post wisdom teeth removal infection?
 

Hello,

A little over a week ago, I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. The surgery went fine as far as I can tell but I had really bad pain for the first four days. Days 5-7 were pretty ok pain wise. One of my sutures fell out on their own. However the other 3 are still there. Anyway I began feeling something in between my gum and my cheek. I assumed it wss just my stitches finally becoming loose but when I went to check, I ssw that bmy gums, both top and bottom on my left side had white patches on them. Kind of like thrush. And where my top wisdom was extracted from, I have a long blister of sorts hanging down. It doesnt hurt much but it bothers me. It also seems like my gums healed over my stitches because I can only see the knot and nothing else. I also have sn ulcer on the inside of my left cheek. I've been taking antibiotics but they don't seem to be working. Does anyone know what kind of infection it could be? Thanks

crathof,

I am in the dental field and can offer you some information here.

It is common to develop sores after extractions and they may get worse for the next few days before they get better. Some white patches of skin are normal unless they look thick and/or are covering a large area. The blister is not common and needs to be checked. Also, it is not good if the gum has grown over the sutures, that needs to be checked also. It sounds to me like you may need to be more diligent with your tooth brushing and flossing as you you may be building up plaque and inflammation. Also, you should only be using salt water to rinse with, no mouthwash or peroxide.

It is best to see the oral surgeon for a post op evaluation and not assume this is going to improve on it's own.

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna
Hope you don't mind me asking a dumb question:
what is proper way to rinse? Do I just swish around with the salty water? How much water should I use and for how long to hold the water inside my mouth?
my oral surgeon instruction asking me to use Listerine mouth wash to rinse. I wonder why? Thank you

warm salt water

Hi ono8ono,

Your question is not dumb at all.

Salt water rinses should contain:
Use 1/4 tsp of salt in a full 3 oz size cup of warm water. You can add a bit more salt but it's usually not necessary. Never swallow the salt water, just gently spit it out. It's okay not to spit it all out.

Twenty four hours after the tooth extraction:
Just gently slosh or push the rinse around the mouth 3-4 times that day. Each mouthful of rinse should be about 30 seconds. Spit out gently.

The third day due the same thing but slosh the rinse by gently puffing out your cheeks to move the water around more .

By the fourth day, you can start to swish the salt water rinse by puffing out your cheeks to move the rinse back and forth and from side to side. Continue to do this 3 times a day until the wounds close over.

Rinsing with Listerine... this is unfortunately still prescribed by some dentists and it should not be. It is prescribed without giving consideration to the fact that Listerine and other products like it not only kill bad germs but they kill the good ones as well. You need the good germs to heal the surgical wounds and you don't need the chemicals to dry out the socket. So using Listerine can actually pre dispose the user to a dry socket. Salt water rinses are ideal and will do exactly what is needed to keep the germs in check and heal the wounds.

I hope this is helpful.
Bryanna

Thank you very very much Bryanna for the salt water specific. I have been using 1/4 teaspoon salt with 8 oz warm water since Tuesday evening after my #19 extraction. I'm going to change the ratio. Hope it is not too late.

Now I just see blood clot formed there and I notice my oral surgeon didn't use any stitches. Is this normal practice?

My oral surgeon's after surgery instruction is to rinse with Listerine or Scope to reduce the risk of infection and dry socket formation. Anyway, I'm glad I did not use my Listerine to rinse because the Listerine I got already expired in 2012. Thank God for that.

ono8ono,

Yes, please do not use the listerine or scope to anything similar. The salt water will keep the area clean and not interfere with the healing. If your oral surgeon should question you about not using listerine or scope, tell him you did not want to kill off the good bacteria and that's why you chose not to do it. He can't argue, logically, with that reasoning.

You can use 8 oz of water, but just double the amount of salt to 1/2 a tsp.

Not all tooth extractions require sutures.

Bryanna