After an Extraction
For the first twenty four hours:
No Smoking
No Alcohol
No Hot or Hard Food or Drink
No Exercise or Exertion
Gauze
Bite on the piece of gauze in your mouth for a good half hour. This helps a blood clot to form. Some bleeding is normal, but if it starts again later bite on another piece of gauze.
Pain
As your anaesthetic wears off (you were anaesthetised, weren't you...?) take some paracetamol or similar. Your dentist will advise you. It is important not to take aspirin as it thins the blood, hindering formation of that blood clot I mentioned.
Salty Water
The following day, start to rinse with salt water. Stir a teaspoonful of salt into a glass of water and rinse the area around the socket regularly. This will help prevent any infection occuring.
What Happens if I Smoke, Drink, Eat Hard Food?
As a smoker, your blood flow is going to be poor to start with, and it will be more likely that your body will have trouble forming a clot over the socket. The blood clot is important because it seals the wound from the bacteria and stuff in your mouth, and allows the wound to heal. If you smoke cigarettes after the extraction, a blood clot may not form at all and that is called dry socket. Dry socket is agonisingly painful and smells dreadful. You don't want it to happen to you.
If you drink alcohol, you may cause inflammation of the wound. Besides, you're not supposed to drink alcohol when you've had anasthetic plus painkillers.
If you eat hard food you may get something stuck in the socket or dislodge the blood clot. If you eat hot food you may burn the wound (or, if you're still numb, the rest of your mouth).
Remember, you have an open wound in your mouth. Would you pour coke in a bullet wound on your leg? No? Well, be careful what you pour on the extraction wound in your mouth.
Why Are You Telling Me This Stuff? (A Disclaimer)
I work as a Dental Assistant in Australia. Giving post-operative care and instructions is part of my daily work. I assist in, on average, one extraction a day and I see perhaps one dry socket per month. These instructions are fairly generic and apply to every extraction we do. However, I am not a dentist nor am I your dental assistant; you should follow the instructions your own dental professionals give you after an extraction. If in doubt or pain, consult your dental professional.