A common dental condition involves growing wisdom teeth, but the healing process can take a while. So how long should you wait after the tooth extraction before vaping? Is vaping after tooth extraction really that bad?
Can I vape weed after wisdom teeth removal? In the hours after tooth extraction, it is best to avoid vaping to help the healing process.
Sensitive nerve endings post – extraction may be irritable, and lead to some serious pain on your end. Especially from cannabinoids in vape fluid.
On top of vaping, you should do your best to avoid food debris, as the delicate healing tissue is prone to causing some severe pain.
Post-op pain is not uncommon, and pain medications may be prescribed to you. It is also common for local or full anesthesia to be applied for pain control during the procedure.
Depending on your level of pain tolerance, narcotic pain medication may be an idea. Narcotic strength pain medication however, as well as most additional pain medication, will be orally ingested.
This means it won’t be smoked or vaped, as stray vapor from the narcotic pain medication could very well end up doing more harm than good.
For a minor extraction, you can wait up to forty eight hours after extraction to vape. For more serious post – extraction problems, 72 hours after extraction to vape is the common medical practice.
Some jaw extraction sites are more sensitive than others, and some have higher levels of pain tolerance. However, you should still hold off to avoid complications such as the dreaded Dry Socket.
Why get Your Wisdom Teeth Removed?
A routine procedure, there’s nothing stopping you from simply asking your dentist for a wisdom tooth removal. However, it is most commonly reserved for those with dental issues.
Wisdom teeth can be notoriously difficulty, growing in at weird angles, messing with the blood flow in your gums and causing serious amounts of pain.
While narcotic pain medication can ease these symptoms some what, treating them by removing the teeth is the best practice for long term relief, and avoiding further complications.
If you are lucky, your dentist may notice your wisdom teeth problems ahead of time, as they are still growing and before they cause you serious pain. Since they can have long term issues, it is best to follow the dental advice you are provided during a check up.
Available during normal business hours, this removal surgery is a routine and simple operation most dentists perform many times in their career. As such, there is nothing to worry about.
Aftercare for Wisdom Teeth Removal
After the normal business hours are over and your problem teeth are removed, you will want to wait that 72 hour period we mentioned before.
This period covers the time you should stay clear of smoking, vaping, and instead stick to consuming soft foods to avoid damaging the blood clots on your healing sites.
Blood clots are natural after tooth removal, and are a sign of healing gum tissue. Quick healing is the key to avoiding painful recovery.
Smoking After Adult Tooth Removal
After removing a tooth and trying to heal your gums, you will want to avoid things which may delay the healing process.
Typically your dentist will place gauze packs on the healing site, since after surgery they are known to bleed for 1-1.5 hours. That’s right, consecutive hours.
However, these gauze packs are usually a short term solution designed to prevent excessive blood loss through the gums.
Remove the gauze packs before sleeping, as aspiration of gauze packs (breathing them in) can choke you in your sleep.
Smoking delays healing, as it restricts blood flow and oxygen levels, making the sites take a greater amount of time to fix themselves up again.
Vaping After Tooth Surgery
Since you want to keep a solid oxygen flow to healing tissues, vaping is also not recommended. Vapors and smokes are known to be irritants to sensitive gums.
This will often lead to inflammation and Dry Socket (more on that later). Although you may experience some temporary pain relief, the pain that follows will be longer term.
Flavored fluids and vape juices also contain artificial flavorings in most cases, which can lead to unknown chemicals touching your healing sites and accessing your blood flow!
Cannabis After Tooth Surgery
A tried and true method of pain relief, natural cannabis should still not be smoked or vaped as you heal.
Although weed is known to be a pain killer, the smoke and vapor will still irritate your gums while they try to seal and repair.
This is especially bad with the slower healing if you cut your weed with tobacco when making blunts and weed cigarettes.
Dry Socket: What is it?
Dry socket is a painful toothache pain, commonly described as a throbbing pulse where the tooth was removed. Most commonly this occurs three to five days after surgery.
In essence, Dry Socket is a dislodged, damaged, or missing blood clot and can sometimes even lead to exposed bone!
A nasty enough thought, but the pain that accompanies Dry Socket will make you think you still had your wisdom teeth in. A throbbing, toothache like pain will last until the sites are fully healed over again.
Dry Socket also causes a foul smell to leak from your mouth, and the pain can throb through other parts of your face and head. Ouch!
How to Avoid Dry Socket?
The most obvious and easiest way to avoid Dry Socket is to avoid things which may aggravate it. Namely, smoking and vaping.
Other than that, if you are simply unlucky enough to experience this decently common medical phenomenon, then you are better trying to find ways to treat it instead.
Treatment is thankfully available through pain medication and other practices, helping you avoid a rather serious and severe lasting pain. As well as the other symptoms which may appear.
How to Treat Dry Socket?
If you need an at home treatment for Dry Socket, then your best bet is to try remedies for killing bacteria. Killing off bad bacteria in the socket reduces the risk of infections and further complications.
The best and simplest way to do this? Get some salt warmer and get it to be warm. Heated salt water will quickly kill bacteria thanks to the temperature and salinity.
Your dentist may also be able to prescribe you pain relief or provide extra gauze packs for protecting the overly sensitive areas during your recovery.
You’ll also want to avoid carbonated beverages, spicy foods, acidic foods, and other harmful food and drink that can upset the lodging blood clot.
Straws, cutlery, and toothbrushes should also be avoided or used with care, as upsetting the socket will prevent it from healing on its own.
