To ask for your tooth extraction advice

[MrsBDarcy]

Other than not eating any sugar of course. Now regretting every sweet thing I've ever eaten. I've just had to have a tooth out as an emergency and feeling very sorry for myself having not had this before. I had awful teeth as a kid but mostly got on top of them years or ago with no fillings in years. The dentist was so lovely but it was quite traumatic and the numbing stuff is wearing off and I'm so scared of dry socket as my husband had this a few months back and was in such pain with it. What can I do to best improve my chances of quick healing ?

Ow... my MIL is a great believer in salted water for tooth and throat infections...

I’d try to avoid any food that could get in the hole!

Don't rinse your mouth out. Eat on the other side if possible,you don't want to remove the clot that will fill the hole. As an ex dental nurse I've seen patients wanting to rip their head off after a dry socket. That said, most people don't have any trouble after an extraction. Try not to worry too much, have some paracetamol if you need it when the numbness wears off. It's bound to feel a bit bruised for a couple of days.

No straws or smoking or anything else that involves sucking or creates suction in your mouth.

Nothing very hot and nothing fizzy. Chew on the other side and avoid bitty food like rice that might get stuck.

Wait 24 hours then start doing warm salt water rinses 3 times a day but don't swoosh it. Just let it run over the extraction site. No mouthwash for a week. Just salt water.

Your main priority is not to dislodge or dissolve the blood clot in the socket as that is what protects it. You lose that before the bottom and walls of the socket have healed over, you get dry socket.

Ibuprofen will take down the swelling and inflammation so I'd choose that over paracetamol or codeine if you need painkillers. You can take 3 of the normal 200mg ones if needed, its a safe dosage as long as you don't have any medical reason not to.

Eat soft foods and rinse after eating to stop you from poking your tongue around the hole. Take ibuprofen and paracetamol to take the edge off the pain. I have big sympathies op, I had my wisdom tooth taken out yesterday and I've had a cold compress on my face most of today to try and reduce the swelling.

After they took out my wisdom teeth (two at a time) I spat out blood for three days, it sucks. Stick to easy foods (I was told to eat ice cream by the dentist... I'm not that fond of ice cream, it's too sweet for me, so didn't eat a lot for a couple of days). Lukewarm mashed potatoes and soup is a good option.

No bitty food like rice that might go into the space.
Liquids only if possible.

Gently rinse with salt and water after 24 hours.

I'll take that as a green light to eat ice cream. Don't feel like anything yet though.
I hope your wisdom tooth (or rather its socket) heals well

I need a nice drink to have tonight (when I've stopped dribbling() that isn't wine.

Oh god, I'm due an extraction for an impacted wisdom tooth and dry socket terrifies me. Hope you feel better soon OP

Sadly I'm a veteran of having teeth out . I've lost about 8 now, I think . I have never suffered dry socket although I know someone who has.

Pretty much what others have said

No exertion today . No alcohol for a day or two. Don't swill out your mouth for 24 hours . Eat soft food on the other side of your mouth. Soup, mashed potato . Don't eat anything like rice where you have small particles that could get stuck in the socket .

Sleep on an extra pillow or two tonight .

From tomorrow swill your mouth very gently with salt water , twice daily for the next week . Literally just hold the water in your mouth over the area that needs to heal. Don't swish it around .

Paracetamol and/ or ibuprofen for pain. Ibuprofen is meant to be good for the swelling , personally I've found paracetamol more effective for the pain, but you can alternate them .

MrsB (and others) did you have an initial consultation and then come back for the actual extraction? My mum keeps saying they'll remove my tooth in the first appointment but that doesn't sound right. I want to mentally prepare!

My dental surgeon told me not to brush my teeth for 24-48 hours. As others have said just be very very careful about sucking anything. No straws no smoking. I was told to rinse with lukewarm salt water and gently hold it in my mouth and shake my head to move it around then lean in to the sink and let it dribble out.

Dry socket happens when the clot forming in the void is dislodged so just be mindful of that at all times and treat the inside of your mouth like a fragile priceless treasure.

Rest up
Gentle gentle rinse with salted water
Don’t swish it , just have in mouth and dribble out
No fags no booze no coffee
I’ve had two ones (they really are grim !) and managed to avoud dry
Lots of painkillers
And rest

And yes stuff like mash , blended soup , plain yog
It’s a small diet and detox , win win

@HeyDemonsItsYaGirl I went as I had abscess forming and swelling in my face. No real toothache but when I got there he said "right you're here for an extraction " but did talk me through options. Ultimately he said I'd lose it in 5-10 years anyway and there's no advanced root canal treatment right now there so I said just do it.
I'm in bed. It's not too sore yet but I feel swollen and dribbling blood

I've never heard of this in my life. Is it quite a rare thing?
I had a tooth removed, received no after-care advice from the dentist, and it was fine.
Fingers crossed for you OP

eatsleepread
No it's not rare as such, but you're unlucky if it happens to you. I think dentists are more likely nowadays to tell you how to look after your socket after an extraction.

I had a tooth extracted earlier this year. It basically splintered as it was removed and took about 1/2 to extract.

My jaw was swollen for 2 weeks. I survived on painkillers, scrambled egg chopped up and eaten with a teaspoon, tinned chopped up spaghetti and rice pudding. Managed to get make it up to noodles and apple crumble with custard after a week.

I drank warm chamomile tea which was really soothing as I felt v sorry for myself.

I also stopped wearing a bra and only wore ultra soft joggers and sweatshirts and slept loads, which helped my mental health.

I went to the shop in the way home and was most miffed they’d only let me buy 1 pkt of paracetamol and 1 ibuprofen.

I had a wisdom tooth out 12 days ago. Still a bit tender but i dud go through an ordeal. Took 50 mins to get it out and i think my ache is more muscular.

No smoking, no sucking and no spitting.

I still eat on the other side, shit scared of eating crisps as they would just stab the hole.

Rinse with mouthwash and salt water. Eat foods that won't stick in the hole - ice cream, yogurt, broth without bits. Cycle paracetamol and ibuprofen. If you have any signs of infection, call 111 or go to a dental A&E (rare but it happened to me).

I don't feel too bad. Slept ok with cocodamol
Missing my morning coffee though ☹️
I'm really scared of how it'll look now as well as the fear of dry socket.
It's a gentle throb so hopefully it'll stay that way - not had painkillers since during the night. Thanks for all the advice. My puppy is chewing on his yak chew and grinding his teeth on it. Making me wince and a bit jealous as I fancy food but not sure what to have. DH bought soup but lumpy soup. I e got yoghurt. Might go buy eggs

Dry socket is mostly related to smoking OP. Don't worry about it too much. Avoid drinking with a straw and rinsing the area too vigerously

Bathe the area in saltwater for 5 minutes at a time 4x a day until the socket is closed over. You can eat relatively normally, pasta is fine. Eggs are fine, sandwiches, cottage pie, fish. You just don't want to be eating crusty bread or crisps.

You can have your morning coffee.

Take paracetamol and ibuprofen (with food) for the next couple of days and you can use an ice pack to prevent swelling

You can have coffee, OP, just don't make it the surface temperature of lava. Bit of extra milk and it'll be fine.

Only foods I'd avoid are scratchy foods like crisps and bitty stuff like rice. You can eat all the usual stuff like sandwiches and roast dinners and the like. Though I might give stuffing and peas a miss.

Another advocate of regular salty water rinses here.

Just got through dry socket - makes the pain of childbirth seem insignificant!

Salt water rinsing after every meal, I would also avoid foods likely to get stuck in the hole, I had a lentil lodged in mine! Second trip to the emergency dentist and a course of antibiotics later I'm fine. If you can only eat (smooth) soup for the first 3 days it might be better even though that's not official advice. I need another out so dreading it, but the dentist was right to do one at a time I suppose (wisdom teeth)