Tooth extraction healing really takes about six months when you really think about everything that is going on in the dental socket. Immediately after a tooth extraction, there is bleeding in the socket where the roots used to be. The bleeding slows down and the blood begins to clot. The clot forms a jelly like material at first but then hardens into something like a scab. It is not normal to continue to bleed for more than a few hours. This could indicate that someone has high blood pressure, a liver problem or even a clotting disorder.

          During the tooth extraction healing process, the gum tissues that used to surround the tooth grow over the socket. The harden clot of blood forms a kind of bridge for the gums to grow on. If the clot fails to form, the gums can't grown over the open socket and the socket dries out. This is called a tooth extraction dry socket and can be very painful. Patients should avoid doing anything that disturbs the blood clot formation because the failure to clot can lead to problems.

          During tooth extraction healing , eventually the gums grown together so well that you can't even tell that there was a tooth there. It's really amazing that our bodies can do this. Over six weeks of so, bone cells migrate into the hardened blood clot that is in the tooth socket. The bone cells form bone quickly to plug up the socket with bone but this bone is not of a high quality. It's called woven bone. It's thrown together immediately just to have something there supporting the jaw.

          The final phase of the tooth extraction healing process is for the bone cells to replace the weak and disorganized woven bone with high quality jaw bone, but this takes about six months to do. You can't see the final phases of the process because it's inside the jaw bone and underneath the gums. However, dentists can monitor your progress by taking and x-ray to see if the old socket has completely filled in with hard bone. Dr. Mark Allan Padolsky, a dentist in Atlanta who practices with the Atlanta Dental Group PC performs oral surgery for the group. If you would like to schedule a free dental consultation with Atlanta Family Dentist, Dr. Mark Allan Padolsky, call 404-874-7428.