Jan,
Generally, the ideal at home oral care for tooth extractions is to avoid over chewing and eating food that will get lodged in the socket which means eating a soft food diet, rinse with warm salt water a few times a day and leave the site alone until the gum tissue heals closed. Unless there is a specific reason to keep repacking a socket or to suggest to aggressively use the syringe to irrigate underneath the flap of the healing tissue.... those things are not necessary and best to avoid doing.
I really think he should be explaining to you his reasons for this aggressive post operative care.
FYI... your general dentist will most likely be clueless as to the reasons why the OS is doing this as I said, it is not the norm. Also your general dentist will probably not want to get involved in this current situation because he has no idea what actually transpired during the oral surgery.
Regarding the upper extraction site... are you feeling sharp, throbbing or dull pain..... intermittent or constant .... more when you lay down, stand up, after eating or just at random times .... is it in the socket itself or in the sinus area above the socket or near the ear???
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by JG1993
Hello,
Yes, I fully understand that. That has been a big reason why I've been questioning the frequency and duration of the packing process. The packing in mine have not fallen out at all, I think he packs it quite deep inside the socket and it stays in even when I eat. I really have no idea what to do, I will wait until Tuesday and have all the packing removed then hope for the best and let my body heal naturally - I hope. The top extraction site has been feeling strange as today has gone on and it hurts. I do not want to consult the oral surgeon about this as I really do not want him to put any packing in it and call it a "maybe dry socket" and I have a feeling that is exactly what he would do. I wonder if I should go to my regular dentist and have them take a look at it? I'm scared he disrupted the natural healing that was taking place up there when he packed it and now I'm worried about an infection.
I will ask him next time I go in what he was using to pack the sockets, although once it's all out it wont really matter, will it? I have one other question... he has told me to use the syringe to flush out the sockets once the packing has been removed for good. I understand this is common practise.. but he also wants me to use the syringe to push the gum apart - pry it really... for 6 weeks so it can heal from the bottom up and not close over from the top... is this normal? Is it really normal to PUSH my gums apart and not let them close to prevent an abscess?!
Thanks a lot for your correspondence with me! 
Jan |