Dry socket

[Judydreamsofhorses]

Hi, can anyone help, please? I had a tooth (lower molar) extracted last Friday. I was really uncomfortable all week, and when I went back yesterday for my follow up appointment the dentist said part of the clot had come away. She cleaned it out, then packed it with the brown iodine/clove stuff which starts with A - she said it would have healed up on its own if I hadn't been going back, and not to worry if the dressing fell out. I'm back in a fortnight for a scale and polish, and she didn't mention going in before then to have the socket re-packed. I felt SO much better after the dressing was in! Today about 3pm, it started really hurting again, but the dressing is definitely still there, and the horrible taste I'd been having hasn't come back. Should I just ride it out, or phone out of hours tomorrow? I'm doing salt water rinses and have oil of cloves which I have read is a "home remedy" for dry socket. Any advice gratefully received - thanks for reading.

Hi Judy - my sympathies. A dry socket is really painful but unfortunately it is just a matter of time and taking pain killers. You've had the right treatment but you should really stop doing regular mouth rinsing. Over rinsing often leads to the original clot dislodging from the socket resulting in the bone being exposed which is a dry socket. Once the clot has been lost the empty socket has to heal slowly from the bottom up. This can take time and you can expect the area to be sore for a several days but it will get better by itself. You may need to go back only if you think you have any pus (sorry!) draining from the area. Hope that helps.

Massive sympathy. I had this last year. Ended up taking three courses of antibiotics and the socket re dressed every five days for about three weeks. I was told not to mouth rinse.

Thanks for your replies.

twice the dentist told me to keep up the rinsing? (Only part of the clot was missing.) That is reassuring to know it should get better by itself, I am just so disappointed as yesterday/this morning was the first time I'd felt like myself since the extraction.

rufus that sounds horrific, you poor, poor thing - I wasn't offered antibiotics or told to come back, so I hope I'm okay.

I really would stop the rinsing. I am a dentist and always tell my patients not to rinse after extractions and just let nature do its thing. The mouth is a dirty, germ ridden place and I'm always amazed at how well it heals. Keep up the pain killers a regular intervals and you should get through it.

Yup. Stop the rinsing.

Thank you, twice - it has been a horror show over the course of a few months through a broken filling/failed root canal/extraction and now this. The extraction was apparently "difficult" with the tooth coming out in bits, and the nerve is all irritated from the whole saga so I'd been having (and still am a bit) referred pain along the bottom teeth which was really scary. My dentist has been amazing and so patient - I am a very anxious patient so I imagine a total nightmare for her. I actually put a card in the post today to thank her and the dental nurse for being so kind. (That was before the pain started up again!)

That was a kind thing to do. Sometimes providing dental care is a thankless task. Your dentist will really appreciate the gesture. I wish you a speedy recovery so you can put this awful saga behind you.

I could never do your job, twice. I am so grateful for her kindness and patience. I am also completely mortified by my nervousness and my weeping in the surgery (I got so worked up about the other teeth hurting and thought I would need the front ones out too, which is nuts as they've not had even a filling in them) so a card was the least I could do. I am a usually sane person, a grown woman, in a professional job, but I have a huge phobia of needles so the dentist is not my happy place.

I had a lower molar removed in December and it healed amazingly because for once in my life I actively decided to not be OTT with it. It had this disgusting white thing in the hole which I thought was food but I didn't touch it with my tongue or anything. Did a couple of salt water rinses but mostly just left it alone and tried to not overthink it and that's what really helped the most.

refilona I had white in my hole (!) plus could see the red clot, so I didn't think I had the dry socket and was surprised when she said. The one good thing to come out of all this is that I have lost a load of weight... I'm a lecturer so off for most of the summer and usually gain about 5lb by the end - this will be the first time I have gone back thinner!

I couldn't see the red clot - just white. It looked a little like bone too, but obviously couldn't be as it was at gum level. I swear the best thing is to just leave it and avoid having your tongue over there. The white bits eventually started getting loose (lovely I know) but I never tried to mess with it once and in about a week it was pretty much healed.
My mum was very surprised they didn't stitch it - apparently that is usually the case in continental Europe.
What are you going to do with it? I'm tempted to leave it but I've been told it messes up the other teeth and I should get an implant?

I am not a good candidate for an implant as I'm such a nervous patient. I plan to leave it for now, but asked about a removable partial denture. The dentist said I would be fine with nothing, and that what I've read about the other teeth moving, particularly the top ones growing down, was mainly via implant clinics. I actually have a gap on the other side, and she said my teeth haven't shifted at all in over 10 years. We're going to revisit it at my next checkup in six months - apparently if you get a plate immediately the gums shrink where the tooth was anyway so they only tend to do them on front teeth. I feel so ashamed about having misssing teeth, but hadn't fully understood that when a tooth gets a filling it's essentially on its way out. That tooth was filled when I was a student and I am now 44, and I feel like we did everything possible - at great expense! - to keep it, but it was really the end of the road. ironically, people often say what nice teeth I have, as they're very straight and white!

It's a really good point about a filling being the beginning of the end for a tooth. I have a sweet tooth and had been pretty cavalier about fillings, but all of my dental problems now come from teeth that are complicated by fillings.

It's a lesson I'll be ramming home to DD.

It's awful, isn't it?
People always compliment my teeth too. I'm 32 and the tooth in question is the only one that ever gave me any trouble. Think I've got a couple of other fillings but this one I had a couple of root canals (don't think it worked the first time and it cost me £400 7 years ago!). I had, occasionally, a bit of swelling in the gum next to it, had an infection which cleared with antibiotics but basically was sick of this tooth and had a weird rash on my jaw where the tooth was (apparently it's rosacea and unrelated!...) I asked the dentist to get it extracted.
Not sure it was the best idea but it's done i guess. I'll leave it too I think. It's right at the back just before the wisdom tooth so you can't really see it when I smile/laugh, I'll just leave it.
Hope you feel better soon!

That's the same tooth as me - my wisdom tooth behind it and the pre-molar in front really hurt now, but the dentist said it's the nerve being irritated and referred pain. I hope she's right. I started grinding and clenching my teeth at nights about six months ago due to stress (my partner was made redundant so things are difficult) and the filling in the tooth cracked, it was rebuilt, then it started really hurting, I had a root canal but the dentist couldn't get all the canals, it never settled, and now it's gone. The whole saga's been rumbling on since April - I am so sick of it now!

Ouch I had this when my wisdom tooth was removed. Heat helped with the pain - put a damp towel in the microwave for ten seconds and hold it against your jaw. Feel better