What Causes Facial Bruising After Dental Work?

From toothache to tooth decay, your dentists have the solution to every dental problem. However, only getting treatment is not enough as you have to follow an aftercare routine as well for quicker recovery. There are chances of several dental issues or other facial problems that are associated with the lack of care after dental treatments.

Facial bruises are caused after dental work such as tooth extraction or dental implants. You need to follow a proper aftercare routine for a quicker recovery from facial bruising. Otherwise, It may last for a prolonged duration. You must be thinking about how dental work can cause facial bruises and what are the possible causes behind it. To find the answer, you must first know about the facial bruising and then we will head towards further details. So, let’s begin.

What are Facial Bruises?

This usually results when blood vessels rupture in areas around teeth. The area where rupturing of blood vessels takes place is known as a contusion. During dental work especially extraction, small blood vessels around teeth rupture and leak blood in the nearby areas. This blood accumulates there and causes discoloration of the skin.

Sometimes it may result in severe pain and swelling as well. Due to swelling and discoloration, some people think of facial bruises as infection after tooth extraction or other dental work. However, it is not an infection but a normal thing. It usually recovers within 10 days and there will be no discoloration.

What Dental Works Cause Facial Bruises?

Facial bruising can be caused by different types of injuries. Accidents, injuries during sports, or sometimes even a solid punch can cause facial bruising. However, we are not going to jump into these injuries or accidents. We will tell you about dental work which results in facial bruising.

Tooth Extraction

Sometimes the best solution to treat an infected or damaged tooth is to extract it so it cannot spread infection to adjacent teeth. However, when dentists remove the tooth, some blood vessels rupture in that area. This will result in bleeding in that area. Bleeding after tooth extraction may continue for several hours. This results in the accumulation of blood in surrounding areas and leads to facial bruises. Bruises may not be clear at the start but become clear after 24 to 48 hours when the pain vanishes.

Wisdom Teeth Removal

Sometimes wisdom teeth don’t grow out normally. You can observe impacted wisdom teeth when most of it is covered with gum and skin tissues. Similarly, they may not grow out aligned and damage the inside of your cheeks. The best way to deal with this situation is to remove wisdom teeth.

When you opt for wisdom teeth removal at the time when they start growing out, then there are almost no risks of bruises as they don’t have strong connections. However, once they develop completely, removing them will cause bleeding. Infected gum after wisdom teeth removal is usually due to bruising.

Dental Implants

When dentists install an implant in your gums to replace a missing tooth, a certain amount of pressure is put on blood vessels in that area and they rupture which leads to bruising. It never means that dentists are not genital enough and they rupture blood vessels. The blood vessels in gums and areas around teeth are very delicate. Their capacity to bear pressure varies from person to person. Usually, a little pressure during implant installation causes their rupture and leads to bleeding and bruising. If you don’t follow a proper aftercare routine it may lead to jaw infection as well.

What Causes Facial Bruising After Dental Work?

After going through the aforementioned dental works leading to bruising you must have realized that bleeding is the main cause of it. There are certain causes behind this bleeding. Following are some main causes of bleeding after dental work which lead to facial bruising.

Bleeding During Treatment Process

During treatment, blood vessels rupture and leak blood in the surrounding area. This leads to bruising. Dark red, yellow, or bluish discoloration and swelling.

Lack of Proper Aftercare

Sometimes lack of proper care also leads to facial bruises and makes the situation even worse. For example, if you opt for hard food after dentures, you put a lot of pressure on your gums and vessels. It may result in bleeding leading to bruising.

Gum Bleeding

Gum bleeding is common after dental work, especially plaque removal, extraction, or implants. However, it becomes continuous when you brush your teeth and gums too hard or use the flosses incorrectly. This will result in a change of skin color in the surrounding area indicating that you have bruised gums. You may also observe pain and swelling in that area.

Lack of Clotting Agents

It is a rare case and only happens in patients with a lower number of platelets than a normal count. In such patients, the blood clotting process is slow and thus chances of bruising are high. Dental work which involves a little bleeding can cause bruising due to the slow clotting process.

How to Recover Facial Bruises Quickly?

Facial bruises usually recover on their own. You just need to wait for 5 to 10 days and they will recover completely. However, you can opt for a few effective techniques to speed up the recovery process. Let’s have a look at them.

• First of all, you must know how to stop bleeding after tooth extraction or other dental work. Less bleeding means less severe bruising. Using gauze or cotton can help you stop bleeding.
• Cold compresses are the best way to reduce swelling and cure bruises. It will also stop further bleeding.
• You can ask your dentist to prescribe some anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers to reduce infection and pain after tooth extraction which is mostly due to bruising.

Final Words

Now you know the causes of facial bruising after dental work. You must follow a proper aftercare routine to reduce its chances. If bleeding or bruising is persistent, immediately visit our dental clinic to get the best treatments for a quick recovery.