Coffee After Tooth Extraction

Can we use coffee after tooth extraction? Is caffeine bad for our teeth? What effect does it have on a person’s oral health? Today, I went to my dentist for an extraction. I had a decayed tooth that needed to be extracted. He did the procedure. It was not very painful. But, after it was done, he placed a cotton ball in my mouth. He asked me to keep it there for an hour. He also told me not to drink coffee after tooth extraction.

It left me confused. I am a big fan of coffee and all sorts of caffeinated drinks. But he said to avoid it. I don’t know why he said that. Is every kind of caffeine bad or just coffee? And should I avoid it for a lifetime or just for some days?

What harm does it cause? Is it the reason why my tooth got decayed in the first place? Should I call my doctor and ask him to check the rest of my teeth as well?

Dentist's Advice for Using Coffee After Tooth Extraction: 

It is advisable to not to take coffee after tooth extraction. Coffee and other caffeinated drinks can be harmful to the body. But they do not have a huge impact on oral health. Yes, it can cause tooth discoloration, bad breath, and sometimes staining. But it has no role to produce decay or caries. So, you don’t have to worry about the rest of your teeth. They won’t get decayed because of your caffeine intake.

Now, to understand why your doctor asked you to refrain drinking coffee after extraction, you need to learn some facts about wound healing. When the extraction is performed, a wound is created in the affected socket. As a result, you get a hollow space.

This wound needs about a month to heal and produce normal gum tissue. Just like any other wound, a clot is the first step in the healing procedure. You said that your dentist put a cotton ball in your mouth. This cotton ball or gauze aids to produce the initial clot and controls bleeding too.

To ensure proper function, it is important to protect this initial clot. Therefore, you have to be careful after removing the cotton. Take this example. When you get a cut on your finger, a clot is produced to stop bleeding. If you scratch the clot, bleeding starts again. Same happens in the mouth. If the clot is dislodged, bleeding occurs.

You must be thinking about what your coffee has to do with all this. Well, understand this, hot drinks can cause dislodgment of the clot. On the other hand, cold drinks promote better healing. Your doctor must’ve asked you to have ice creams and avoid hot coffee. He did so, not because it is unhealthy, but because it can damage your wound. This is why your dentist asked you not to drink hot coffee after tooth extraction.

If you want to have a cold coffee, go ahead. But, do not use a straw as it can be dangerous for your clot. Other than that, you are pretty much set. Unless there is bleeding, you are fine. There is no need to call your doctor.