the gum tissue 16 although an extraction site is shown for a tooth having only one root i e a bicuspid those skilled in the art will understand that the invention may be utilized on any extraction site within the mouth including teeth having two three or four roots after extraction the jaw bone 15 and incised gum tissue 16 are exposed to the environment in the mouth which in addition to possibly causing pain to the patient can lead to infection and debris in the extraction site and thereby delaying or preventing healing in order to place a dressing upon the surgical site or wound a portion 7 of the blister packaging 4 is opened and an irradiated adhesive dressing 8 preferably sterilized e g with between 25 and 55 kgy of gamma irradiation is removed in this manner the other dressings e g 1 in the packaging 4 remain sealed and sterilized referring to fig4 a 4 b 5 a and 5 b the dressing 8 may be trimmed to a desired size and shape preferably matching the contours and dimensions of the area to be covered e g the gingival tissue at and adjacent to the wound site it is also preferable that the dressing not overly interfere with oral function e g speaking for example in fig4 a the dressing 8.