Tooth Extraction and Blood Clot question
 

Hello,

Last thursday (7 days ago) I extracted my 1st molar bottom right because the dentist said i had an abscess. He did offer Root Canal treatment first but since I have no insurance, I wanted to extract this molar and focus that money on other things in my mouth. I haven't been to the dentist for 20 years since I thought I was doing fine, and thought my daily hygiene was gonna prevent me from having cavity issues.

Anyway, 1st day of extraction, it went well but I had a bad pain after the numbness was gone. I took advil. No antibiotics were prescribed. I also stopped bleeding early in the next morning. Now here is my issue, I've been having pain every night around 3 am and every morning. The pain during those times are controlled if I take ibuprofen 400mg every 4 hours but of course if i don't, the pain comes back. I developed this gray skin over the days and I did my best not to spit, sneeze, rinse (tho i moved saline water around my mouth) or eat on the extraction site, yet I've had the pain as if it was a toothache.


Yesterday I visit the dentist and he tells me that my gums are healing fine but the blood clot got pushed up a bit? Not sure what he meant but he put in some cotton gel or something and said that will help the blood clot stay inside. The assistant though was mad when I told her that on the 4th and 5th day i ate a bit of solid food such as bread or pasta. Also my job requires me to talk on the phone a lot, so pronouncing letters such as S and C did hurt me quite a bit and I do wonder what made my blood clot push up.


So today, is my 7th day. I wake up to pain at 5:45 am, I take 600mg ibupofen but had some pain through the next 7 hours. I just took 2 more pills now which helped because suddenly I was starting to have pain in the end of my Jawbone near the ear. It's some burning sensation. This very same pain I had it two weeks ago when I started taking Azithromycin to combat the tooth infection before tooth extraction. It was a pain located right at the end of the jawbone somewhere near the cheek.

So back to my questions are, is it normal to start seeing the sinking of the white/gray skin into the hole in the past couple of days? Am I safe from Dry Socket? Can eating on the other side and swallowing food still cause the blood clot to come out any time? Last, is it normal to still have toothache-like pain in early mornings and late at night when in bed?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Hello,

I'm answering my own thread to update since i haven't gotten an answer in the past few days.

The extraction site i think is healing well... I mean the only reason i assume that is because i no longer see the white skin, now in the hole i see pink gum, same color as the rest of the gum around it. This morning when i woke up i mistakenly stretched real hard and it hurt my mouth. My spit was brownish.

But i'm updating because again of this toothache pain that i've been getting since the extraction.

24hrs to 5 days: Pain was itchy, uncomfortable. I was told it's because my site is healing but in the evening and morning I would wake up to toothache-like pain in the extraction site. In the evening, ubuprofen 400mg takes some time to work and same in the morning but it depends. It works best during the day.

5th day Dentist: I went in because i wanted him to look and tell me if all was healing. He said the gum looks fine but the blood clot was coming out a little so he pushed it or something and used some cotton gel thing to seal the site. He said this will help with the healing but now my healing will take just a little bit more time. He didn't prescribe any other painkillers. Said i should continue taking ibuprofen.

5th day to 9th day (today): My brain isn't functioning properly. I think it's all the ibuprofen i have been taking daily since February due to 2 colds and 1 flu followed by the toothache for 2 weeks before extraction. I forget things and can't carry not even my computer bag because it's just so heavy. I can't walk fast cause I'm tired non-stop and just have 0 mood for everything. Unfortunately I failed my exam because I couldn't focus. The gum is healing well or so I think but there is some inflammation around the top canine and 1st molar. (the extraction site is of the bottom 1st molar). I believe the inflammation is due to this gum issue i had previously to the extraction where the gum was hanging a bit over these two teeth.

The pain description: So this is the pain i've been having and I can't understand why the dentist wouldn't tell me what it is. Everyone around me look at me wide eyed when I tell them I still have pain after tooth extraction. The pain is around the canines. Both top and bottom. The extraction site and in the jawbone near the cheek and ear, with ear pain sometimes. Going 1 year back. I broke the corner of my 1st molar and didn't do anything about it for two months. When the toothache began, dentist said the cavity reached the nerve and i will need root canal or extraction. I heard some bad things about rootcanals so I opted for extraction and implant. Well i couldnt extract the tooth then because when the pain went away after 5 days I got busy with school. No pain since because i never truly ever again ate on the right side of my mouth. A notable pain that came along with the toothache was this jawbone burning pain. It would go away with the meds during them 5 days period.

One year later (4 weeks ago) The pain returned. The same week i was put on antibiotic for 5 days until extraction, the jawbone pain returned, only more intensely than one year ago. Even though the toothache was painful I never found myself crying because of it. I cried because the horrible pain my jawbone was causing near the end of the jaw that leads to the cheek bones and ear. So 5 days later I finished my 5 days of antibiotics and the jaw pain stopped as it came with it when i started taking them. The week of the extraction I had to skip. I suffer from anxiety and I just freaked out but rescheduled for a week later (Last week, extraction week).

This jawbone pain is being here ever since. If i open my mouth it aches and returns and is more noticeable during the evening when I'm sitting working on my computer like every other night. Like mentioned before, I can't think straight lately and I've had problems forgetting, maybe again due to the ibuprofen i've been taking daily. I don't know what's going on anymore. I have been sleeping sitting in my bed for 3 weeks now but the simple contact with anything against my head triggers this jawbone pain that gives me pain in the extraction site. I don't know if this is all normal. Maybe i have forgotten to mention things that may help people answer my issue but for now this is what it is and i just don't know what to do anymore. I'm supposed to have my teeth cleaning this monday but at this point i can't even do it since i'm still aching.

The pain i have is not too much to make one cry, but enough to make you feel miserable because you can't study, can't work, can't think, can't function, to the point of wanting to just knock your head against the wall and loose consciousness till this is all over.

Hi kompose,

I'm sorry for the delay in replying to you. I do try to keep up with everyone here in between my busy schedule with family, work and school.

I am sorry you are enduring such pain. But because you have not had dental care, including preventive care in over 20 years, there is a good chance that the radiating pain may be associated with other teeth. For a variety of reasons many people avoid seeing the dentist until something forces them to go. I'm not judging or questioning that, I'm saying that I understand because I have been working with dental patients for over 30 years.

I would suggest that you skip the cleaning for now as your mouth is still vulnerable from the extraction and you've got enough inflammation to deal with right now. However, I would also suggest that you schedule a comprehensive examination and full mouth series of x-rays to determine what else is going on as you may have some other issues that need to be addressed which could be causing or contributing to your pain.

If you have not had a professional cleaning in 20 years, you are most likely going to have a lot of hard calculus at and below your gum line which in of itself causes inflammation and pain. So having the full examination will help determine the type of cleaning that you need as well as what else is going on.

I'm sorry I cannot be of more help to you but due to your particular circumstances, you need to have a full evaluation to know what is going on as it may or may not have much to do with the extraction site.

I hope I have explained that clearly. Please keep in touch here and let us know how things go with the examination.

Bryanna

Hello thank you for answering,

Actually you do make sense. I'll call the dentist to schedule a full xray examination. I asked him to do one when I went for tooth extraction but he said he would just use the one from last year. I found that weird to begin. He said he will just take more xrays on the day I go for dental cleaning. But I'll be insisting for one when I call.

Yes the only time I actually went to the dentist for any other thing was back in 2005 when I had done a certain procedure where the dentist goes under the gum lines to clean the tartar. I did some google research now and found out it was called: Scaling and root planing.

I would like to ask you though and I know it will sound dumb but is tooth cleaning good for the teeth on the long run? To be brutally honest, the only reason to why I've never had it done and opted for home hygiene instead was because I've heard that the dental cleaning done by dentists usually ruin the enamel of the teeth. This same dentist that extracted my tooth and who i went to visit for the xrays one year ago, used the xplorer to examine my teeth and i can tell you i've noticed a scratched mark on one of my front teeth. It's not exactly a hole but i think the xplorer did poke something on this one tooth and in between the front teeth because I've only noticed that about a week after my dentist visit.

Hi kompose,

If you had a full mouth series of x-rays one year ago, this is 18-20 small dental x-rays and not less, then he may only need to take 4 new bite wing x-rays now. Please be certain that it is a full series and not just a mini series of 6-12 xrays as that is not adequate. Also, the small periapical x-rays and bite wings are more diagnostic for detecting cavities than a panoramic x-ray. Just so you know.

If you have had a scaling and root planing in the past, then this indicates that you build up a lot of calculus and it would behoove you to have your teeth cleaned at least twice a year to prevent that build up from happening. When calculus builds up along and below the gum line, bacteria adheres itself to the calculus which can result in root decay, gum disease and permanent bone loss.

Professional cleanings with a hygienist does not remove enamel from the teeth or damage the teeth in any way. Bacteria from plaque and calculus is what causes the enamel to erode resulting in decay and infection.

The explorer instrument cannot penetrate or remove hard enamel from the teeth. It can penetrate decayed or soft enamel. So you may have a cavity or the beginnings of a cavity where you see that hole or line on your front tooth.

Bryanna