Suggestions for natural follow-up care after extraction in 4 y.o.?

[lemurian]

My son has an abscessed baby molar and will need to have it pulled shortly.  I'm concerned about what follow-up care is recommended from a holistic standpoint.  We won't be getting any such advice from OUR dentist, so I hoped some of you might have dealt with this and could share some tips :)  My main concern is excessive bleeding and infection.  I have never had a tooth extracted myself so this is new territory for me!  Any comments would be much appreciated!

[BonMaman]

My lad will be 4 in March.  He's having one of his top front teeth pulled next week after a few too many bounce-spin maneuvers left that poor tooth banged too many times. :( 

I'm guessing some homeopathic arnica will be in order (in addition to vitamins to bolster the immune system and thus ward off infection), but I haven't gotten much further than that (except maybe a milkshake or two ). 

Here's wishing your lad as peaceful a procedure as possible and a speedy recovery...

[Drummer's Wife]

My 9 yo had a tooth extracted and the gauze was fine to stop it from bleeding.  I don't know that you have to worry about excessive bleeding, as it should clot up as long as you leave the gauze in place (changing it as needed).  Keeping it clean -- maybe rinsing with salt water after it heals initially? -- will lesson the chance of infection, which I don't think is very high to begin with.

I'm curious as to what non-natural recommendations a dentist would give you?  Antibiotics is the only thing I can think of, and that is only if a true infection has occurred - and I can't imagine risking declining them with a small child, if it came down to it. 

[kjbrown92]

My daughter had two teeth extracted at about that age. He told her to leave the gauze on that evening (it was done around 4pm) and he didn't want her doing basketball that night because he didn't want it to start bleeding again. By the next day she was fine. There was no tylenol recommended or anything else. I don't think the threat of infection is very big either. I had two teeth extracted as a child due to abscesses and I don't remember anything else being done then either.