Recently, a research study found that xylitol could potentially increase blood clotting. Those of you who are innovative might be wondering if that side effect could potentially be used to help stop the bleeding after wisdom teeth extractions.
While the idea sounds plausible in theory, it doesn't work as well in practice since there are better alternatives for hemostasis after third molar removal.
Xylitol can increase blood clotting
According to a recent study by the NIH, the artificial sweetener xylitol has been associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The reason for the increased risk is due to enhanced blood clotting, which was found in mice and isolated human blood.
Ultimately, enhanced blood clotting is a side effect of xylitol and that can increase risk for a heart attack or stroke.
Blood clotting use for wisdom tooth extractions
While the enhanced blood clotting may be a detriment for those at risk for cardiovascular disease, it could be a potential benefit for post-operative management of bleeding in dentistry such as for wisdom teeth extractions.
Why xylitol can be helpful: After an extraction, the wisdom tooth socket will be bleeding profusely. The primary goal will be to get the bleeding to stop and if xylitol can enhance the body's ability to form a blood clot, it could accelerate the blood clotting process. In other words, you can get the bleeding to stop faster!
Ways to use xylitol for wisdom teeth:
Chewing xylitol gum. Most sugar free gum do contain this sugar alcohol so it is readily available at your convenience store.
Xylitol pulling. In lieu of pulling with coconut oil, you can also pull with xylitol where you swish around for 15-20 minutes.
Eating xylitol based foods. If this is new to you, a lot of cooking recipes do replace natural sugar with artificial ones such as xylitol. Therefore, this can be taken in by the body simply by consuming foods with it.
The above three methods are creative ways which people may have creatively tried to use the artificial sweetener to enhance hemostasis after a surgical extraction at the dentist!
Theoretically plausible but impractical
Using xylitol for enhanced blood clotting to stop wisdom tooth socket bleeding sounds innovative but in actual practice, it isn't very practical. There are many downsides to each method of using xylitol for wisdom teeth.
Disadvantage of chewing xylitol gum: After having the third molar removed, most patients cannot tolerate eating hard foods, which is why it is recommended to stick to a soft food diet. Chewing gum requires a lot of chewing power but you'll definitely be incredibly sore on the day of the procedure. We don't think you'd even be able to tolerate it!
Disadvantage of xylitol pulling: An important aftercare instruction for wisdom teeth removal is to not rinse or spit forcefully. Pulling with xylitol requires a lot of swishing and gargling which can create a lot of intraoral pressure that can dislodge the forming blood clot. This would be counter productive to hemostasis despite the potential enhanced clotting.
Disadvantage of eating xylitol: Eating xylitol containing foods may bypass the gum chewing and pulling disadvantages but did you know that excessive consumption of it leads to flatulence? Yes, too much of this artificial sweetener will have you farting left and right to no ends.
In our opinion, these disadvantages make using xylitol to stop wisdom teeth bleeding to be impractical. There are much better alternatives.
Better alternatives
Instead of using xylitol, there are much better methods to stop the bleeding from the wisdom tooth socket after an extraction, which are all clinically proven.
Recommended alternatives:
Gauze. Biting on plain gauze for about 2-3 hours is more than sufficient for hemostasis. As a matter of fact, 99% of patients do not require much more than using a couple pieces of gauze. Remember, pressure stops the bleed.
Black tea bag. For those who are experiencing severe post-extraction bleeding, biting on a black tea bag instead of gauze may help expedite the blood clotting. The tannic acids are known to enhance blood clotting. The only downside would be the extra caffeine intake from the tea.
It is of the opinion of our dentists in Long Island City, that people don't like simple solutions. They like the glitz and glamour of complicated trendy solutions.
After a wisdom tooth extraction, our dentists recommend that you just stick with the basics, it is more than enough to get the bleeding to stop!
