If you have recently had a wisdom tooth removed, you should be careful to take proper aftercare treatment precautions in order to heal quickly and thoroughly.  In most cases there is rarely a problem, but it pays to be careful and follow the wisdom tooth extraction recovery instructions to make sure that there aren’t any adverse reactions or additional problems.

Usually the healing process is pretty much complete after two full weeks, but it can take a bit longer in certain cases.




Make sure not to spit or rinse out your mouth at all until a full 24 hours afters surgery.  If the bleeding has stopped and you have let a full day and night go by, you can begin to gently rinse out your mouth with a salt water solution.  Do not use ice cold water, just room temperature or a little warm.

Some bleeding is normal and nothing to worry about.  If you do experience some bleeding, just put some clean gauze and bite down very gently, and do not use hard pressure.

Do not smoke!   This is a big one and is difficult for most smokers to do, but it really is very important and can damage the sensitive area that is healing.  If you must smoke, don’t smoke for the first 24 hours at least.

Avoid very hot foods or drinks for the first several days.  Lukewarm tea and coffee are okay, but juice, water and milk are better.

If medication is prescribed, be sure to take it as directed and you should be just fine.  Occasionally there is jaw pain after wisdom teeth are removed and this is also normal.  Depending on whether or not the teeth that are extracted were impacted or infected will determine how much pain you might be in afterwards.

In some rare cases, there are nerves that are damaged during the surgery.  In the rare instance, about one of every 100 people have permanent damage to the lingual nerve, which senses mouth temperature and pain in your mouth.  Again, this is the rare exception.

Other complications that can occur is that you can get a dry socket.  But if you practice good recovery habits, this will be unlikely to occur.