Facial bruising after dental procedure

GlasweJen

I had a minor op on Tuesday to remove a fragment from a wisdom tooth that had been left in my jaw from an extraction years ago. I was having jaw pain and this was decided to be the culprit so it had to come out.

I've never experienced post op bruising like it! I still can't feel my chin on that side (I have pain sensation but aside from that it's like a bit of leather). The clinic (not my normal dentist) said this is normal and will return when the bruising around the nerve goes down.

Does anyone have any tips for reducing bruising? I'm not in pain but using ibuprofen for inflammation, had cold on it for the first few days and now am onto heat packs like the clinic recommended.

Sensation is coming back, I get pins and needles in the lip on and off so I'm not concerned about the nerve I just want to look less like I've gone 5 rounds with Tyson.

sasparillo

Years ago I had impacted wisdom teeth taken out under local anaesthetic. The second time I knew what to expect and took a cold bag with frozen peas with me which I put into a bag and held to my cheek straightaway. So frozen peas in a plastic bag, the occasional paracetamol. I was also given wooden spatulas which I had to use to exercise the mouth so scar tissue didn't develop. The exercise consisted of gradually building up the number of spatulas in the mouth to stretch it more and more. Google wisdom teeth aftercare and a lot comes up. The first website looks ok https://www.associatesfororalsurgery.com/surgical-instructions/after-wisdom-tooth-removal/ but you may find others. One day this will all be in the past ...

GlasweJen

sasparillo wrote: »

Years ago I had impacted wisdom teeth taken out under local anaesthetic. The second time I knew what to expect and took a cold bag with frozen peas with me which I put into a bag and held to my cheek straightaway. So frozen peas in a plastic bag, the occasional paracetamol. I was also given wooden spatulas which I had to use to exercise the mouth so scar tissue didn't develop. The exercise consisted of gradually building up the number of spatulas in the mouth to stretch it more and more. Google wisdom teeth aftercare and a lot comes up. The first website looks ok https://www.associatesfororalsurgery.com/surgical-instructions/after-wisdom-tooth-removal/ but you may find others. One day this will all be in the past ...

I went hard core and got my lowers out one week and my uppers out a month later under local so I thought this would be a walk in the park but honestly the bruising is something else. My whole jaw is black and yellow and I can hardly open my mouth.

The clinic told me to put heat on it starting yesterday so I don't want to go back to ice, not sure why one is preferable over the other as they recommended ice for the first 2 days then onto heat.

lessonlearned

Arnica cream, on your face, not in your mouth, might help.

Toothsmith

It is quite an intrusive procedure, and pretty spectacular bruising isn't uncommon.

It does tend to disperse pretty quickly though. The tips they've given you sound good

Toothsmith

GlasweJen wrote: »

The clinic told me to put heat on it starting yesterday so I don't want to go back to ice, not sure why one is preferable over the other as they recommended ice for the first 2 days then onto heat.

Ice is good immediately post-op as it constricts blood vessels so stops/reduces the bleeding into tissue spaces - which is what 'bruising' is. Warm is good once this process has stopped, and will open up blood vessels which will wash away the breaking down blood products (that are all the pretty different colours of the bruise) as it disappears.

So basically ice reduces the 'damage' in the immediate post-op period, warmth gets rid of the 'damage' more quickly, once things have stabilised.

Warm should never be used on a site that might be infected though, as it just causes bugs to multiply more rapidly and so make the infection much worse. (I don't think yours is infected Jen - I just say that whenever I can to dispel the dangerous myth that putting warm on an aching tooth will ever help anything. It doesn't, and usually makes it 10 x worse!)

GlasweJen

Toothsmith wrote: »

It is quite an intrusive procedure, and pretty spectacular bruising isn't uncommon.

It does tend to disperse pretty quickly though. The tips they've given you sound good

You're not kidding! The extraction was a thousand times easier.

Toothsmith wrote: »

Ice is good immediately post-op as it constricts blood vessels so stops/reduces the bleeding into tissue spaces - which is what 'bruising' is. Warm is good once this process has stopped, and will open up blood vessels which will wash away the breaking down blood products (that are all the pretty different colours of the bruise) as it disappears.

So basically ice reduces the 'damage' in the immediate post-op period, warmth gets rid of the 'damage' more quickly, once things have stabilised.

Warm should never be used on a site that might be infected though, as it just causes bugs to multiply more rapidly and so make the infection much worse. (I don't think yours is infected Jen - I just say that whenever I can to dispel the dangerous myth that putting warm on an aching tooth will ever help anything. It doesn't, and usually makes it 10 x worse!)

I'm sure I'm not infected but it's good to know why I'm on heat packs. It does seem to be dispersing but it's really taking its time and I'm conscious of looking like I've been punched. I've got stitches as well which I didn't need with any of my extractions so it's all new for me. I had it done at a referral centre as there's no dental hospital near me.

I think it would be easier if I'd had heavy dental work before but aside from a crown on a tooth injury as a child (which lasted 20 years before needing replaced) and my wisdom tooth extraction I've not needed anything more than a scale and polish. The tooth under my crown is even still alive and well much to my dentists shock.