How much bleeding is normal after tooth removal?

Question

I had a molar removed this afternoon (approx 5 hours ago), and I've used up all the gauze I was given, but there is still blood in my mouth - it's not pouring out or anything, just every time I spit it is bright red.

Is this normal, and how long will it last?

Answer 1

Hiya,

What you're experiencing at the moment is perfectly normal.

Bleeding (depending on the person) can even last as long as 48 hours. For most people, 24 hours is the norm. For me, It was around 24-ish hours. (as I had it done at 6.30am in the morning, and it continued into the night and had sort of stopped the next morning).

As disgusting as it is, unfortunatley there's not much to do besides biting down hard on a bit of guaze- but as you've used all of yours up, you may have to let it be, or find an alternative to the guaze to use.

A good idea (which helped mine clot up) is to either lie down / go to bed, with your head propped up by a few pillows (two for me was sufficent). Due to gravity- extractions that were on the upper jaw tend to bleed for longer, as the blood flow is rather strong in the upper jaw. The lower jaw should heal up a little quicker.

Lie down, flat on your back  - with your head propped up on pillows- to elevate (remember, when bleeding, always keep the 'bleeding site' higher than the level of your heart- so two pillows would do).

For me, when I woke up in the morning, it was fine. It had pretty much stopped bleeding completely, but you may want to put a towel or something to protect your pillow. When you fall asleep, there's no guarantee you wont move around, and blood may leak onto pillow.

Remember not to spit forcefully, or to suck through a straw and to follow aftercare instructions carefully.

For now, don't brush, don't rinse harshly (or not at all if there's still excessive bleeding). You want the hole / extraction site to clot up nice and quickly. Any spitting, or rinsing can just clear away the clot, and even though the clot can re-form while there's still heavy blood flow to the area (while it's still bleeding). The sooner the clot forms, and starts to heal over the extraction site, the more comfortable for you.

Answer 2

Yeah that happened to me after i got my wisdom teeth out

Its gross and a hassle to always spit blood out, but i told my dentist and he said not to worry. It'll go away in like a day

Good Luck!!

Answer 3

Had the same problem a few weeks ago. Called my dentist and he said to bite down on a WET TEA BAG and hold it there for one hour.

I know it sounds wierd but it worked. I used one of those smaller tea bags for one cup, just wet it and squeeze the water out place over the extraction area and bite down. The taste was not as strong as I was expecting but better than blood. If too much blood gets in your stomach you can get a little sick.

Hope you feel better.