Hi there,

Please can someone help me. Im not quite sure what details are needed, so i'll give all details I can think of.

Im a 32yr old male from NZ, physicly strong.
Its Saturday morning, I went to the dentist Mon just been, needed to have a tooth removed, top left, next to wisdom tooth (wisdom tooth was removed about 3yrs ago due to rotting). I had this tooth removed as it had also started rotting and some of it had crumbled away. It took the dentist 40mins to get the tooth out. this consisted of the nurse having to hold my head still while the dentist used pliers or something, along with other instruments, to push the tooth back and forth to loosen it, to such an extent that by the time the tooth came out, he was left with bruising on his hand from pushing on the pliers so hard, and he said he was so exhausted he was unable to pull a second tooth on the other side of my mouth which we had orginaly planned to do also. He said they are among the biggest roots he has ever seen, due to so much pushing and pulling on the tooth, my gum is pretty mangled, instead of the gum curving down from where the tooth was and back up to meet the inside of my cheek, it just goes flat across. He told me it would be quite uncomfortable for the next 2 days, but its been like 5 days, I still cant eat on that side, I cant brush that side of my mouth up the top, im having to take panadol or ibprofen every 4 hours to stop the constant aching, and every night I wake around 3am when the pills wear off in the most unbelievable pain, I wake with tears in my eyes, not from crying, but just simply from the pain. Even talking can be quite unconfortable which is no good as I am in an office and deal with clients all day long, because of this i've taken the past few days off. Sometimes the aching is so bad it brings on headaches. The aches arent just from the gum, but basicly my whole jaw, and also the teeth next to it, top AND bottom.

I realise this is no doubt just something I will have to deal with while it heals over the next couple of weeks or so, but if anyone has any tips, advice, or ideas on correct pain killers etc....The pain I wake up to is intense, and I find myself lying there for another hour while I wait for the panadols to kick in.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and for any advice anyone can give me.

Maty

Hi Maty,

I am a dental assistant perhaps I can offer you some help here. First thing is.... it is too soon to be eating on that side. Even if the dentist sutured the site closed, there is still a large wound where the tooth was removed. Food debris can get lodged in there and cause an infection. Avoid eating on that side until the gum tissue has completely healed closed which could take several weeks. Since you have been trying to eat there and you are having so much pain, it might be wise to go see the dentist to see if there is anything caught up in the surgical site.

Also, you could have what is called a dry socket. This is when the initial blood clot becomes disturbed and the area becomes dry to the bone. This can happen for a variety of reasons and difficult extractions can contribute to this condition because there may have been a lack of adequate bleeding during the procedure. It's possible that the clot never formed properly and/or the area could have residual infection or could have become infected since the surgery. Smoking and/or drinking alcohol..... rinsing your mouth with mouthwash that contains alcohol will all contribute to this condition. A dry socket needs immediate attention from your dentist or the surgical area will not heal properly.

So my suggestion would be to see your dentist to rule out post operative complications because it is not normal to have this much pain on day 5 of an extraction.

Keep us posted!

Bryanna