Swelling after tooth extraction - how long does it last and is there any reason to worry?

My cheek is swollen after dental treatment - what to do?

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• My cheek is swollen after dental treatment - what to do?

Sometimes after tooth treatment (especially after removal and root canal treatment), an alarming picture is observed - a swollen cheek. Moreover, such a picture can be observed even after visiting a highly qualified specialist who did not make a single mistake during the therapeutic procedures. What causes this complication, and how to act when it occurs?

Why does swelling appear?

Swelling of the cheeks, gums and facial tissues is normal. Swelling is the influx of fluid into damaged tissue. Lymph accumulates in the area of ​​damage: this is how the natural processes of regeneration and protection of the body are launched.

The strength of the reaction depends on the individual characteristics of the organism. For example, there are people who had severe swelling in the upper jaw or lower jaw, and there are those who have a slight swelling in the gum. If your facial tissues are swollen, but nothing is bothering you, you do not need to see a doctor.

What else can be done to relieve swelling?

Additional measures can also help reduce swelling after implantation:

• Drug therapy. Take antibacterial, antihistamine, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs prescribed by your doctor.
• Antiseptic baths. The dentist may prescribe rinses with chlorhexidine, chamomile decoction and other means to prevent inflammation and associated tissue swelling.
• Sleep with your upper body elevated. You can use several pillows for this. In this position, conditions are created for the outflow of fluid from the surgical area.
• Elimination of irritating factors. In the first days after installation of the implant, avoid eating hot, salty, spicy foods, coffee, and alcohol-containing drinks.
• Elimination of temperature changes. You cannot take hot baths or steam.
• Reducing overloads. In the first weeks, give up sports training, and also try to avoid stress.

How long does swelling last?

How many days the swelling lasts depends on how the body reacts to injury. Surgeons consider it normal for swelling to develop within a few days after the procedure: on the third day it usually reaches a peak, then decreases and disappears completely within a week.

In some cases, the healing time increases. For example, when:

• diabetes mellitus - people suffering from this disease note long healing of any damage;
• poor blood clotting - in this case the wound may also bleed;
• chronic diseases - they weaken the body’s defense system, so healing occurs more slowly.

How to reduce tissue swelling after implant installation?

Although swelling of the gums after implantation and swelling of the adjacent soft tissues are expected and considered normal, this condition must be dealt with. To do this, prepare gauze or clean, thin cotton towels at home in advance and freeze a large number of ice cubes.

Immediately after surgery:

• remove the ice from the freezer, put it in a plastic bag and wrap it in a towel;
• Sit in a comfortable place, with your upper body elevated;
• apply the prepared cold bundle to the cheek on the side where the implantation was performed;
• hold the cold compress for five to seven minutes, then take a 10-minute break and repeat the procedure.

Apply ice according to the described scheme several times for one and a half to two hours. On the first day, it is allowed to do several such approaches, in agreement with the doctor.

How to remove swelling after implantation

You won't be able to get rid of it completely. You can reduce swelling by following your dentist's recommendations.

Apply cold compresses. Compresses will help reduce discomfort, relieve pain and reduce tissue swelling. They can be done in the first hours and days after surgery, but carefully so as not to cause frostbite and necrosis. Use ice or a heating pad with cold water. Wrap them in 2-3 layers of thin cloth, gauze or a towel and apply to your cheek for 5-10 minutes.

Use dental paste. Special pastes - for example, Solcoseryl Dental Adhesive Paste - eliminate pain and speed up the healing process. Use products according to instructions.

Use medications. After implantation, your doctor will prescribe an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory, and an antiseptic rinse. They will speed up healing, relieve swelling, and eliminate pain. Use them as directed or directed by your doctor.

Provide peace. Avoid physical activity. Do not lift heavy objects, endure travel, do not tilt your head forward sharply. All this can cause sutures to diverge and other complications.

Follow your diet. Even if the prosthesis was installed immediately after implantation, a diet is required. Eliminate hard, hot, cold, and spicy foods from your diet until healing, for about a week. The optimal food is liquid, no higher than body temperature.

Sleep correctly. It is advisable to sleep on a high pillow for the first days after implantation. This promotes the natural outflow of blood and lymph from the site of swelling.

Brush your teeth with a soft brush. Use a new soft brush and a paste with herbal ingredients. If you brush your teeth with an old, hard brush, you can further injure your gums.

Don't touch the wound. Do not touch it with your hands and try not to touch it with your tongue.

Avoid baths and saunas. Visiting a steam room or even staying in a hot bath can increase swelling. It's better to take a warm shower.

Remedies for eliminating swelling after tooth extraction

The factors that determine how long it takes for swelling to subside after tooth extraction (over time) include the quality of the rehabilitation period. To avoid infection, the doctor washes the hole with antiseptic solutions, and in case of a more extensive intervention, administers antibiotics (Ceftriaxone, Oxamp, Ofloxacin and others). Antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs are often prescribed in the following days. If the patient has a weakened immune system, it is recommended to take vitamins. If, a few days after removal, negative symptoms increase, there is no need to self-medicate and drink handfuls of painkillers: they will not eliminate the problem and can negatively affect your health. After the extraction procedure, the patient must be aware and follow a number of necessary measures that will help to recover faster and avoid complications.

• Remove the tampon no earlier than half an hour after tooth extraction.
• You can eat warm and soft food only after 3-4 hours. You should not chew on the side where the surgery was performed.
• It is not recommended to eat solid, as well as too hot and cold foods for 10-12 days after tooth extraction.
• Hygiene must be very careful, especially in the first days. You should not brush the area around the operation so as not to destroy the blood clot. You also need to be careful when rinsing.
• Quit alcohol and tobacco (preferably for the entire period of rehabilitation).
• You need to avoid physical activity for at least a week and avoid visiting the sauna and swimming pool.

Publisher: Expert magazine about dentistry Startsmile.ru

Author of the material: Yaroslav Ikonnikov

When is the best time to see a doctor?

Sometimes swelling is a sign of complications: implant rejection, peri-implantitis, sinusitis, inflammatory process. Contact your doctor:

• when the swelling goes away, but appears again after 1–3 days;
• if bruises, hematomas appear, the gums have changed color;
• if symptoms of complications appear - pain, discharge of pus, blood, inflammation, high body temperature;
• when swelling does not subside within a week after the peak;
• if the cheek is swollen and there is no positive dynamics, that is, the swelling does not decrease.

If you suspect pathology, consult a doctor immediately. This will help avoid serious complications and re-implantation.

Causes of cheek swelling after dental treatment.

It should be noted right away: such a picture may be a natural consequence of the treatment itself. If the cheek is swollen after tooth treatment, but recovers in a matter of hours, then we are talking about normal post-therapeutic swelling.

In addition, people suffering from hypertension (high blood pressure) may experience bleeding for a long time after surgery, even the simplest one, along with a swollen cheek.

Most often, a person discovers that his cheek is swollen after tooth extraction. However, such situations are also considered normal. Indeed, during the extraction of a tooth from the alveoli, tissues are damaged and many vessels are torn, and this, naturally, leads to swelling of the gums, and with it half of the face. Our doctors always inform their patients about this consequence before tooth extraction surgery, and after it they tell them how to reduce pain and eliminate inflammation in a matter of hours.

In all other cases, edema is considered a pathology that needs to be eliminated, and very urgently.

Attention! If after dental treatment your cheek is swollen, but has not recovered within two days, immediately contact your dentist. The sooner you do this, the sooner he will carry out all the necessary examinations, identify the cause of the pathology, eliminate the tumor and thereby prevent the development of serious complications, including gum suppuration. And, if pus has already formed in such a short period of time, then a dental surgeon will get down to business and eliminate the source of infection. You will then undergo a therapeutic course of treatment using injections or oral medications.

Signs of a tumor that is not dangerous to health

• swelling of the gums and cheeks does not increase and does not have a pronounced form;
• after removing a tooth that caused severe pain, or a wisdom tooth, discomfort and pain should gradually subside;
• even if during the removal procedure you had a slight fever, it should no longer be present, and in no case should it rise;
• there is no unpleasant odor from the hole, which may occur in case of complications.

The cheek tumor can reach its maximum size the day after tooth extraction. Then the swelling should subside.

Review of medications that help relieve swelling

Medicines will help relieve swelling from the face after implantation. They can be used internally and externally.

Rinsing with antiseptics of synthetic or plant origin:

• Synthetic antiseptics : Chlorhexidine, Miramistin, Furacilin. Eliminates the risk of pus formation and abscess development. Rinsing is done every time after eating. In the first days they are replaced with oral baths. Keep the solution in your mouth for a minute and carefully spit it out. To prevent dry mouth, long-term use of Chlorhexidine is not recommended. Constantly rinsing with the drug can cause the development of candidiasis in the mouth.

• Herbal antiseptics include : chamomile, yarrow, calamus root, elecampane, oak bark. These plants have an anti-inflammatory effect and have astringent properties. An effective drug is Stomatofit, consisting of an extract of calamus rhizomes, oak bark, thyme, mint, and sage. It destroys many bacteria, candida fungus.

Ointments and gels eliminate swelling. The drugs are applied to the gum area, but they also act on swelling of the outer part of the face:

• Cholisal is a gel containing choline salicylate that prevents the synthesis of prostaglandins that cause swelling and has an antimicrobial effect. Applications soaked in gel are placed at the site of edema formation.
• Solcoseryl is an ointment that accelerates tissue regeneration. It is applied to the gum. Before use, the tooth is treated with a solution of hydrogen peroxide.
• Metrogyl-Denta is an antibacterial gel. Prevents the development of infection, relieves swelling.
• Kamistad is an anesthetic antiseptic gel containing lidocaine. When used, numbness occurs in the gums and tongue.
• Asepta is a propolis-based gel with an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effect.
• Parodontocide is a gel containing phenyl salicylate, which suppresses the synthesis of prostaglandins that cause swelling.

To relieve swelling and relieve pain, medications for internal use are prescribed:

• nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory and painkillers (Nimesulide, Analgin, Voltaren, Ketanov);
• antibiotics (Flemoklav, Augmentin, Amoxiclav).

Complications that can occur along with swelling

When implanting an implant, the development of temporary complications that appear after surgery and are combined with swelling is considered the norm.

Early complications that do not pose a danger include:

• minor bruises;
• feeling of fullness in the maxillary sinus;
• slight increase in body temperature;
• seam divergence;
• inflammation of soft tissues in the area of ​​implantation;
• painful sensations.

Early complications are not pathology, but standard signs that arise during any surgical intervention. Symptoms go away on their own or are treated by a doctor.