So I had a tooth pulled on August 27th that was bothering me slightly. A year prior I had bit into an egg roll that ended up having a piece of wire in it. It cracked my tooth slightly and after while the tooth decided to cave in on itself promoting me to make a dentist visit once it became super painful. The dentist visit wasn’t more than an hour. I ended up have a horrible reaction to the novocaine and epinephrine mixture they give you prior to the extraction, and when I say horrible reaction…I threw up all over myself, the nurse, the floor and the chair. It was awful. Then my blood pressure decided to skyrocket to the point that the nurse was ready to call an ambulance. Fast forward an hour and a half and finally the effects of the reaction wear off and I’m plenty numb to get through with the extraction. The extraction wasn’t long at all, maybe 15 minutes. The dentist had to break the tooth to get it out and I wasn’t in much pain. I paid, left and headed home. Everything was great until the next morning.
I knew something was wrong because when I woke up my face was so painful. I had a fever and I was so nauseous. Of course being the type of crazy person I am, I hopped right onto Web MD. I began examining my mouth in the mirror and of course! The lovely little nasty blood clot that had so fabulously formed in there was gone…completely! I could see jaw bone!
So of course, that prompted the FIRST visit out of THREE. They filled my tooth with this nasty tasting dry socket paste and sent me on my way. The Nausea got worse and by the next day I was BACK to the ER, there I was diagnosed with a jaw infection and a severe case of Dry Socket…Of course, that’s my luck.
I went to the ER last night because It was the 4th day that I couldn’t eat or drink anything. Everything I drank or ate came back up almost immediately. So sitting in the ER last night until almost 9:30 they pump me full of Antibiotics, Nausea Meds and Fluids via IV. I felt GREAT! Came home and ate, drank and went right to sleep!
Today I wake up all swollen again, dizzy and with a migraine that makes it so I can barely think.
Let me tell you! Dry Socket SUCKS! It affects your jaw, your mouth, your eye, your ears and even your neck. It’s this constant throbbing pain and guess what the best part is! There is pretty much NOTHING that can be done! Oh and, by the way, did I mention it can take over 10 days to heal? That IS if you don’t end up with complications like dehydration and a jaw infection like little old I ended up with.
While I was hoping to try and provide you with some helpful at home tips to help with Dry Socket. I have not been able to come up with any yet! The best thing I can come up with is Clove Oil…use it religiously! It works great for a few hours and needs to be applied often. None of the OTC stuff worked for me. I highly suggest following every single direction your dentist gives you! You do NOT want to end up with dry socket.
Here is the breakdown of what dry socket ACTUALLY is
The socket is the hole in the bone where the tooth has been removed. After a tooth is pulled, a blood clot forms in the socket to protect the bone and nerves underneath. Sometimes that clot can become dislodged or dissolve a couple of days after the extraction. That leaves the bone and nerve exposed to air, food, fluid, and anything else that enters the mouth. This can lead to infection and severe pain that can last for 5 or 6 days.