to expect: Tooth extractions remove damaged or diseased teeth under local anesthesia.
What to eat after extraction: Stick to soft foods like yogurt, eggs, oatmeal, and smoothies while avoiding hot or alcoholic drinks.
Pain management: Use acetaminophen or prescribed medications but avoid blood thinners during recovery.
Healing tips: Rinse with salt water or medicated mouthwash, brush and floss gently, take antibiotics as prescribed, avoid heavy lifting, and don’t smoke.
Professional support: Smiles of Cary offers personalized care and follow-up appointments in Cary, NC to help ensure a smooth, pain-free recovery.

As a medical surgery, any tooth extraction comes with inherent pain. But there are things you can do to help lessen and manage the pain during your recovery period.

Here are our top tips to promote recovery and reduce pain after a tooth extraction.

What is a Tooth Extraction?

Whether for a dental implant or simply to remove a diseased tooth, tooth extractions are sometimes necessary procedures.

During this procedure while under local anesthetic, your dentist or oral surgeon will loosen and extract the tooth using forceps. The site is then closed up for healing using stitches, cauterization, or other suturing.

How long a tooth extraction takes depends on the tooth in question. But so you can plan accordingly, a simple tooth extraction can be done in 20 or so minutes. For procedures more involved than a simple extraction, expect for your appointment to last about 60-90 minutes.

Tooth extraction costs are typically covered (in part) by dental insurance, with the balance being paid by the patient. Tooth extraction costs can vary depending on a variety of factors, but may hit around a few hundred dollars per tooth.

What to Eat After Tooth Extraction

As you might imagine, a tooth extraction can be an eventful moment for your mouth. Any surgery requires healing time, but with an active site such as a mouth, extra care is warranted. And so we recommend all patients should exercise caution while eating in the days immediately following a tooth extraction.

So, what do you eat after a tooth extraction to ensure mouth safety?

Soft foods are a safe bet, as they are less liable to cause pain or damage to the healing extraction site. Eat soft foods such as:

Oatmeal
Eggs
Yogurt
Hummus
Smoothies
Meal replacement beverages
Puddings
And more

You can also consider steamed vegetables, soft breads, tofu, and other soft foods as you wean back onto a solid food diet. Simply be careful of your chewing and shift food to the non-healing side of your mouth when possible.

It’s worth noting you can drink liquids after a tooth extraction. However, alcoholic beverages as well as hot drinks are ill advised.

Minimizing Pain

Your dentist may suggest taking acetaminophen or other over-the-counter pain medications. In cases of involved surgical procedures, stronger prescription medication may be warranted and prescribed.

However, it’s worth noting you should not take medications that thin your blood while in recovery. Doing so may put you at risk of a stubborn bleeding incident at the surgery site.

Promoting Better Tooth Extraction Healing

Expect to experience some local pain for about 2–3 days following a tooth extraction. The pain is a sign your body acknowledges the incident and is preparing itself to heal.

To help your mouth recover quickly after your surgery, there are some simple, everyday tasks you can undertake. Namely:

Using a medicated rinse — Rinse your mouth with a prescribed antimicrobial rinse after every meal to remove debris and germs. You can also use warm salt water if you are not prescribed a mouthrinse.
Brushing and flossing regularly — Avoid breaks in your dental routine to ensure a debris- and germ-free mouth.
Taking antibiotics as prescribed — Following your dentist’s prescription exactly will help prevent infection.
Avoiding heavy lifting — This helps keep sutures secure while you heal.
Not smoking or vaping — Smoking or vaping reduces blood flow to the area and prevents proper healing after a tooth extraction.