Home Care Instructions Following a Tooth Extraction

1. Apply direct pressure to the extraction site by biting down on gauze for 15 to 20 minutes. Extra gauze is in your child's bag if it has become saturated and needs to be changed.

2. Numbness should last for 2 to 2 ½ hours. If your child has to eat during this time please watch him/her very carefully, as it is very easy to bite the lip, cheek or tongue while being numb. Soft foods such as soup, applesauce, ice cream and yogurts are preferred.

3. Take ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) before the numbness wears off. This will help with any discomfort at the extraction site as well as from the site of the anesthetic injection.

4. Healing takes 7 to 10 days. During this time please have your child avoid foods which could break into small, hard pieces such as Doritos, popcorn and chips. These small pieces of food may become lodged in the extraction site.

5. Do not touch the extraction site with your fingers as this may cause an infection.

6. Avoid spitting and drinking through a straw for the next 24 hours. Doing this may interfere with the healing process and dry socket (socket infection from blood clot being dislodged) may occur. If your child refuses to swallow his/her own saliva, drooling into a cup is permissible.

7. There may be a little blood on your child's pillow. This is to be expected. As blood mixes with saliva it appears to be more blood than it actually is.

8. Facial swelling, pain not controlled by ibuprofen, or any other signs of infection are infrequent complications. If any of these side-effects should occur please call our office.