Re: Inside of cheek hurts after extraction

goldbanjo wrote:
On Dec 31, 2:00 am, New...@xxxxxxx wrote:
On Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:36:21 -0800 (PST), goldbanjo



<goldba...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Dec 30, 11:26 pm, Steven Bornfeld <dentaltwinm...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
goldbanjo wrote:
I had tooth #2 extracted on Friday, 4 days ago. At first it felt like
the crown was high but on Thursday night the pain started going to the
gum, not just the intermittent pain in the tooth which the dentists
felt was caused by a bite problem that they were going to correct. So,
I went to get it extracted and have had very little pain. I get the
stitches out this Friday. I don't have any pain in the socket area but
my cheek is slightly swollen, hurts less each day but when I lay on
that side for a minute or move my mouth a certain way, the inside of
the cheek hurts, then it goes away a minute later and I am pain free.
I touched it to see if that's where the pain is coming from. I am on
penicillin because the oral surgeon saw infection at the root when he
did the extraction and really in no pain except the inner cheek. I am
following to instructions exactly and using salt water. Is this
normal, to feel bruised on the cheek where the swelling is? How long
does it take to subside and is it okay to use moist heat or can that
worsen it? Anything I can do to hasten this?
Very common. Probably a bit of bleeding into the tissue. Warm saline
rinses may help, but mostly it's just got to run its course.
Steve
Thanks, Steve. I notice now that the clot looks dark red and only half
is covered with the whitish tissue. Is it all supposed to be white by
now? How many days does it usually take for that white/gray tissue to
cover the clot? I am a bit nervous now because I have some flashes of
pain near my nose/cheek and it's the 4th day. The office is closed on
Friday and I am scared of dry socket. If I get a twinge of pain, I
start fearing this. The office is open tomorrow but I don't want to go
if there is no real pain...just curious what the clot is supposed to
look like at this point and if it's supposed to turn all white.
First of all you need to relax dude !

Most common presentation of 'dry socket' is on the third
day, lower extraction, and younger females.

Don't use heat, use cold compress, ie. ice packs
no more than 20 min per application, and off for at
least 20 min.

The body knows how to heal itself, there is nothing
that you can do to 'speed it up' .
You can, however, prolong the natural process by
tinkering with the socket, worrying about it, and just
generally being a fussbudget.

The clot looks like, what it will look like, during healing.
IOW if it's there
!!! Leave It Alone !!!

Grab a pillow, a milkshake, a pain med, get comfy,
and put on your favorite music or DVD.

Kick back, relax, and sleep already !!!

Hi Bix,
Thanks for the sane advice. I am listening to my favorite DVD in
fact, trying to relax and haven't touched the site, just looking with
a flashlight and mirror. My plan was to get this tooth pulled on a
Monday so I'd know they wouldn't be closed for 6 days but things
happen and it's scary when there's a holiday. I do have a question
though. The post-op *** says after the first 24 hours of ice, use
moist heat but you said use ice now. Is that your exprience, that the
ice works better even on the 5th day?

My second question is unrelated to this extraction....when you say
usually younger females get dry socket, I have read that the older you
are, the more chance of dry socket with lower wisdom teeth (my next
possibility, but in the midst of 2nd and 3rd opinions)...can you
clarify this? I have also seen a study that says complications are
less when the tooth is horizontally impacted but when the dentists see
my x-ray, they get so alarmed at the position. Is horizontal impaction
worse than other angles...I know it depends on the position of the
nerve but their opinions were based on an x-ray in which they couldn't
see it. 60 yrs old....but I think you remember me :-( Thanks a lot.


Anyone can get a dry socket. They're much more likely after lower wisdom tooth extractions, esp. in smokers.
Newbie is much more of an expert on extractions than I am, so he can comment--but generally the difficulty of the impaction relates not only to the inclination of the tooth, but the depth of the impaction. Presence of the second molar also affects things. Deep distoangular impactions are also tough.
You have to distinguish between the difficulty of the extraction pe se and the chances of complications (trauma to the inferior alveolar nerve, pathologic fracture etc). IOW, your dentists should be able to tell you why your wisdom tooth is so alarming.

Steve
.

Loading