Surgical Instructions

After Wisdom Tooth Removal

The initial healing period usually takes one to two weeks, you'll likely experience swelling AFTER 72 hours.

Before the procedure began, a local anesthetic was given to ensure comfort. This anesthetic typically leaves your cheek, eye, lips, teeth and tongue feeling numb for FOUR hours after the appointment. For this reason, you should try to avoid chewing.

Prescription: Drop it off at the pharmacy and as soon as you get it have them take one pill because it take the pain pill 1 hour to start working and the numbing medicine will wear off soon. If you experience nausea or vomiting please call Dr. Cardenas so he can prescribe you an anti-nausea medication.

To avoid nausea, do not take pain medication on an empty stomach.

EATING: Once the numbness has worn off, you should eat, as nourishment is important to the healing process. Limit your diet to soft foods like yogurt, soft soups, ice cream, or soft-cooked eggs for the first forty-eight hours, and drink at least eight glasses of water or plenty of fluids each day. NO carbonated drinks such as cokes.
After wisdom teeth extractions, it’s important for a blood clot to form to stop the bleeding and begin the healing process. That’s why we ask you to bite on 1-2 gauze pads provided changing them every 20 minutes after your appointment until the bleeding has stopped. You may have to do this several times. You need to remove gauze however when eating.
If Bleeding continues you can bite on a moist tea bag for 10 minutes take it out and bite on another tea bag for 10 more minutes. Be sure to call our office if bleeding persists or increases.
ICE: You can also decrease pain and swelling by applying an ice pack — twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off — for the first 24 hours following the extraction.
A blood clot will form on the extraction site, and this clot is vital to the healing process. To keep the clot intact, avoid touching the extraction site with your tongue or fingers, DO NOT drink through a straw, and DO NOT spit vigorously. Also avoid alcohol, carbonated drinks such as cokes and if you smoke NO SMOKING for at least 5 days. As these things may cause a dry socket (loss of the blood clot causing bone pain usually 3-5 days after extraction)
NO blowing your nose or sneezing violently as this too may dislodge the blood clot and impair healing, so if you have an upper respiratory infection or suffer from allergies, be sure to have the appropriate sinus medication on hand.
If a SUTURE was placed it will dissolve and come out on its own in 10-14 days.
Tomorrow you can rinse gently with warm saltwater solution (8oz. glass water with 1 tablespoon salt). Gently swish the solution around the affected area for 30 seconds and spit carefully. You should do this after each meal for one week following the extraction. Try to not allow food to collect in extraction site.
Dr. Cardenas has prescribed you a strong medication. However, for mild discomfort the use of Acetaminophen (Tylenol) 500mg; two pills every 4 hours may be used or Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) 200mg but you must take three to four pills of Ibuprofen every 4 hours.
If antibiotics were prescribed, continue to take them for the indicated length of time, even if all symptoms and signs of infection are gone.
Relax as much as possible and avoid all strenuous activities for the first twenty-four hours following surgery. An increase in blood pressure may cause bleeding.
Keep your head elevated with pillows. A towel over your pillow at night may help with oozing on your pillow cover.
At your 1 week post-op appointment Dr. Cardenas will show you how to clean the area with a water pick which will be given to you at that time to help keep food out of the extraction site.
The space left by the teeth will feel a bit strange to you at first. Eventually, new bone and gum tissue will grow into the gap left by the extraction in about 1 month.

Any questions please call our 24 hour service to talk with Dr. Cardenas at (214) 872-4445