I got my two impacted wisdom teeth pulled out today.Can I take out the gauze to drink?

Question

my mouth has been really dry. Can I take out the gauze to drink water or juice? or will that cause dry socket? Ive been drinking with the gauze in my mouth but it gets really bloody and since im still numb and cant feel anything on my lip blood starts dripping everywhere so i have to change it a lot more often. Plus trying to drink with gauze in my mouth made me choke on the liquid. Help!

Answer 1

Is it still bleeding now? You can stop using gauze when it is not bleeding any more. Whatever you drink do not drink anything too cold or too hot and do not use  a straw!!! If you do take it out make sure that the gauze it wet.

Answer 2

You should take the gauze out to drink, otherwise you can swallow it . The bleeding should subside in a few hours after the extraction. If you still have active bleeding( more than just a few specks in your saliva), you can moisten a tea bag(any kind of black tea will do) until just damp and bite on that for 30 minutes. The tannic acid in tea will help your blood to clot. If you are still bleeding after that, call your doc ASAP.Good luck.

Answer 3

You should be able to remove the gauze to drink. In fact, it might be better if you did. The sockets need to be exposed to liquids, preferrably water, to avoid dry socket. You also want to flush them regularly to keep food from being trapped inside. Food trapped in a socket could cause infection.

I had impacted wisdom teeth removed and this is the advice my oral surgeon gave me. If you have any questions. however, you should call your doctor's office and ask.

Answer 4

The gauze is supposed to be kept in there for a half hour to ensure a clot has been formed.  Ideally for that half hour your asked to keep the gauze as dry as possible by swallowing your "bloody" spit.  Obviously the gauze won't be bone dry, but dripping wet will slow down the clot process.  After a half hour remove the gauze and take a look at the socket site.  If it's oozing blood still put a fresh gauze in there.  If there's small light flow of blood then that's ok.

You can go ahead and drink water, soda, preferably anything cold.  Nothing hot for the next 2-3 days.  Warm foods/drinks is acceptable.  Soft foods and remember to take your antibiotics if prescribed and your pain medication as needed.

Answer 5

Make sure the gauze is wet, remove it gently, have a big drink of water that is not too cold, then replace the gauze for the recommended amount of time.  If you have any questions, call your dental office.  There should be an after hours number you can call.