Hoping for some answers almost 3 weeks post op
 

I've done a lot of research on this and I'm hoping I can get a response from Bryanna.

I am a 34 year old female. Decent health. On September 19th I had my 4 widsom teeth removed along with 2 molars, 4 teeth total on the right side and 2 on the left. Both molars has pretty decent cavities and were both broken. Surgery went well,'no complications. Around day 4 I began having terrible jaw pain only on the right side. I went to the OS and saw the dental asst she said I was healing beautifully. Fast forward to the next week, jaw pain is still there and some days I can barely open my mouth enough to get a spoon in. Eating of any kind is painful. Called the OS again, went in, had my extractions flushed, OS came in looked around said it all looked great and it was all normal pain that could last up to a month. This morning at 4:30am I woke up in horrible pain. I assumed I may have had some type of infection and I needed an antibiotic. Called the OS again, extremely embarrassed and asked if they could just call me in something. She said no I needed to come in if it was that bad. I explained that I couldn't afford to continue missing work for them to politely tell me I'm old and a slow healer. I told the nurse my one tooth had been abscessed before it was pulled but that I had taken an antibiotic a week and a half before surgery. She said no cause for an antibiotic. Fine. I don't have a fever or any infection symptoms. I read online that clove oil helps so I purchased some and placed it in the extraction sites. Burns like heck though. Since then the pain is a third of what it used to be and I am managing on .5 a pain pill. Did I or do I have a dry socket on top? I don't feel like the dentist checked the top sockets only the bottom. I know top socket dry sockets are rare, but possible. The jaw pain is much less but I can still barely open my mouth very wide. I feel like I can't keep asking for pain Meds but the jaw thing is really the worst part of all of it. Can I do anything? Is this normal pain with so many extractions on one side? Sorry for rambling I'm just at my wits end.

Hi Hokiegirl,

Yes, that is a lot of molars to have removed at one time and your mouth is going to take months to heal. The limited opening is typical because there is quite a bit of inflammation deep in the tissue and muscle surrounding that entire area of your jaw. Warm moist compresses a couple of times a day may help reduce that inflammation. Do not try to force your jaw to open wider as that causes more inflammation.

The pain you describe could be a dry socket. The OS would be able to tell you that is he took a look at all of the surgical sites.

A couple of things.... One, always insist that the OS evaluate your surgical wounds, never let the dental assistant do that irrelevant of her education. Two if you do have a dry socket, the clove oil may reduce the pain but be sure to water it down before placing it in the socket. This will still be effective but it will burn less. Use it twice a day.

Dry sockets are not at the surface of the wound. They are actually caused by the lack of blood in that area which causes the bone to become dry. So they are deep at the bone level. They can generally heal on their own if there is no other infection. But they can be very painful and can take several weeks or more to start to heal.

If you have an infection in the bone, then clove oil is not going to cure it.
So if you feel that you may have that and your OS is not giving you the attention you need, then seek an opinion from a different oral surgeon.

Bryanna