i have a few questions about care after getting tooth pulled?

Question

several days ago i had a tooth pulled. stitches were put in and the dentist gave me penicillin to take for 5 days. the information sheet on post operative care i was given was not very explicit. it said not to rinse with salt water until after 8 hours, but it didn't say how often per day or for how many days. the dental assistant just said to do it very gently. the sheet also said not to lay horizontal when going to bed, make sure your head is sufficiently elevated. my questions are how many nights do i have to sleep with my head elevated, and how long and how many times per day do i rinse with salt water and will this effect my stitches that are to dissolve over time in any way.

Answer 1

Well having my share of teeth pulled I can tell you the following.
I never slept with my head raised at all......no problems resulted for me. I rinsed with salt water a 3-4 times per day. Not sure if they told you but you should not use a straw or smoke......takes much much longer to heal and can result in a dry socket....if this occurs make yourself a cup of tea and take the tea bag squeeze the excess water out and place where your tooth was.

I am sure you will be feeling fine in no time.

Hope it helps!

Answer 2

You should rinse with warm salt water 3-4 times daily for a week to ten days, this helps with the healing with the tissues. Avoid Listerine, the alcohol will only burn the area (like putting alcohol on a cut). Also after a few days you can rinse with a bit more force, just avoid vigorous rinsing for a week, so you don't disturb or pull out the clot in the extraction site.
As for sleeping with your head elevated, after the first 2 days you don't need to do it anymore, that was only to reduce swelling that occurs within the first 24 hours. Your stitches wont be affected by rinsing, they are only important for the first five days anyway. If it's been several days then things should start feeling better, finish the penicillin and keep the area clean until it heals.

Answer 3

When I got my wisdom teeth pulled, I was told to rinse with regular water several times a day, especially after I ate, I'm not 100% sure about salt water, but you probably can't do it too much. I would say maybe twice a day....at the least. As far as sleeping elevated goes, you're supposed to do that until the stitches are gone, which I think I remember took about two or three weeks. Sleeping elevated is something I never did, so I doubt it will hurt anything if you don't, but just to be safe, do it until the stitches are gone...and I hope everything goes ok for you!!

Answer 4

ok...nice question...actually these steps or precaution taken are to stop blood clot dislodgement as clot is very necessary to close the space of ur tooth extraction,secondly,these steps are taken to avoid any post-op infection which is actually is a bit discomfortable to say the least...
ideally u would be required to rinse with hot water once per day like maybe before sleepin..i guess not more than tha,,,
anywayz when u say that ur tooth was pulled many dayz ago,how many dayz do u mean by that,if by that u mean 2 weaks than probably u wud not need the hot water salt rinse by now...so my opinion is that u should stop it...now there are two points here...stop it if firstly and most importantly u dont have any complain,discomfort,pain or anyother problem by now...secondly if u have taken ur antibiotic properly for 5 days as stated above...
and if u dont have the above problems u dont need now to not lay horizontally that was just for the first maybe 2-3days...
these things are good specially for the first week after that u wouldnt require that much of precautions...
having said that this is my opinion and best thing would always be to call that dentist would take hardly 2 minutes and just ask him when to stop and hopefully u would get the right answer,,

Answer 5

You should rinse 2 or more times per day. Salt water helps with the healthing process. I can't help you with the head elevation but do not drink through a straw or smoke for about a week. You could get dry socket and that is very painful.

Answer 6

From a person who has had plenty of teeth extracted. I rinsed with salt water 3x's a day. I sleep on 2 pillow anyhow sufficent enough elevation. They are not going to effect your stitches what they self disolving stitches and it is not going to effect anything.
Good luck hope you dont have to have any more extracted this way.

Answer 7

If it was several days ago, then you are well on the way to recovery and need not do anymore rinsing or elevation of your head.
The sutures will dissolve in time, usuaqlly 7-14 days. If they get loose and annoy you, then ring the dentist and he may arrange to remove them.
Don't bother with Listerine - not helpful.

Answer 8

I just had my tooth pulled too and they told me to rinse my mouth twice a day with salt water. I never got stitches and they never really said anything else to me. I sleep as I normally do and my wound is healing fine.

Answer 9

I would say rinse you mouth out as many times as you want for as lnog as you wont, only because its not bad for you! Until you think its better & doesnt hurt no more! I cant imagine you having to lie like this for a very long time! Phone the dentist up just to be sure!

Answer 10

dont worry too much -the reason the instructions werent detailed is cos they dont need to be- the penicillin is probably doing a good job of stopping infection and the elevated head bit is to reduce the chance of post-op bleeding; the salt rinse is in case the area is too sore to brush (just do it carefully). if its feeling ok, just go easy on it till it is all healed.................