ANY DENTISTS ABOUT?

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Posting here for traffic. I assume pic will be in pending but I have uploaded one.
Does this look like dry socket please?
I feel ok just sore and a but run down but fine once I've had pain relief.
Thank you

Bump

If pain relief takes it off then it’s not dry socket.

Oh good thank you 😊

Looks like a healing socket with absorbable suture. Probably 2 days into healing when it looks a real mess, but this is normal. If painkillers are working then the socket is fine.
Follow the post op instructions to the letter, particularly the salt water rinses but don’t swish vigorously just hold it in the area for a minute, spit out and repeat several times.

Absorbable sutures are buggers for attracting and retaining food and bacteria. They are not quickly absorbed and I usually remove them after 5 days. It is possible to be allergic to them but the modern synthetic ones are less of a problem.

A dry socket is one where the blood clot has broken down and been lost prematurely. Suturing is done to reduce the chances of this but it’s not foolproof.

Dry socket pain is severe, doesn’t respond to painkillers and you will not be able to sleep well with it. It’s not actually an infection but the socket bony wall becomes exposed which causes severe pain. Taking antibiotics won’t prevent a dry socket. Treatment may include antibiotics but rinsing the socket ( by the dentist) and packing the socket with a dressing to protect the exposed bone is the best way of reducing pain.

Hopefully your socket will continue to improve and heal over within the next few days. They do look gross though while they are healing.

I’m not a dentist. But my husband had dry socket and he was in actual agony. No pain relief did anything and he didn’t sleep a wink. It was grim.

I had a back tooth out 11 days ago. I had ongoing pain radiating to surrounding jaw - and thought maybe dry socket. It looked just like your photo. I stepped up the salt water rinse everytime I ate. Regular pain killers worked. It’s only yesterday that the ache is gone! I figured too that having to have the jaw open so wide for the dentist to get to the tooth probably had impact on muscles/ligaments in the area.

My understanding is that if you’re wondering if it’s dry socket, it isn’t. Because if it is dry socket, you KNOW. (I.e it’s crippilingly unbearable)

Thanks all. Unfortunately the stitches aren't dissolvable ones but hey ho.
Just thought it was weird to still be very sore still. The wisdom tooth hooked and was very close to nerves so I may have permanent nerve damage too? But hopefully I'll be ok.

You’ve had a tooth removed. It’s normal to be sore afterwards

I understand that I was just worried. Thank you Robin.

Once you have the sutures removed it will feel a lot better. Your dentist will be able to check it out.
With regard to the pain you have to realise that a great deal of force is required to remove a tooth and often the socket walls are fractured during the process. If you’ve ever fractured a bond you will appreciate how painful this can be. It usually takes about 10days for bone to sort itself out and for the pain to resolve.
Post extraction pain will very gradually improve as the socket heals by secondary intention ( the skin cells migrate across the wound rather than like a clean incision where they knit the wound together) the stitches over a socket are placed to hold the clot in place that forms a network for cells to grow through. They do not bring the edges of the wound together as in primary intention.

Thanks all for your help. I was just so worried about work if it was the start of dry socket.