Dry socket, also known as alveolar osteitis, is a painful complication that can occur after tooth extraction. The condition is caused by the exposed bone in the socket being irritated and can result in a foul-smelling discharge from the mouth.
Dry socket develops when the blood clot at the site of surgery disintegrates or is dislodged. This condition can cause severe pain extending up to the ear. The socket may smell bad. The pain from a dry socket may last for several days.
It can help eliminate bacteria and reduce or prevent further infection. The Mayo Clinic recommends dissolving ½ teaspoon of salt into 8 ounces of warm water. Swish this around in your mouth for a minute, or use it to flush out the dry socket with a syringe your surgeon gives you.
Another common symptom of a dry socket is a bad or sour taste in your mouth. This can be one of the first signs of infection, so don't let that smell linger without taking swift action. Swish warm salt water or a dentist-recommended rinse in your mouth gently before getting on the books at your local dental office.
It can last for up to 7 days. By following your dentist's instructions carefully, dry socket can usually be prevented.
There's no infection, swelling, or redness. However,, it's a painful condition that takes a long time to heal. Once a tooth is extracted, and if the blood clot gets dislodged, it is basically raw bone on all sides. That is why dry socket can be so painful and why people think they have an infection when they don't.
Dry Socket Symptoms
A deep, throbbing pain or pain that cannot be managed with over the counter medications indicates the presence of a dry socket is likely. A foul odor coming from the mouth or a foul taste in the mouth is another sign. In some cases, patients can even see exposed bone when looking in the mirror.
When Can I Stop Worrying About Dry Socket? Until the full recovery of your extraction site, a dry socket can form if you fail to follow the care tips. Usually, a week (7-8 days) after wisdom tooth extraction, you can stop worrying about a dry socket as gums take this much time to close fully.
Medicated dressings: Your dentist or oral surgeon may pack the socket with medicated gel or paste and medicated dressings. These can provide relatively fast pain relief. The severity of your pain and other symptoms will determine whether you need dressing changes and how often or if you need other treatment.
Dry Socket Symptoms
Dry socket is often followed by throbbing and severe pain which can make any activity such as eating and drinking unbearable. It could also lead to swollen gums and pus in the area as a result of the body attempting to fight the bacterial infection.
You may see white or yellow pus form after extraction. Pus indicates that there is an infection. Other signs of infection include: Persistent swelling.
If left untreated, dry sockets can become extremely painful and lead to complications including delayed healing and infection that spread to the bone.
Having pain after your surgery is expected and common. Pain may last up to two weeks after surgery. It is highly recommended to take two Advil or Motrin immediately when you get home. Keep the narcotic pain medications for bedtime.
In most cases, dry socket will heal on its own, but as the site heals patients will likely continue to experience discomfort. If you do choose to treat dry socket at home, you need to clean the wound with cool water, irrigate the socket with saline, and keep gauze over the socket.
Bad breath after a tooth extraction is sometimes caused by bacteria infecting the wound left by the extracted tooth. Many forms of oral bacteria create foul-smelling chemicals that are carried out of your mouth by your breath. In these cases, the bad breath is often accompanied by a fever, pus, and severe pain.
Prevention methods include avoiding smoking before and after surgery and a traumatic surgery, the use of antibiotics, such as, azithromycin, can be considered, chlorohexidine rinse or gel can be effective in the reduction of dry socket incidence.
The most common dressings used are SaliCept, a hydrogel, Dressor-X, made of cotton gauze, or medicated dry socket paste. Dressings are “packed” lightly into the socket and provide immediate pain relief. They typically remain in place for three to five days.
During normal recovery, your pain should steadily decrease over time. But instead of getting better, pain from dry socket will get worse over time. Dry socket pain usually starts a day or a few days after surgery.
After a tooth extraction, you should develop a blood clot in the socket (hole) that's left behind. It'll look like a dark-colored scab. But if you have a dry socket, the clot will be absent and you'll be able to see bone. For this reason, dry sockets usually appear white.
A dry socket can either be partial or complete, that is, only a portion of the blood clot is destroyed or the entire blood clot is affected. The pain often will radiate to the ear and is caused by exposed bone that is not covered by a clot or new tissue. A dry socket is neither an infection or an ear problem.
Normal pain after tooth extraction subsides progressively within a week. However, dry socket pain increases every day and becomes excruciatingly painful, especially if something touches the nerve endings. Pain will not subside and becomes unbearable. You may also notice bad breath.
If you've recently had a tooth pulled, you may notice something white form in your tooth socket. In most cases, this white material is granulation tissue , a fragile tissue made up of blood vessels, collagen, and white blood cells.
Signs of infection after extraction
Instead of the pain getting better from the extraction, it gets worse. The bleeding continues for more than 24 hours. Experiencing an unpleasant or foul smell coming from the mouth. Seeing discharge in or around the area.