Dry Sockets

[ryan_d_sucks 0]

Holy Shit.

I got my wisdom teeth out on the 21st, and the past 2 nights I have woken up at about 4 or 5 am with excruciating pain in my jaw. I assume I have dry sockets. I thought people were babies about getting their wisdom teeth out, but this is fucking miserable. All I can do is keep popping the Demerol, but I will run out soon for sure. Of course its Christmas, so there's no way I'll get in touch with my oral surgeon until tomorrow at the earliest. Anyone here ever had dry sockets? Any suggestions? I can finally feel the pain slowly drifting away from the 2 pills I took about 40 minutes ago. I was feeling fine for the first 2 days after surgery, but now this shit is unbearable. Anyone else experienced this???

[jimmytavino 16]

"experienced this".....

yes to getting the w. teeth out.

no to the socket problem..
You MUST rinse the back of your mouth with salted water,,,, 3 or 4 times a day....!!!
Did your dentist NOT tell you that???
Put a teaspoon of salt into a glass of warm (not hot ) water...
Take a good sized mouthful... swish it around in your mouth so that it bathes those sockets, behind your molars... Do NOT swallow it... spit it out into the sink... continue until the glass is empty...do it a few times a day...

This will ease the pain,,,, help to prevent a hard scab from forming, help wash away clotted blood and basically keep that site open and moist so it can heal safely..
Pills do little to address the 'wound', and only treat the symptoms... My son had 4 wisdom teeth extracted the same day...a few months ago.
It IS tough the first few days. but you must follow these guidelines.
good luck.

jimmy

[rs2kmk5 0]

That sucks dude, had mine out a few years ago now.

I say the way forward is soup, and ice cream

Out of 10,000 feet of fall, always remember that the last half inch hurts the most — Captain Charles W. Purcell, 1932

[sweetmoose 0]

When I had my wisdom teeth out I didn't get dry sockets, in fact I was out drinking the next night, didn't swell up at all, but hope you feel better. Guess my jaw (or immune system) is just better than yours

We die only once, but for such a very long time.

I'll believe in ghosts when I catch one in my teeth.

[BlueSkiesKel 0]

ryan,
totally sucks man, been there, rest, take your pain relievers, and it will be done soon,
my wisdom teeth were taken out during surgery.. i had a cyst in the middle of my head where they cut through the roof of my mouth to get to it so they said .. what the hell we're cuttin your mouth up might as well take all 4 wisdom teeth out too, so 22 stiches in the mouth later..
talk about a painful 2 days after that one..
lost 11 lbs that week
but... alas its all done..

• Quote

[Gawain 0]

What he said 100%. Warm salt water several times a day will save you in the long run. Screw the pain killers too. Salt water several times a day, and Tylonol every 4-6 hours should do the trick.

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[kenz 0]

also sleep sitting up a little so the pressure is off of your face... i had a miserable experience... i didnt have dry socket but i had cysts around my teeth (weird i know) so they had to cut a lot more gum and scrape bones so it sucked - but sleeping elevated helped me a LOT - and so did falling asleep with ice on my face

"life does throw curveballs sometimes but it doesn't mean we shouldn't still swing for the homerun" ~ me

[PrairieDoug 0]

When I had mine out, the doc said "You'll be fine unless you get dry sockets." He implied it would be really bad news. Hope you feel better soon.

Doug

[AggieDave 6]

I had 2 dry sockets when I had my teeth pulled. The only thing that made the intense pain go away was the medicated guaze that the surgen put in the holes.

To help in the mean time I was taken the prescription meds at the max dosage on the bottle. Which I hated, I can't stand prescription pain killers.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Snowwhite 0]

I had my wisdom teeth out a few years back on Christmas Eve. When I woke up in the surgery area, some really bad singer was singing Christmas carols. When I finally got totally awake, I realized it was ME singing with the Muzak, and a mouth full of gauze.
I'm with Gawain on this, skip the pain killers. I still have the full bottle from my extraction, just in case I break something and decide to not go to the hospital.

skydiveTaylorville.org
[email protected]

[willard 0]

Man, that sucks! You have my total sympathy. My experience was all 4, lots of swelling, and soup for 3-4 days. Keep up the pain killers, another day or so and you should be fine. This is one of those things that is gonna hurt no matter what but, rest assured, it will get better soon. Call your dentist concerning the dry sockets...he may want to see them.

[sunshine 2]

Quote

The only thing that made the intense pain go away was the medicated guaze that the surgen put in the holes.

Ditto. I only had one dry socket but it was freakin painful. That medicated gauze really helped. Though it shocked the hell outta me when i went in to have it taken out. I couldn't believe just how much gauze fit in that hole.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[floridadiver81 0]

Quote

"experienced this".....

yes to getting the w. teeth out.

no to the socket problem..
You MUST rinse the back of your mouth with salted water,,,, 3 or 4 times a day....!!!
Did your dentist NOT tell you that???
Put a teaspoon of salt into a glass of warm (not hot ) water...
Take a good sized mouthful... swish it around in your mouth so that it bathes those sockets, behind your molars... Do NOT swallow it... spit it out into the sink... continue until the glass is empty...do it a few times a day...

This will ease the pain,,,, help to prevent a hard scab from forming, help wash away clotted blood and basically keep that site open and moist so it can heal safely..
Pills do little to address the 'wound', and only treat the symptoms... My son had 4 wisdom teeth extracted the same day...a few months ago.
It IS tough the first few days. but you must follow these guidelines.
good luck.

jimmy

I thank you for posting this. I jsut recently(within the past 2 days) starting getting a very mild pain coming from my bottom left wisdom tooth. I had the bottom right one removed during boot camp...2 days SIQ and about 7 pillow sheets later i was fine...but i was in pain....to the point of making my eyes water....not crying..jsut pain. After the holiday standdown im going to go to medical and have this one removed. Its not unbearable now..jsut enough to let me know its there..but i will do what you say in this thread and see if it helps me!

"Age has absolutely nothing to do with knowledge, learning, respect, attitude, or personality." -yardhippie
"Fight the air, and the air will kick your ass!!! "-Specialkaye

[LuvToFly 0]

Had two wisdom teeth out last year, and both of them went to dry-sockets despite meticulous care and feeding -

One note of caution however on the rinsing. When you rinse with the salt water you need to keep the suction you create to a minimum. People have pulled the normal clot-healing right out of the sockets from overdoing. Gently swish the salt water throughout your mouth -

"The helicopter approaches closer than any other to fulfillment
of mankind's ancient dreams of a magic carpet" - Igor Sikorsky

[Daizey 0]

Quote

You MUST rinse the back of your mouth with salted water,,,, 3 or 4 times a day....!!!
Did your dentist NOT tell you that???
Put a teaspoon of salt into a glass of warm (not hot ) water...
Take a good sized mouthful... swish it around in your mouth so that it bathes those sockets, behind your molars... Do NOT swallow it... spit it out into the sink... continue until the glass is empty...do it a few times a day...

This will ease the pain,,,, help to prevent a hard scab from forming, help wash away clotted blood and basically keep that site open and moist so it can heal safe

Umm..speaking from experience, you beed to be careful with this advice...my dry sockets came from rinsing TOOO much-and too hard-spitting out the salt water can lead to dry sockets-as can smoking, drinking carbonated drinks, and drinking through a straw. But sometimes you can do everything right and still get them.

As for washing away the clotted blood...do you know what a dry socket is? A "dry socket" occurs when the blood clot is lost from an extraction site prematurely. You do NOT want to wash these away! They form a scab which helps the gum to heal properly and protect the underlying structures in the extraction area. When the blood clot is lost before the underlying structres have had time to heal, the bone and the nerve endings are exposed.

Until you can see your doctor (I had to wait too as mine started on a fri and I ignored it till Sat night and the dentist was closed on Sun and Mon) try using a heating pad on it and continue to rest up. Even if it hurts continue to eat because your body needs strength to heal!

Feel better! After I got the packs (the gauze inside the holes in the gums) things got better really fast. Good luck!

*daizey*

[Lindercles 0]

You've gotten a lot of good advice here so far. The only thing I can add is stay away from elderly prostitutes. That's the worst kind of dry socket.

[kenz 0]

hahah what the fuck - that is the NASTIEST thing i have heard in a long freakin time - but i still laughed - you are horrible - that my friend is why ive got nothin but love for ya

"life does throw curveballs sometimes but it doesn't mean we shouldn't still swing for the homerun" ~ me

[Lindercles 0]

Hey, don't blame me. I don't analyze the jokes, I just tell 'em.

But thanks for laughing.

[peggs82 0]

Man...wisdom teeth blow. Made even worse by the people who have theirs out and experience no pain or anything!!

My pain.....

Of course in pre-surgery, they are obligated to tell you how if they screw up, you may loose all feeling in your face permanently!

Well of course my extraction was worse than most. I destincly remember flinching during surgery. The oral-surgen says, "you felt that?!?!" Then everything fades into a drug induced obliviion.

Pain...pain...pain.... I wake up at home in nothing but pain. frozen peas on my cheeks, pain killers in my stomach. However, I made the mistake of not eating anything at all. To compound the problem, I did not feel it necessary to drink anything either. Now, mix in high powered pain killers and you can immagine what follows. By the second day I began to loose control of my hands and felt every muscle in my body contract as de-hydration, low blood sugar kicked in... Finally get some fluids in me.

Now, remember the whole "no more feeling in your face permanently" warning they give you? Well 3 days later....no feeling in my face! You know when you start worrying about something, and pretty soon all it does is consume your thoughts? I'm boderline in a panic (maybe tweakin on the meds?? ) thinking I am never going to feel my face again. "Oh what did this ass hole do to me?!"

Well finally a day or so later, the swelling went down enough that pressure was relieved from the nerves in my face, allowing feeling to return...whew...

well feel better! we all know your pain!

[ying82 0]

i so got the wrong idea when i read the title of this post.

we're extremely fortunate
not to know precisely
the kind of world we live in.
-W.Szymborska

[masterrig 1]

When I had my wisdom teeth pulled, I got a dry socket in one of them. It hurt like hell. I went to the dentist and he packed a little ball of cotton in the socket and told me to leave it there for a couple days. The pain was gone immediately. Call your dentist and see about him looking at it.


Chuck