How to avoid getting dry sockets after wisdom teeth removal

After you visit our doctors in Pasadena for your wisdom teeth extraction, your body will naturally develop a blood clot over the surgical site. This is your body’s way of protecting and healing your jaw bone and nerve endings. However, in some circumstances, this blood clot can become dislodged and if it does you will end up with a painful condition known as dry socket. Dry socket leaves Pasadena patients with intense pain in the open socket where the tooth used to sit, and along the nerve endings that go across the sides of the face. Our doctors want to help you avoid this painful condition, so keep reading to learn some important tips to keep the pain away.

Table of Contents Show

• Call Our Pasadena Office Today
• From Mayo Clinic to your inbox
• Risk factors
• Complications
• How do you prevent dry sockets after wisdom teeth?
• How long after wisdom teeth Am I at risk for dry socket?
• What percentage of people get dry sockets after wisdom teeth removal?
• Is it easy to avoid dry socket?

As you will see, the occurrence of dry socket is mostly attributed to a sucking motion or eating hard foods before you’re cleared to do so by our doctors. When you leave Lytle, Tate & Stamper after your wisdom teeth extraction, be sure to follow their instructions to a “T” so you will heal well and avoid dry socket. Here are some specific tips to avoid this painful complication after wisdom teeth extraction:

1. Do Not Use Straws
Avoid using straws for at least one week after your wisdom teeth extraction to avoid causing dry socket. The sucking motion required to use a straw can dislodge the much- needed blood clot covering your surgery site.

2. Do Not Smoke
Pasadena men and women know that smoking is bad for your health – in every way. And your oral health is no exception. When it comes to smoking after wisdom teeth extraction, you should go ahead and decide that you won’t do it. Smokers have a very high risk of developing dry socket after the procedure because the fast inhalation and smoking motion can dislodge the blood clot from the surgical site. And don’t think that cigarettes are the only culprit. Smoking anything can dislodge the blood clot, and trust us, the pain that comes from dry socket isn’t worth the risk.

3. Eat Soft Food
After you visit our doctors in Pasadena for your wisdom teeth extraction, you should maintain a liquid diet for the first day. After that, it’s important that you ease yourself back into your normal diet. Only eat soft foods for the first few days such as applesauce, mashed potatoes, and bananas. Do not eat anything crunchy or hard until our doctors have given you the okay.

4. Practice Proper Oral Hygiene
Our doctors will send you home with specific instructions on how to properly care for your mouth after your wisdom teeth extraction. These instructions will include proper oral hygiene guidelines. You won’t want to brush your teeth with a toothbrush the first day after your surgery, but instead, you should gently rinse your mouth. Remember, you don’t want to do anything to dislodge the blood clot from your surgery site. However, keeping your mouth clean with good oral hygiene will help prevent infection.

Call Our Pasadena Office Today

If you’ve been experiencing pain from your wisdom teeth and think you may need to have them extracted, or you’re already on the books for a removal, knowing how to avoid dry socket is one of the most important things when it comes to tooth removal. Trust us; you don’t want to experience this painful complication.

If you have any questions, or you think you may have an infection at your surgery site, call our doctors at their Pasadena office today at (626) 792-3161.

Overview

Dry socket (alveolar osteitis) is a painful dental condition that sometimes happens after you have a permanent adult tooth extracted. Dry socket is when the blood clot at the site of the tooth extraction fails to develop, or it dislodges or dissolves before the wound has healed.

Normally, a blood clot forms at the site of a tooth extraction. This blood clot serves as a protective layer over the underlying bone and nerve endings in the empty tooth socket. The clot also provides the foundation for the growth of new bone and for the development of soft tissue over the clot.

Exposure of the underlying bone and nerves results in intense pain, not only in the socket but also along the nerves radiating to the side of your face. The socket becomes inflamed and may fill with food debris, adding to the pain. If you develop dry socket, the pain usually begins one to three days after your tooth is removed.

Dry socket is the most common complication following tooth extractions, such as the removal of third molars (wisdom teeth). Over-the-counter medications alone won't be enough to treat dry socket pain. Your dentist or oral surgeon can offer treatments to relieve your pain.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of dry socket may include:

• Severe pain within a few days after a tooth extraction
• Partial or total loss of the blood clot at the tooth extraction site, which you may notice as an empty-looking (dry) socket
• Visible bone in the socket
• Pain that radiates from the socket to your ear, eye, temple or neck on the same side of your face as the extraction
• Bad breath or a foul odor coming from your mouth
• Unpleasant taste in your mouth

When to see a doctor

A certain degree of pain and discomfort is normal after a tooth extraction. However, you should be able to manage normal pain with the pain reliever prescribed by your dentist or oral surgeon, and the pain should lessen with time.

If you develop new or worsening pain in the days after your tooth extraction, contact your dentist or oral surgeon immediately.

Causes

The precise cause of dry socket remains the subject of study. Researchers suspect that certain issues may be involved, such as:

• Bacterial contamination of the socket
• Trauma at the surgical site from a difficult extraction, as with an impacted wisdom tooth

Risk factors

Factors that can increase your risk of developing dry socket include:

• Smoking and tobacco use. Chemicals in cigarettes or other forms of tobacco may prevent or slow healing and contaminate the wound site. The act of sucking on a cigarette may physically dislodge the blood clot prematurely.
• Oral contraceptives. High estrogen levels from oral contraceptives may disrupt normal healing processes and increase the risk of dry socket.
• Improper at-home care. Failure to follow home-care guidelines and poor oral hygiene may increase the risk of dry socket.
• Having dry socket in the past. If you've had dry socket in the past, you're more likely to develop it after another extraction.
• Tooth or gum infection. Current or previous infections around the extracted tooth increase the risk of dry socket.

Complications

Painful, dry socket rarely results in infection or serious complications. However, potential complications may include delayed healing of or infection in the socket or progression to chronic bone infection (osteomyelitis).

Prevention

What you can do before surgery

You can take these steps to help prevent dry socket:

• Seek a dentist or oral surgeon with experience in tooth extractions.
• If applicable, try to stop smoking before your extraction because smoking and using other tobacco products increase your risk of dry socket. Consider talking to your doctor or dentist about a program to help you quit permanently.
• Talk to your dentist or oral surgeon about any prescription or over-the-counter medications or supplements you're taking, as they may interfere with blood clotting.

What your dentist or oral surgeon may do

Your dentist or oral surgeon will take a number of steps to ensure proper healing of the socket and to prevent dry socket. These steps may include recommending one or more of these medications, which may help prevent dry socket:

• Antibacterial mouthwashes or gels immediately before and after surgery
• Oral antibiotics, particularly if you have a compromised immune system
• Antiseptic solutions applied to the wound
• Medicated dressings applied after surgery

What you can do after surgery

You'll receive instructions about what to expect during the healing process after a tooth extraction and how to care for the wound. Proper at-home care after a tooth extraction helps promote healing and prevent damage to the wound. These instructions will likely address the following issues, which can help prevent dry socket:

• Activity. After your surgery, plan to rest for the remainder of the day. Follow your dentist's or oral surgeon's recommendations about when to resume normal activities and how long to avoid rigorous exercise and sports that might result in dislodging the blood clot in the socket.
• Pain management. Put cold packs on the outside of your face on the first day after extraction and warm packs after that, to help decrease pain and swelling. Follow your dentist's or oral surgeon's instructions on applying cold or heat to your face. Take pain medications as prescribed.
• Beverages. Drink lots of water after the surgery. Avoid alcoholic, caffeinated, carbonated or hot beverages for as long as your dentist or oral surgeon recommends. Don't drink with a straw for at least a week because the sucking action may dislodge the blood clot in the socket.
• Food. Eat only soft foods, such as yogurt or applesauce, for the first day. Be careful with hot and cold liquids or biting your cheek until the anesthesia wears off. Start eating semisoft foods when you can tolerate them. Avoid chewing on the surgery side of your mouth.
• Cleaning your mouth. After surgery, you may gently rinse your mouth and brush your teeth, but avoid the extraction site for the first 24 hours. After the first 24 hours, gently rinse your mouth with warm salt several times a day for a week after your surgery. Mix 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 milliliters) of table salt in 8 ounces (237 milliliters) of water. Follow the instructions of your dentist or oral surgeon.
• Tobacco use. If you smoke or use tobacco, don't do so for at least 48 hours after surgery and as long as you can after that. Any use of tobacco products after oral surgery can delay healing and increase the risk of complications.

Jan. 25, 2017

How do you prevent dry sockets after wisdom teeth?

How long after wisdom teeth Am I at risk for dry socket?

What percentage of people get dry sockets after wisdom teeth removal?

Is it easy to avoid dry socket?