I am having quite a bit of pain on my right lower jaw after having my wisdom teeth removed. I was wondering if you'd be able to help me figure out some of my questions that I have. I'll go through the days of post-op just to fill you in on some details.

I had all 4 wisdom teeth surgically removed on May 14th. They were all impacted. I was under IV sedation and it took about 30 minutes. They gave me vicodin and ibuprofen for pain.

The day of the surgery I felt fine. Didn't have any heavy bleeding after I took the gauze out. Had some swelling. No bad pains or anything.

2nd day I started swelling more. I noticed 2 hard lumps under my cheeks. Couldn't really open my mouth. The pain wasn't too bad, the medicine made it go away.

3rd day I looked like I gained 50 lbs in my face and was in quite a bit of pain and decided to get seen in by a doctor again to make sure everything was okay. He said I had a little bit more swelling than usual but that everything looked fine. I asked him what the lumps in my cheeks were and he didn't really give me a straight answer. He prescribed me Clindamycin 2x 150mg every 6 hours.

4th day I was still very swollen and in a lot of pain. Pain medicine was helping but once it was close to wearing off I was almost in tears. The lumps were still there, hard as a rock.

5th day I decided to look inside my mouth under a good light, I noticed some discharge coming out of my right bottom cheek and it would fill the side of my mouth. Pressing on my cheek didn't make more come out. Not sure what was making it come out but it happens randomly. Kind of salty tasting. I took a q-tip and dipped it in there and it had a reddish tint to it as well. It sort of had a smell but very faint, nothing strong or noticeable. By this day I'm in a lot of pain and medication isn't really making it go away. The swelling has gone down considerably but the lumps are still there. Still in pain.

6th day In a lot of pain. Noticed that the left cheek is also doing the discharge but doesn't seem to be doing as much. The lump on the right cheek has gone down quite a bit, but still producing quite a bit of discharge. Pain meds are helping some, but I have an aching/throbbing sensation on my lower back right teeth/jaw.


I gargle with salt water about 3-4 times a day. I also use the mouthwash the oral surgeon prescribed in the morning and at night. I'm trying to figure out if this is an infection or a dry socket, or an abscess.. or what's going on. I can't even see any holes in my mouth, especially on the top. They didn't give me a syringe to clean out anything. The discharge hasn't stopped (I don't know if it's pus or the lumps draining??) and my jaw is in quite a bit of pain. The lumps are still there, I have no idea what they are and what's inside them. Please help! Thank you so much Let me know if you need any other details.

Lady Purrfect - I had your same/similar experience; and as well, I worked as an assistant in oral surgery. What you describe sounds very much like you could be having, post-op, what is called 'dry sockets', which requires prompt treatment, beyond the Rx antibiotics.

If an oral surgeon did your extractions, contact that same office a.s.a.p. re: your dental emergency.

Hmm, I figured that's what it might be. I will have to go to the ER as we don't have an emergency dental place, they just refer you to the emergency room.. hopefully they'll be able to help me there. I was going to wait to go back t the dentist tomorrow but I'm tired of having all the aching pain

Thanks so much

I contacted the oral surgeon and he said it sounds like a dry socket. He said to come back in the oral surgery dept tomorrow and they will clean out the socket. He told me I could get a normal oral syringe and do it myself, so I tried but honestly I don't even see a hole so I'm not even sure where I'm supposed to be squirting it into. I definitely can't see my top holes, let alone anything up there so I can't clean those out either.

Hi Lady Purrfect,

Don't be concerned about using the syringe. Keep rinsing with the warm salt water only. Stop the other mouthwash for now as it could be causing further irritation. It is wise to see the oral surgeon asap.

Let us know what he says tomorrow.

Bryanna

I went back to oral surgery today and they actually performed an I&D. I didn't have a dry socket after all!

Hi LadyPurrfect,

Okay, so you did have an infection. I assume he put you on antibiotics and recommended to continue with the salt water rinsing??

Hopefully it will start to feel better soon. Keep us posted on how things are going...

Bryanna

Yes he prescribed me a few more days of the Clindamycin that I am already on, and will continue with the salt and water. I feel better already, I don't have that aching/throbbing pain anymore.. now I just have normal "incision" pain that is helped by the pain medication.