Sometimes pulling out a bad tooth is necessary, although it may not be the best way of spending the weekend. The extraction of a tooth leaves a hole in its stead, and there are several determinant factors to how long the hole will remain until it closes. These determinants include the size of your tooth and the extraction type. The closing of the hole can take between a few weeks to several months.
Continue reading to know more about the duration.
The Extraction Type Determines the Recovery Time
There are two tooth extraction types: simple extraction and surgical extraction.
Simple Extraction
This type of extraction is performed on visible teeth, i.e., the ones that have grown out of the gum. The teeth might need extraction because of severe tooth decay, crowding and infection.
If the extracted tooth has many roots or is large, it will heal after a longer period. The hole becomes visible by the beginning of the fourth week, but elimination and healing of the hole will take some months. The hole will eventually close, but you will be able to feel an indentation with your tongue or finger.
Sometimes, visible teeth require extraction before orthodontic work. This is to give room to other teeth to align in your mouth properly.
To perform a simple extraction, a local anesthetic can be applied to numb the gum. So, you will stay alert and awake during the extraction process.
If the extracted tooth has just one root or is small, the hole will close quickly, in about 7 days. The healing will be complete in approximately one more week.
Surgical extraction
This is a more extensive process, so your teeth hole will take more time to close. The surgical extraction process entails the cutting of the bone and tissues under the gum.
When your tooth is surgically removed, the tooth hole fully closes about six weeks after the extraction. It usually takes many months before healing becomes complete and indentation to fill in.
A surgical extraction is needed to remove impacted teeth, like the wisdom tooth that doesn’t come out of the canine tooth above the gum line (the sharp teeth close to the front of the mouth), especially when braces are needed. It is also required to remove remnants of broken or cracked visible teeth which occurred during simple extraction.
For surgical extraction to take place, you need general anesthesia plus local anesthetic.
Healing Stages of the Tooth Hole
The healing of a tooth takes time. However, it begins immediately after the extraction procedure is over.
One to Two Days After Surgery
On the first day after the extraction, you’ll notice some form of a blood clot over the hole. The clot blocks the hole, keeping bacteria and food particles away from the hole. This is the first step to healing. It allows bone and gum tissue to begin their formation. The formation is not visible to the eyes. However, brand new tissues have begun to form inside the hole.
The bleeding coming out of the hole will reduce and stop during the formation period. But, you will have tender and swollen gum around the place the tooth was extracted.
Seven to Twenty-one Days After Extraction
During this period, the tooth hole will begin to close visibly as gum tissue regenerates and repairs. If any part is stitched, it will start to dissolve or be removed.
Big extractions, impacted teeth and molars will take a longer time to heal.
One to Four Months After Extraction
Depending on the extraction process, the hole should be healed without indentation during this period.
Furthermore, the jawbone hole (the tooth socket) should be filled with bones during this period.