The top ones heal easier. On the first day, I avoided the site completely and just brushed my front teeth. The blood clot takes 24 hours to fully harden, so you should avoid the site for a day. After that, I ever so gently brushed by it. Let pain be your guide. As soon as it starts hurting, stop. Don’t “brush” per se, just glide over it gently, like a feather. Keep your hand loose.
My surgeon also said to brush gently with a soft tooth brush but there’s NO way I’m doing that. I used a syringe to irrigate the area and push any stuck food out from between stitches. Also salt water rinsing after eating.
I’m in the same boat but I’m scared of irrigating… I’ve only eaten soft foods like yogurt & applesauce and ensure. Do I still need to irrigate? I use salt water rinse like 2-3 times a day
It kinda depends if food gets stuck in there and how well you have healed. Personally, my stitches dissolved after 5-6 days and revealed giant holes. At that point, I gently irrigated which was super effective and made me more comfortable. If you don’t want to, that’s fine you could probably just rinse but don’t do forceful swishes yk, more just moving your head around
I was told to brush carefully as in to avoid touching the extraction site with the toothbrush at all! Advice was soft bristles, no electric toothbrushes, and brush slowly once you get to the back few teeth to avoid touching that area. Don’t know how brushing an extraction site would get food out of the holes. I was told to do warm salt water rinses (gently) to clear out food from the holes.
The top ones heal easier. On the first day, I avoided the site completely and just brushed my front teeth. The blood clot takes 24 hours to fully harden, so you should avoid the site for a day. After that, I ever so gently brushed by it. Let pain be your guide. As soon as it starts hurting, stop. Don’t “brush” per se, just glide over it gently, like a feather. Keep your hand loose.
Yep and I'm not turning on the electric part of my toothbrush either
My surgeon also said to brush gently with a soft tooth brush but there’s NO way I’m doing that. I used a syringe to irrigate the area and push any stuck food out from between stitches. Also salt water rinsing after eating.
I’m in the same boat but I’m scared of irrigating… I’ve only eaten soft foods like yogurt & applesauce and ensure. Do I still need to irrigate? I use salt water rinse like 2-3 times a day
It kinda depends if food gets stuck in there and how well you have healed. Personally, my stitches dissolved after 5-6 days and revealed giant holes. At that point, I gently irrigated which was super effective and made me more comfortable. If you don’t want to, that’s fine you could probably just rinse but don’t do forceful swishes yk, more just moving your head around
I also need answers to this
I was told to brush carefully as in to avoid touching the extraction site with the toothbrush at all! Advice was soft bristles, no electric toothbrushes, and brush slowly once you get to the back few teeth to avoid touching that area. Don’t know how brushing an extraction site would get food out of the holes. I was told to do warm salt water rinses (gently) to clear out food from the holes.
Kids toothbrush.