Smoking | Inflammation after wisdom tooth surgery

Smoking

Since smoking is generally harmful, one should try to reduce this pleasure to a minimum. However, especially after an operation in the oral cavity, smoking can greatly slow down the healing process. The reason for this is that the smoke gases spread throughout the entire oral cavity and the entire mucous membrane is in contact with it.

Due to the constant irritation, the blood circulation of the mucous membrane is reduced and the operation wound cannot heal well as a result. Furthermore, wound healing disorders due to smoking as a result of wisdom tooth surgery are also known. It is therefore advisable to wait with smoking until the wound has completely healed. Foods such as coffee or black tea can also lead to wound healing disorders and should be avoided for several days after wisdom tooth surgery.

After thread drawing

If it was necessary to suture the wound to bring the wound edges as close as possible to each other for optimal wound closure or to reduce the risk of bleeding in patients taking blood thinners. Although in some cases this helps the wound to heal better, the sutures are also considered to be “dirt catchers”: food debris and bacteria can get stuck in the fibers, which can lead to inflammation of the wound edges as a possible complication. If the stitches are removed after 7 to 10 days, the affected area may be inflamed due to bacteria, leading to pain symptoms.

This prolongs the healing time. However, by rinsing with a mouth rinse containing chlorhexidine digluconate, the signs of inflammation subside within a week and the traumatized tissue heals. If the inflammation lasts longer than a week, the dentist must be consulted.

Summary