How long does it take for gums to heal after an incision and tooth extraction?

23.12.2020 66571

Anyone, sooner or later, may need a tooth extraction. This occurs due to its severe destruction, progression of the inflammatory process and other reasons.

Typically, doctors use removal surgery only as a last resort, when other means are ineffective. It is important to understand that the procedure is a surgical operation that must be carried out carefully and in compliance with all safety requirements.

In this material we will touch on an important issue - the rehabilitation period. We will talk about how long it takes for the gums to heal after tooth extraction, and what rules should be followed to prevent complications from occurring. Compliance with simple safety requirements will not only significantly speed up recovery, but also ensure the safety of your health.

How much does tooth extraction hurt the gums?

Assessing how severe the harm from tooth extraction will be is not always easy. Sometimes removal can take much longer and have a very negative impact on the condition of a person’s gums. And here it doesn’t really matter which doctor performs the procedure - there are many potential complications.

Among the most notable factors of injury are the following:

• Rupture of the ligaments and muscles that hold the tooth. They help the tooth stay inside the socket and not become loose over time.
• Tissue damage. We are talking about both periodontal and periodontal tissues. They can heal for quite a long time.
• Impact on the vascular system and nerves. Serious damage to blood vessels and nerves can usually occur. It is precisely because of the likely contact of blood with pathogenic bacteria during the recovery period that it is important to observe hygiene standards.

When going through the recovery process, you should be prepared for the fact that signs characteristic of inflammation will be observed for some time. In this case, swelling may appear, the temperature of the tissue at the site of removal may increase, and bleeding may occur. Pain also becomes a frequent companion during the recovery period.

In our clinic, removal is performed as carefully and carefully as possible. The extensive experience of doctors allows us to minimize tissue damage and reduce trauma. We will also answer the question of how long it takes for gums to heal and how to properly care for the socket so that it heals as quickly as possible.

Healing process

The stages of wound healing are as follows:

1. The first day: the hole fills with blood, which turns into a clot due to coagulation. It becomes the basis for bone formation in place of the void, and also protects against infection.
2. 3-4 days: the clot is replaced by granulation tissue. By this time, the severity of pain decreases, and sometimes the area of ​​surgery stops hurting completely.
3. Week: a clot remains inside the socket, but most of it has already been replaced by granulation tissue.
4. Two weeks: the wound is filled with granulation tissue, turning into bone along the edges and bottom.
5. 2-3 months: the hole completely turns into bone.

In order for recovery to occur correctly, you must follow all the doctor’s recommendations.

The main stages of socket healing after tooth extraction

It is impossible to clearly predict how long the hole will take to heal. The individual characteristics of the human body, the type of tooth and the characteristics of the operation are of great importance. Typically, it takes more time to restore a hole after the removal of a tooth with a large number of roots and the need for additional manipulations - creating an incision in the gum and others.

In some cases, during the removal process, crumbling and splitting may occur - then the gums will be injured even more.

Conventionally, several main stages of healing can be distinguished:

• Reduced bleeding. Depending on the characteristics of the patient’s body, the gums should stop bleeding after 2-3 hours. Some people take a little longer. If the bleeding does not stop, you should immediately consult a doctor. But this is a rare occurrence unless the patient has problems with blood clotting.
• Formation of a blood clot in the socket. It is very useful because it does not allow bacteria that cause diseases to enter the wound. You cannot remove such a clot - bleeding will open, there is a high risk of inflammation and resumption of bleeding.
• Appearance of a film on the clot. This is a white coating of the epithelium. Gradually it covers more and more space. Between the fourth and seventh day after surgery, the entire clot should turn white.
• Formation of epithelial tissue. Occurs between 20 and 24 days after surgery. The gums from the outside will be the same as next to healthy teeth - color, texture.

When the patient follows the dentist’s instructions and treats the hole carefully, there should be no complications or any problems.

Recommendations after gum incision

After the operation, the dentist will tell you what can and should be done, and what it is better to refrain from.

1. Do not eat or drink for 3–4 hours, do not touch the wound with your tongue, and do not rinse your mouth on days 1–3. Baths with antiseptics and application of gel are possible - Solcoseryl, Cholisal, Kamistad, from the 3rd day - rinsing.
2. During the week, use gentle, soft food.
3. Eliminate physical activity on the 1st day, alcohol and smoking for a week.
4. Any warming (bath, sauna, swimming pool, compresses) and cauterizing procedures (alcohol, iodine, brilliant green) are prohibited for a week.
5. If you have sutures, you should not open your mouth too much when eating or talking.
6. For pain, take a painkiller (Analgin, Ibuprofen, Ketanov), apply cold.
7. After a week, as prescribed by the doctor, physical therapy (electrophoresis, UHF, magnetic laser, paraffin applications) is possible, which improves regeneration.

Following the doctor’s recommendations will help avoid complications and ensure rapid healing of the incision on the gum.

Features of the gum restoration process

Sometimes patients wonder if there are any differences in the recovery process, depending on what kind of surgery was performed on the patient. The answer is yes, there are such features. Let's consider three main variants of the situation.

Standard tooth extraction

When a person is healthy, the removal went well, and the tooth itself was not classified as complex, the restoration process begins immediately.

The recovery process takes longer if the tooth was large and a wide wound appears in its place. In this case, the dentist will apply stitches. They last on fabric for 7-8 days, sometimes less or more. Throughout this time, you may feel pain or signs of an inflammatory process.

After 3-4 weeks, most patients experience complete restoration of the gums. The pain goes away, swelling is relieved, and the periodontium heals. Bone tissue begins to form, and from the outside the removal site already looks quite healthy.

Removal before prosthetics

Sometimes tooth extraction may be necessary before prosthetics can be performed. The dentist makes this decision when restoration or the use of special orthopedic structures is impossible.

The removal is done with a view to installing an implant or bridge, which the old tooth will only interfere with. A periosteum augmentation process may also be required. It is more common when teeth are removed from the upper jaw, when there is simply not enough tissue for normal implant placement.

The augmentation procedure significantly increases the recovery time. It is difficult to predict the timing here; you need the attending physician to carefully monitor your condition.

Wisdom tooth removal

The most complex and difficult to predict removal process is wisdom tooth extraction. It is necessary if the tooth grows at the wrong angle, interferes with its neighbors in the dentition, and can cause irritation and other problems.

With this type of operation, the gums can be severely damaged. There are several reasons:

• A large number of roots. They can cause significant damage to your gums during the removal process. Sometimes resection may be required.
• The wisdom tooth is often hidden behind the gum. In this case, an incision will need to be made and exposed before removal can be carried out.
• Often the tooth is located at an angle. He can strongly push against his neighbors. At the same time, the dentist decides how to reduce the pressure and not damage other teeth.

After removal, the gum is not in the best condition and may require stitches. This means that the hole will take longer to heal.

What to do after the extraction is complete

It is possible to realize that the hole is healing correctly on the 3rd day. The gums hurt moderately, and a white coating appears on it. It is extremely important not to remove it, since it is new epithelium. After 2 weeks, the onion should be completely covered with granulation tissue. After a month, bone tissue begins to regenerate in the entire socket. After 50 days, bone tissue fills the entire hole. And only after five to six months the hole is completely healed and does not differ from other bone tissue.

The gums will recover faster after tooth extraction is completed if you follow easy recommendations.

In the first days after surgery, minor bleeding may occur. Under such conditions, you need to take a small piece of cotton wool or gauze, soak it in hydrogen peroxide, and apply it to the hole. It is much better to go to the pharmacy immediately after removal and buy a hemostatic sponge. A small piece must be applied to the hole; it will dissolve on its own.

Reasons for long gum healing

Typically, the answer to the question of why gums take a long time to heal is related to the individual characteristics of the human body, as well as infection.

The addition of a secondary infection can be observed against the background of several common problems:

• The patient violated the requirements for proper gum care. Often the problem lies in the fact that too much caution has been exercised and the quality of oral hygiene has decreased.
• The wound was not properly cleaned. When patients turn to dentists with a low level of skills, there is a high probability that a tooth fragment or a piece of cotton wool will remain in the hole. This can cause serious problems and greatly increase the duration of the recovery process.
• An injury occurred. It is worth watching exactly how you handle the hole. So doctors recommend avoiding any friction, strong pressure and other mechanical irritations.

Any dentist will tell you that removal is best done when the person is completely healthy. Regeneration time may increase if there are diseases of the oral cavity, stomatitis. You should also be wary of sinusitis and sore throat - they can complicate the recovery process.

What does gum healing depend on?

Removing the eighth teeth is particularly difficult due to the incorrect location, which occurs in 80% of people. Accordingly, the postoperative period lasts a longer period of time. The process of tissue repair depends on the following factors:

• Traumaticity of surgical intervention;
• Size and location of the eighth tooth;
• State of the immune system;
• Patient's age;
• Presence of chronic diseases;
• Individual characteristics;
• Taking medications;
• Presence of seams.

How to make regeneration faster

To make the recovery period shorter, you should treat the hole as carefully as possible. Several central means help speed up regeneration:

• Brush your teeth correctly. It is important that the oral cavity is cleaned properly and that pathogenic bacteria that can cause inflammation and other problems do not multiply in it.
• Use antiseptics. They need to be rinsed after eating. But from the side of the extracted tooth, you should not rinse your mouth too much, creating a vacuum inside the mouth.
• Try not to put pressure on the gum so that the socket is constantly at rest. Strong mechanical pressure and other similar effects on tissue are especially dangerous.

How to rinse your mouth after a gum incision

Rinsing the mouth after surgery is not done immediately, so as not to wash out the blood clot from the wound.

They use pharmaceutical products: chemical and herbal, as well as those prepared at home.

In addition to general recommendations, the doctor will advise what to rinse the mouth of a particular patient.

You need to rinse after each meal until swelling and pain disappear. Sometimes the same products are used for applications and lotions on the incision area.

Main treatment methods

Your dentist will tell you what treatment and gum care should be like after tooth extraction. Only he can select the right drugs that are suitable specifically for your case.

Among the most common treatment methods are the following:

• Careful rinsing with preparations and tinctures with various herbal ingredients and antiseptics.
• Local application of soothing ointments and gels.
• Drug treatment. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics, painkillers, and anti-inflammatory drugs. But we do not recommend using any medications without a prescription.

Stages of the operation. How to cut gums in dentistry

No matter how the gum is cut, the procedure is the same:

1. Examination and antiseptic treatment of the oral cavity, professional cleaning, and, if necessary, radiography.
2. Anesthesia - local or anesthesia.
3. Selecting the type of cut and the cut itself.
4. Basic treatment methods: installation of a drainage system in the wound to release purulent exudate for up to 3 days, removal of a tumor, cyst, installation of prosthetic elements.
5. Stitches are applied and removed within 5–7 days.

Before surgery, preparation is often carried out with immunomodulators, restoratives, anti-inflammatory, and antiallergic drugs. After surgery, antibiotics may be prescribed for 3–5 days due to the risk of purulent inflammation.

There are a number of methods for cutting gums.

A vertical incision from the edge of the gum (gingivotomy) is usually performed for periodontitis.

In flap dissection, a series of horizontal and vertical incisions are made. This type is divided into the following stages:

• coronal displacement with detachment of a tissue flap and covering of the exposed dental root system with it;
• formation of a lateral flap to cover isolated small areas of exposed roots, for example, with periodontal disease;
• the most traumatic V-shaped incision with the addition of donor gum tissue to the resulting flap to cover not only a small, but also a larger area of ​​the exposed root;
• the Ramfjord method for accessing the diseased root - the gum is dissected at the periodontal pocket, the edges of the flap are moved apart and returned to their place after removing the affected tissue;
• cross-shaped incision for flux.

The surgeon chooses the type of incision that is justified in a specific clinical situation.

Can there be complications after tooth extraction?

The issue of complications always worries patients. But if you do not have concomitant infectious diseases, and the operation is performed by an experienced doctor, the risk is very small.

There are several common likely problems:

• Hematoma at the site of removal.
• Severe swelling of the cheek.
• Numbness in the area near the extracted tooth.
• Bleeding.

In some cases, flux may also appear. Dentists should be careful when administering anesthesia. If you do not make sure that the patient does not have an allergic reaction to the drug, you may encounter a number of problems.

Gum grafting against “shark” and “gummy” smiles

The shape of the gingival contour depends on a number of factors. Thus, hereditary predisposition, certain diseases and the use of certain medications can cause hypertrophy of soft tissues. This is how a “shark smile” appears, and the teeth visually lose size. To solve this problem, a gingivectomy procedure is performed. Excess tissue is excised. The doctor removes gum pockets or hoods that often form during the eruption of wisdom teeth. After excision, an optimal contour is created.

Gum plastic surgery is often used to correct a “gummy smile.” This is the name of a smile in which the upper gum is exposed by more than two millimeters. In this case, excess soft tissue is eliminated, and with the help of a doctor, the gum contour takes on a beautiful, correct appearance.

How to properly care for your gums

To prevent complications from occurring, you should follow a few simple recommendations:

• Do not heat the gum. Strong heat can stimulate the spread of the inflammatory process.
• Use a soft brush. At the same time, when brushing your teeth, try not to touch the gums at the extraction site.
• Use additional cleaning products. These include irrigators and dental floss.
• Try to use toothpastes with soothing herbal ingredients.

It is very important not to self-medicate. If any problem arises, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible.

Plastic surgery for gum recession

Gum recession can occur as a result of a number of periodontal diseases. The soft tissue becomes smaller and the tooth root is exposed. This is not very aesthetically pleasing, and can lead to a number of problems, including tooth loss. Recession can develop on one tooth or on several.

In addition, due to an overly short and powerful frenulum or insufficient vestibule of the oral cavity, the free edge of the gum can peel off, gum pockets form and inflammation begins. The vestibuloplasty procedure can solve this problem. During the operation, the vestibule of the oral cavity is deepened, and soft tissues are distributed in this area more rationally.

To restore the required volume to the soft gum tissues, cover exposed roots, prevent the development of caries and aesthetically improve the smile, a gum augmentation procedure is performed. It can concern either exclusively the epithelium and connective tissue, or affect the periosteum. It depends on the specific situation.