Dry Socket Fairhope AL

If you have recently had a tooth removed and are experiencing pain that radiates up your face and jaw, you may have what is called a dry socket. To help alleviate the pain from dry sockets, contact Dr. Phillip Greer of Sweet Water Dentistry in Fairhope, AL. This article will give you a little more information about dry sockets.

For your gums to heal after an extraction, a blood clot must form to protect the socket. If your blood clot is disturbed or comes out, this causes the bone to be exposed and can be quite painful. The blood clot is just like a scab that forms when you have a scrape or cut. If you remove your scab, it hurts. The same goes for the blood clot that is in your socket. 

 There are a few ways to determine if you have a dry socket or if you are just experiencing pain from having a tooth removed. Typically, pain from having teeth removed will go away within 24 hours. If you develop a dry socket, however, you will start to feel pain anywhere from 3 to 5 days after your extraction. Pain with a dry socket takes weeks to go away and you will need to contact your dentist to have them treat it. At the dentist, you will have dry socket paste placed into the socket. This will help alleviate the pain you are experiencing and the paste will act as the blood clot to help the socket heal. 

If you want to avoid developing a dry socket after you have a tooth removed, you must follow the post-extraction instructions that are given to you at your dental extraction appointment. These include: avoiding smoking, drinking through a straw, drinking beer or soda, and swishing water around in your mouth.