The healing time can vary depending on which tooth was pulled and its size or condition of it. For example, a small tooth in the front has a smaller root system than one of your molars does. Nutrition also plays an important role in the healing process. Keeping your mouth clean from food debris around the extraction site is very important as well as not smoking. Smoking can cause complications after surgery as well as affect tissue health and bone structure. The initial healing period generally lasts about one to two weeks which the tissue will start to close up and heal over the site.
It does take longer, however, for your gums and bone to fully return to normal. By the third or fourth week after the extraction, the socket site should be mostly healed. You may see or feel a slight indentation still, but the site should be less tender. At eight to ten weeks, about two-thirds of the bone should be restored in the area. At four months, the socket should be fully restored with new bone.