Does anyone have experience with this? Any tips on how to deal with it besides pain medication and packing the socket? I'm on a high dose of pain meds but it still doesn't seem to be cutting out the pain completely, and it starts hurting again before its time to take another pill. I saw my dentist yesterday and today and he packed it but the packing keeps coming out. Is there anything else I could try, this pain is excruciating. =\
I had dry socket with my wisdom teeth. I went back to the oral surgeon and they filled it with some nasty cream out of a syringe. I had that done twice. Definitely stay on schedule with the pain meds. It is brutal if you get behind. They are no fun. Hoping you feel better soon.
Keep them packed and don't rinse them out. Dry socket is when you don't have any clots or anything in there to protect the jaw bone from exposure to the air. They pack them to promote healing and limit air exposure. Don't swish with any liquids, don't use straws or anything that involves sucking (this is your get out of BJ free card), and try to keep debris out of there by limiting foods that can get stuck. It sucks so much, but all you can do is keep taking the maximum pain meds and ice on the outside of your face (not in the mouth) to numb the pain. I tried to sleep as much as I could when I had mine (x4... it sucked). In about a week I was feeling better.
I work in a dental office and I agree with everything that ChrissieMeas said. Don't rinse it out, nothing with a sucking motion, etc. The packing that we use to treat dry socket in our office has clove in it, its supposed to be soothing. It also helps create a "false" blood clot. Try to keep it in place, or you may need to go back and get it re-packed. As far as pain, are you taking a prescription? You can always try combo of Tylenol and Ibuprofen. The Tylenol is the pain reliever and the Ibuprofen is the anti inflammatory. I hope this helps!!! Keep us posted on how it goes!!
@kmvw I am on prescription meds. He at first gave me dilaudid to help with the pain, but I couldn't take care of Mackenzie and take that so I stopped taking it. Now he has me on loratab 10's. it's helping but it wears off before I can take another one. I did call the office today and told them that and he said he'd allow me to start taking them every 5 hours instead of 6, so we'll see how that goes.
@chrissiemeas did you say 4?! How did you eat?? Omg I have so much respect for you right now. I feel like I'm on my deathbed with only 1.
@kittend that's how I feel! I already hate the dentist and have extreme anxiety before appointments so this isn't helping.
@emmanemm Yes, 4, but I was in college on break and didn't have any responsibilities. I slept as much as I could. You get mad props for dealing with this AND a baby!
I had mine all taken out (in college, on break like chrissiemeas.. thank god) and got dry socket in the bottom two. They packed the two holes with this gross clove coated gauze. I think I had to leave it in there for a few days then I could rinse. Agreed, no rinsing and no sucking (teehee, I'm 15, guys), ice packs, pain meds and sleeeeppppp.
Re: Dry socket.
Definitely stay on schedule with the pain meds. It is brutal if you get behind.
They are no fun. Hoping you feel better soon.
@kmvw I am on prescription meds. He at first gave me dilaudid to help with the pain, but I couldn't take care of Mackenzie and take that so I stopped taking it. Now he has me on loratab 10's. it's helping but it wears off before I can take another one. I did call the office today and told them that and he said he'd allow me to start taking them every 5 hours instead of 6, so we'll see how that goes.
@chrissiemeas did you say 4?! How did you eat?? Omg I have so much respect for you right now. I feel like I'm on my deathbed with only 1.
@kittend that's how I feel! I already hate the dentist and have extreme anxiety before appointments so this isn't helping.