Hello everyone, I encountered this place after performing numerous google searches and I kept coming across this board. I noticed the people here were very friendly and helpful, especially Bryanna (I hope she sees this).

I had my wisdom teeth removed last Wednesday (27th). The week prior to that I was started on a 10 day 1200mg a day of Clindamycin due to an infection in one of my wisdom teeth that was cracked. I had reasonable pain the day of surgery and the following day. Around Friday afternoon I noticed an increased intensity of pain, I was told there was nothing to worry about. By Sunday morning the pain had increased even more it felt like a jackhammer being taken to my jaw and the pain radiated up into my ears and my head. I did some research on the internet and based on the symptoms I thought I might have dry socket.

I saw the surgeon on Tuesday for a f/u they basically asked was it the worst pain I ever had in my life, and I had to say honestly no but it certainly wasn't something that was remotely tolerable without taking 2 percocet ever 6 hours. They took a quick look and said, no you don't have dry socket but you do have some food debris back there. They gave me a syringe and told me to keep taking my pain meds and irrigate the area with warm salt water.

Now here's where things are confusing to me. I went home and irrigated the area and they were right there was a lot of debris in the sockets. Upon irrigating I could actually see inside the sockets, I noticed one of the sockets had a yellow/brownish color on the inside of it (different side from the one that had the cracked tooth) and this funny colored debris would not come out no matter how many times I flushed it. So I figured it was a blood clot or scab. I continued to have the same level of pain for the following days.

Today I go for a f/u and reported everything was still the same symptom wise, they say well we'll go ahead and treat you for dry socket. They look inside my mouth and they say oh you have an infection inside that socket. They put the syringe deep down into my socket and forcefully pushed the salt water from the syringe (it was so painful, I'm tearing up now just thinking about it) so now I'm on another round of antibiotics and of course still taking pain medication around the clock.

This whole thing is taking longer than I was originally told and I HAVE to be back at work on Monday. I can't afford to miss anymore time out of work. Is it possible for me to go the ER and perhaps get some antibiotics by IV? Would this form of treatment work faster so that I can be remotely functional by Monday? And the other thing that's really bothering me is could the surgeon tell whether or not I had dry socket WITHOUT irrigating the area first so they can see into the socket? I know this is a long post but I wanted to explain the situation as thorougly as possible. Thanks in advance for any help that can be provided.

Hi Nicm,

You have the classic symptoms of a dry socket... and this is from the onset of the increase in pain 3 days after the extraction.

Did the oral surgeon actually exam you or did his assistant? If not, he should have. Did he pack the socket(s) with a medicated piece of gauze?

I would suggest that you see another oral surgeon tomorrow as an emergency. They will most likely debride the socket and pack it with a medicated medicament.

Dry sockets can heal on their own, but the pain can last for several days or more and the bone may not heal properly on it's own.

Also, it is not the best idea to be irrigating the sockets with any force for the first two weeks post op because this alone can disturb the formation of the clot and dry out the bone. Also, do not irrigate or rinse with anything other than salt water..... no mouthwash.

I'm sorry if you were not informed properly by the oral surgeons office about the post op care ... or taken care for properly.

Please try to see another OS tomorrow.

Let us know how you are.
Bryanna

Hi Bryanna,

You are such an angel!

When I saw him on Tuesday and mentioned the dry socket symptoms that was when he asked me was it the worst pain in my life? He said on a scale of 1-10. I said about a 8 or a 9 and then he asked what was the pain level after taking percocet and I replied probably about a 7. So I guess he felt since I had reduction in pain after taking the pain medication that I didn't have dry socket. *shrugs* He didn't irrigate the area or anything he just took a quick look inside with the small mirror and told me to stay the course with my pain meds and etc.

Today he conducted a more thorough exam and that's when he said I had an infection inside the socket. That was when he pushed the syringe deep down into the socket and forcefully pushed the salt water into the socket (I guess that's the debriding process?) It was so painful, it felt like something inside my mouth had exploded. He had me spit the debris into a cup and I saw a bunch of hard brown pieces inside the cup. He didn't pack the socket with anything after doing this he basically told me to keep doing the salt water at home and continue the pain meds and start the antibiotics ASAP.

Hi Nicm,

Again, all of your symptoms including the elevation in pain are classic of a dry socket and the preferred treatment is to debride the area (this is more than irrigating it with his syringe) and then pack it with a pre medicated sterile piece of gauze. That would bring you instinct relief. This packing is usually removed and redone a few times within 7-10 days.

When the oral surgeon debrides the socket for the initial packing he scraps the bone a bit and the tissue to get it to bleed so it forms another clot. The dry socket occurs when the original clot has been disturbed and the bone literally becomes dry.

As I said, a dry socket will eventually heal on it's own but it can be painful for many days and the bone may not heal properly.

I am sorry to tell you all of this after the fact .... your oral surgeon should be the one explaining this to you.

How is the pain today?
Bryanna

Hi Bryanna,

Thanks for following up and explaining everything to me. I definitely didn't have debridement. Oh my God what you described makes me shudder! The pain level is still the same but it isn't worse, so I guess that's a good thing. I've still been irrigating gently with the warm salt water, taking my antibiotic and using the prescribed mouth wash as directed by the OS. I still have a nice size hole where my tooth was but it's my understanding it takes a while for it to fill. I took a flashlight and looked inside the hole, I didn't see anything down there so at least there isn't any debris stuck in there. My only concern is I've noticed more swelling in the gum surrounding the hole and two small white/yellowish bumps on the gum as well.

Nicm,

Yea, you have a dry socket. However, at this point it may be too late to debride the area because it is trying to heal on it's own and it's not always a good idea to intervene at this stage. So you may have to just tough it out and hopefully the bone will heal okay. I'm sorry you were not informed of problem at the beginning and have had to endure this pain.

The swelling around the gum and those bumps could be irritation from the irrigating that you have been doing. Ideally, an extraction site should be thoroughly debrided at the time of the removal... then if necessary 1-3 says later... and then left alone. I would try to avoid eating on that side of the mouth, irrigate it only once a day before you go to sleep and rinse with the mouth rinse that the dentist suggested. See if that helps at all.

Keep checking in ok...

Bryanna