After you have a tooth extracted for any reason, it is important to follow your dentist's rules for helping your tooth extraction site heal properly. The foods you are able to eat during your recovery can be limited, but that does not mean you have to only eat ice cream, juice, and applesauce. Here is a recipe to make a healthy and healing smoothie for your post-tooth extraction period and the health benefits you will get from it.

Eat Healing Foods

After you have had a tooth extraction, it is important to eat the right types of foods that are easy on your extraction site so you don't reopen the wound. When a blood clot is dislodged from your tooth extraction site by eating hard foods, it will expose your gum's bare bone and nerves to the air, causing infection and pain with a dry socket. The foods you eat should be soft and also help promote healing while reducing pain and swelling in your gums. It is common to experience pain and swelling for three to four days after a tooth extraction. 

You can make an easy-to-drink smoothie with natural ingredients that help healing, such as wheatgrass and coconut water. To make this post-tooth extraction smoothie, combine in a blender:

• 1 peeled orange
• 1/2 cup coconut water
• 1/2 cup wheatgrass
• 1/2 cup ice
• Optional scoop of protein powder

You can find coconut water at Asian grocery stores and at many grocery stores in the Asian food section. 

Blend this mixture until all chunks of ice are removed so you can drink the smoothie without the need to chew any ice chunks. Drink this smoothie daily while you are healing from your tooth extraction. Do not use a straw to drink the smoothie, as this can cause the blood clot to come out from your tooth extraction site and cause a painful dry socket.

Health Benefits of the Smoothie Ingredients

Wheatgrass is a type of grass that is high in Vitamin K, which helps with your body's blood clotting ability. As your tooth extraction site is healing, it is important for your body to be able to clot its blood to help with the healing and speed up your recovery. Be aware that eating wheatgrass is not recommended if you have a medical condition requiring you to take blood thinning medications, as the wheatgrass will counteract the medication's reaction.

Wheatgrass also contains chemicals that increase your body's production of hemoglobin, and hemoglobin is the chemical in your red blood cells that carry oxygen to all parts of your body. As your tooth extraction site is healing, it is important for oxygen to be carried to the wound site, because it helps heal it faster and prevents a bacterial infection from occurring. Hemoglobin also helps prevent tooth decay, so if you are dealing with tooth extraction from cavities, this grass can help prevent further problems from tooth decay. 

Adding wheatgrass into your daily smoothie also helps with the inflammation of your extraction site, as it has anti-inflammatory properties. Then, the coldness of the ice helps to reduce pain to help your extraction site feel better.

Furthermore, wheatgrass also provides vitamins E, B12, K, and the minerals magnesium, calcium, iron, and potassium. Calcium helps improve your blood's ability to clot. Iron helps make up hemoglobin in your blood, which is an important mineral for your body to take in after a tooth extraction that may cause excess blood loss.

The orange in this smoothie will also provide many healthful vitamins. One entire orange can contain up to 100 milligrams of vitamin C. Combining the orange with the wheatgrass will boost your vitamin C intake because wheatgrass contains plenty of vitamins C and A. Both vitamins C and A can help speed up your recovery from a tooth extraction, as they will help repair your gum and mouth tissues. 

Adding coconut water to your smoothie's ingredients will also provide your body electrolytes and stabilize your blood sugar. This is important as you are allowing your mouth to heal and are not eating full meals.

Use this recipe and information to eat healthy foods during your tooth extraction recovery. If you have any other questions about tooth extractions, consider contacting a local endodontist, such as Renovo Endodontic Studio.