After a tooth is extracted, bacteria will still be alive in the mouth, even more so in those with poor oral hygiene. Infections are very common after extractions. Depending on how bad the tooth was removed, the dentist may prescribe some antibiotics for you to take, which will greatly reduce your risk of infection. However, in some cases, even antibiotics cannot prevent infection.
If you have experienced facial swelling, swollen gums, toothache under mild pressure or bleeding around the extraction site at the dentist before the extraction, then you may already have an infection. If you do have an infection before the dental treatment, the dentist will prescribe antibiotics for you to use after the treatment. If you have a really bad abscess, you will need to use antibiotics to treat the infection before the dentist can remove the tooth.
In some cases, people develop an infection after extraction, even though they may not have been infected before. The reason is bacteria. After extraction, the bacteria in your mouth will be more alive than ever before. By exposing the extraction site, bacteria will be able to enter the site. This can lead to infection due to the exposure of the site and the fact that you cannot use mouthwash or brush for the first 24-48 hours. Not being able to sterilize your mouth means that you are not able to kill the bacteria responsible for the bacteria.
After extractions, the first sign of infection is renewed bleeding. This usually occurs approximately 48 hours after extraction. Although this is usually not serious, you should call your dentist to make an appointment. Your dentist will be able to stop the bleeding and give you some antibiotics and other prescriptions to fix the problem.
Some dentists prefer to give patients antibiotics before performing any type of extraction. Even though you may not have an abscess, most dentists prefer to get rid of the infection before doing their work. They do this because they know local anesthesia won't work as well for infections and it can take a lot of work and a lot of medicine to numb the area where you have the infection.
In the event that a tooth needs to be removed and the dentist simply cannot wait a few days, it is possible to anesthetize you. Although it will require quite a bit of medication to numb the area, it can be done. Sometimes dentists choose to use IV sedation or laughter if local anesthesia doesn't help. Intravenous sedation normally puts you to sleep or knocks you out so the dentist can remove the tooth that is causing you so much trouble.
Although an infection can cause a lot of pain and needs to be dealt with immediately, you may not need to take antibiotics once the dentist has extracted the tooth. If your mouth is clean and doesn't have many germs, you can usually cure it by taking care of it. You will rinse your mouth with salt water for the first few days to keep the extraction site clean. If you take care of the extraction site and do what your dentist tells you, you should not have any further problems with the extraction site or infection.
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