In the event of extensive damage to a tooth, a dentist might recommend an extraction procedure. They will carefully release ligaments and tissue to pull the tooth from the patient’s mouth. The patient can anticipate some downtime as they recover from this dental treatment.
Pediatric dental patients might feel nervous about this type of dental work. But the dentist will prioritize their comfort during the procedure to ensure they feel at ease. However, once they return home from the dentist’s office, their mouth may feel sore. And they will need to take precautions to avoid complications during their recovery.
A parent or guardian can aid the patient to ensure the child heals without issue at home. Read on to find tips that will help your child recover easily and comfortably after a tooth extraction procedure.
Minimize Oral Discomfort
When anesthetics wear off after a tooth extraction, the young dental patient’s mouth might start to hurt. The pediatric dentist will provide you with aftercare instructions to care for healing sites where the tooth was pulled. And these guidelines will also include pain management.
Your child should rest as much as possible. Overexertion by moving too much will increase blood flow to the extraction site, which might disturb the healing process. If the healing blood clot over the site becomes dislodged, they could develop dry socket, a painful condition that requires urgent treatment from a dentist.
Make sure the child ices the cheek or jaw outside of the extraction site to reduce swelling that may make pain worse. They can also take anti-inflammatories or other medication as recommended by the dentist to relieve discomfort.
Stick to a Soft Diet
Because the child’s mouth may feel sore, they may not feel up to much chewing or biting while eating. But a soft-textured diet is crucial to proper healing after a tooth extraction too.
Chewy, hard, or sticky foods could hurt a healing blood clot at the extraction site. For at least 48 hours, the young patient should stick to soft foods like yogurt, mashed potatoes, or oatmeal. They can try more solid foods after this point, but revert back to soft items if the child feels pain.
Avoid Harmful Oral Behaviors
You can take measures to reduce discomfort for your child while they recover from a tooth extraction. But you should also help them avoid certain oral behaviors during this healing period that might impede this recovery. Go over the aftercare guidelines from the dentist with them so that they understand the importance of being gentle and careful at the extraction site.
They should also not perform a sucking or spitting motion with their mouths. The combination of muscle movement and airflow with these actions will have a high likelihood of hurting the healing blood clot at the site. Ensure that they do not use straws for at least a week.
Continue Good Oral Hygiene
Your child must be careful around the tooth extraction site while they heal. But they still need to practice good oral hygiene to avoid further oral health issues like cavities.
They can brush their teeth and floss as usual the day after their extraction procedure. But they should exercise caution when cleaning around the healing blood clot. Find more advice about the recovery process by contacting your pediatric dentist.