How Drinking From Straws Can Affect Your Gum Recovery Following An Extraction

After you have been to see us for a tooth extraction, it may take a few days before you are feeling up to eating solids again. In the interim, many patients drink soups and other liquids for nourishment.

While this can be a great idea, you do need to keep in mind that a straw can hinder the healing process. Here is more information on why you might want to think twice before you reach for that straw.

Sutures Are Fragile

Remember, an extraction is a surgery, and a surgery will usually use some form of suture to close the wound and aid in healing. Some of these sutures, depending on a number of factors, may be prone to coming out more easily than you may think.

When you suck on a straw, it creates suction that pulls the liquid up the straw. But it also pulls on the tissues inside of your mouth. Under normal conditions, this is no big deal: the liquid moves up the inside of the straw much easier than your mouth tissues move around.

However, when you have sutures, this may not be the case. Depending on a number of things, you might find that the suction removes the sutures from the site, slowing down the healing process.

Of course, the same is true for the blood clots that form around the wound. Actually, these clots are even more susceptible to being disturbed when you use a straw. Long story short, using a straw is probably not a good idea while you are recovering from your extraction.

Ask Us If You Have Any Questions

Of course, we are here to help you with the entire extraction process. This means that we’re available to talk at any time, and we welcome any questions. Give us a call, or come see us, and we’ll help you understand everything about the extraction process.