Should I try to flush out infected tooth socket myself?

[PureBlackVoid]

I had a tooth out 2 weeks ago, things seemed to be going well. A few days ago my face swelled up, including under my eyes. I couldn’t tell whether the white/yellow stuff in my tooth was healing tissue or infection so I’ve just carried on with salt rinse and using corsodyl. Rinsing isn’t shifting it, and I have some pain in my ear now.

I was on antibiotics a month ago, for another (upper wisdom) tooth I’m having out soon, but the dentist mentioned that it might not be fully cleared up, just reduced so I’m wondering if its the same infection developing further and further.

I have had pain on and off in the surrounding gums/teeth, but I put this down to bruising (curved root, not an easy extraction).

The gunky stuff seems to grow (not oozing out), not a very nice smell or taste. I’ve wiped the top of it a few times when it’s above gum level. It feels very irritated, and wiping some of it off seems to relieve the pressure (but I must admit I’m also still fearful of exposing a dry socket!). Sometimes I manage to a little create a gap down the side of the gunk, and the hole still looks fairly deep.

It’s more yellow with some black bits in it now. I’ve googled as much as I can, and from what I can gather, at this point the wound should be starting to close, not full of gunk?

Can’t get into the dentist for a few days and I’m a bit worried about leaving it festering, especially as I’ve had new swelling and pain in my ear.

Could I do more damage than good by flushing it out with a syringe?

Any other tips? I am taking pain killers, but sometimes when the pain is manageable I’m trying to give my body a break from them as I’ve been on them for nearly two months now and they wreak havoc on my stomach😞.

I’ve tried taking a pic but I can’t get a clear one up close.

I'd go to A and E. Infected teeth that are causing your face to swell can be dangerous and lead to sepsis.

No! You need to go to the A&E Now. I was in the same position last year. They will flush it out a remove any gunk and restart the healing process.

Oh dear, not sounding good for me..
The waiting times at a&e are over 9 hours. Even dp, who had to be wheeled out of work due chest pains recently, ended up waiting longer.

I also called 111 after hours of severe tooth pain and swelling a couple of months ago (the pain was in my eyeball at this point) and they told me I just had to wait for a dentist appointment in working hours. I could try them to see if I can get a referral for a quicker appointment.

I wouldn't take any chances. My neighbour ended up in intensive care with an absess; sepsis can be fatal.

OP you need to still go to the A&E. My story is LONG and I don't want to go into details about what happened to me last year as i'ts very triggering but it was bad. Yes I know the wait times are dreadful but you can't wait x

Can you call your dentist and ask to be seen urgently?

I'd personally call your dentist and see what their advice is.

Go to A and E now.
It's almost a triangle of death, if your ear and eyeball hurts, then something is swelling or spreading, that area of bone is like honeycomb, so infection spreads fast. Go now!

I went to a&e recently but I went at 5am. I was seen within 20 minutes.
If there is any way you can get there after 10/11pm (like no childcare issues) you might find it’s much less waiting time than day time / evening.

That said from what PPs are saying above, it’s serious and I’d just go now. Take a bag with book, ear pods, charger, drinks, cash, lip balm and a pillow!

At the very least, call your dentist. Explain swelling is radiating to your eye/pain to ear. They SHOULD see you (we would at our practice, without fail) Its signs of infection or even cellulitis and if untreated can worsen. If they don't see you today i would be heading to A&E.

Don't try and do it yourself, contact the dentist who did the extraction and tell him/her that your face is swelling and you need to be seen.

Ring your dentist and if they can't fit you in ask where your nearest dental hospital is and how to get an emergency appointment. I had a wisdom tooth out a couple of years ago and everything was fine until I got dry socket. I haven't felt pain like it. I called 111 and 4 hours later had an emergency dental appointment at the hospital where they cleaned it out and packed it with some disgusting tasting/smelling stuff but it did the trick and cleared up the infection.

Surely the infection is coming from the inside and can't be "flushed out"? I would get it looked at properly.

Your best bet is the original dentist. But asap. But based on what others are posting, A&E seems reasonable. Take food, drinks and books and camp out there for the duration.

Sounds awful. Hope you're sorted soon.

Thanks all. I have managed to get an appointment for tomorrow morning. I’m still itching to clean out the gunk myself, just to feel some relief, but I won’t incase I make things worse.

How did it go @PureBlackVoid

Hope all went well op.

I had an extraction a while back and diligently photographed the healing process. After two weeks it was partially filled in, the circumference of the hole was smaller and it was pink inside, no gunk, and definitely no pain. So what you're experiencing definitely isn't right, which I think you know.

I really hope your appointment went well and you're feeling better now.

Hi all, so it turns out I had dry socket. Was shocked as although I’ve had pain on and off, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I feared and painkillers did the job (which apparently isn’t usually the case with DS)

So it’s been cleaned out, he poked around to get it to bleed again and now it feels better. Huge difference to how it looked the day after my tooth was out (I have a feeling the clot never formed properly because it did look ‘empty’ by the next day, with some white stuff in it, but because I didn’t have any pain until around day 7, I didn’t think it was DS)

It looks a lot healthier now, I just hope I don’t wake up to another empty socket!

Glad you were able to sort it out. They gave me a syringe thingy to clean the debris from the socket and that kept it clean for me the 3rd yes 3rd time around it finally healed.

Very pleased you've got it dealt with by your dentist. Fingers crossed you don't have this problem from here on!

Glad you got it sorted. I had dry socket and it was the worst pain I've ever experienced

Sorry to hear that. I actually posted a day or two after I had it out, as I was terrified of getting dry socket, and the general consensus was I’d know if I had it due to the pain. So I’m very grateful I didn’t experience it the worst of it.

This morning it looks different again, there is a bit of a lump above the gum line and there is a bit of a film over it (still doesn’t look anything like before, no gunk, just a darker colour than the rest of my gums). I don’t know if it’s the clot coming out, or it could be the packing being pushed out, or just normal!

Well, I think it’s the packing that’s coming out. Brownish with something that looks like threads in it.

I hope it doesn’t take the clot out with it 😩