Originally Posted by Bryanna

Hi tommylee,

How very cool about your lengthy career in music and having your own CD! Thanks for sharing that piece about yourself

Okay ... so you had a hair lip and cleft palate. No doubt you are very familiar with having oral surgery. Do you have your own lower teeth or were they removed also?

Have you been able to wear your upper denture since the recent extraction? Sometimes the denture acts as a band-ade over the extraction site. This can be both good and bad. Depends on the individual circumstances. Do you remove your upper denture when you sleep?

Fours days is early for the sutures to come out. It's best if they stay in for about 7-10 days. But it's not unusual for them to fall out sooner. They do not necessarily have to be replaced if the site is healing okay.

Being able to see the gelfoam does not mean you will end up with a dry socket. It may actually be a different type of collagen plug that the dentist soaked in an antibiotic. The purpose of using the collagen is to help hold the clot in the socket underneath the plug. So seeing that plug is not a bad thing.

If you develop an increase rather than decrease in pain, swelling, or other onset of symptoms that you have not had so far, then see your dentist. Continue with the gentle salt water rinsing until you feel things are progressing nicely and you can increase the vigor of the rinsing. Also, if you are wearing your denture, please be sure that it is clean before you put it in.

I hope things improve with each day. If not, then don't hesitate to see your dentist.

Bryanna