Timing Is Key With Tooth Extraction
Women who use birth control pills are twice as likely to develop dry socket after a tooth extraction, reports the Academy of General Dentistry.
Dry socket, the most common post-operative complication from tooth extractions, delays the normal healing process. It results when the newly formed blood clot in the extraction site does not form correctly or is prematurely lost. This blood clot lays the foundation for new tissue and bone to develop over a two-month healing process.
“Women have a greater chance than men to develop dry socket,” says Dr. Barbara A. Rich, a spokeswoman for the academy. “But for women who take oral contraceptives, their likelihood of developing a dry socket is twice as likely because of their increased estrogen level.”
A study recently published in General Dentistry, the clinical journal of the academy, reports that women who take oral contraceptives experienced a 31% incidence of dry socket after molar extractions performed in the first 22 days of their menstrual cycle. Within two to three days after estrogen use was discontinued, the extraction-site tissue began the healing process. For women whose molar extractions were performed on days 23 through 28 of their cycle, no incidence of dry socket occurred.
“Unless there is an emergency, women using birth control should try to schedule their extractions during the last week of their cycle, when estrogen levels are inactive,” Rich recommends.
Anyone who just had a tooth extracted should avoid drinking through a straw because the suction will interfere with healthier clotting. “Avoid smoking, which can contaminate the extraction site and excessive mouth rinsing, which may also interfere with blood clotting,” Rich says.
Anti-Gagging Device Eases Dental Visits
If your gag reflex kicks in during routine dental visits, ask your dentist about the latest dental technology that uses mild electrical impulses to eliminate the problem.
A portable, battery-operated TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator) device is now being used by some dentists to apply a painless electrical stimulus over an acupuncture point on the palm side of the wrist. This technique has been shown to decrease or eliminate in 85% of patients the unpleasant gagging, retching and nausea symptoms that occur when instruments or X-ray film is placed inside the mouth during a dental procedure, according to a study recently published in General Dentistry.
“The electrical impulse, in essence, short-circuits the gag reflex and tricks the brain,” says Dr. Howard S. Glazer, a spokesman for the Academy of General Dentistry. “The technique carries no risk or side effects and is not uncomfortable. The most you feel is a mild vibrating, tingling sensation in the wrist.”
For maximum effectiveness, the dentist or dental assistant applies the wrist device five to 10 minutes before a procedure. The patient is usually allowed to control the degree of stimulation.
Glazer does not recommend the device for patients with pacemakers, electrolyte imbalances or for those taking certain medications.
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Reprinted from “Dentalnotes” from the Academy of General Dentistry.
