Though there are many people who are apprehensive about pain after a root canal treatment, tooth removal is far more painful. You may be required to get your tooth extracted due to any reason, such as tooth decay or an impacted wisdom tooth. In all cases, you should strictly follow tooth extraction aftercare.

Once you get a tooth removed, the dentist will provide you with a set of aftercare instructions to follow so as to minimize the risk of any postoperative problems. Simple extractions are usually not accompanied by severe pain or any complications but surgical extractions are often complicated and lead to severe pain after surgery.

► Sit still for some time immediately after your tooth has been extracted. Before you get up, be sure that a blood clot has formed, because the absence of this could provoke bleeding. The amount of time you require to sit still, varies according to the type of removal procedure.

► If a baby tooth that was near to coming out on its own was extracted, you just need to sit still for two minutes. For the simple extraction of an adult tooth, you may need to sit for about 10-15 minutes. In case of surgical extraction and if you had stitches, the duration can be half an hour or longer.

► While you wait, you will be asked to bite a gauze. This helps in applying pressure on the area and also assists in stopping the bleeding.

When the procedure requires an incision and raising a flap of the tissue to get access to the tooth to be removed, it is called surgical extraction. Wisdom tooth extraction procedure is mostly of this type. Follow these steps for dental care after a tooth is extracted surgically.

►First, follow the given instructions to stop the bleeding.

►For relieving the pain, your doctor would probably give a prescription pain reliever. You must take it as recommended for pain relief.

►Keep the area of the surgery clean as much as possible. For this and early recovery of the area, gargle with warm salt water if you've had a surgical incision at least eight times a day. Mix half a teaspoon of salt in an eight-ounce cup of water and then use this for gargling; never use hot water. This is a very effective home remedy.

►The next morning, you can brush the teeth next to the extraction site, but do this gently because fast movements can lead to tearing the tissue that has just been sutured.

►You need to get rid of food particles for proper healing, these promote the growth of bacteria, which causes infection. If it was a wisdom teeth removal, it's going to be very difficult to keep the area clean, but in this case cleaning is very important. This is because the surgical sites are more prone to infection.

►There will be swelling after the extraction. Furthermore, the swelling would depend on the type of surgery. More extensive the surgery, the more swelling you will experience.

This swelling occurs on the first day and then probably peaks the second day. If the operated area continues to swell beyond the second day, you should contact the dentist, because this might be a symptom of a dental infection.

►The swelling can be minimized in two ways. You should apply ice packs over the area for the first two days. Keep your head elevated while you sleep. You can use an extra pillow for this. A raised head helps keep fluids from accumulating in the head area.

►The aftercare includes eating only soft food on the day of the surgery.

►Sometimes, you might experience pain even while you open your mouth, but this is normal. The pain will reduce after some days. However, if you don't see any progress, you must call the dentist.

Follow these tips after you leave the dental clinic.

►After you leave the clinic, you should try to be still. Avoid any type of strenuous activity for about two hours.

►Don't suck or spit, doing this inhibits the blood clot formation.

►Remember persistent bleeding is normal, don't worry about it. Expect that your saliva will be tinged with blood for several hours.

►If you notice thick bleeding along with dark red blood clots, then you must apply more pressure to that area, Usually, the dentist will give you a pack of gauze. You can use a paper case if you don't have gauze.