Do I have dry socket?!
Question:
Do I have dry socket?
Tonight is day 3 following my wisdom teeth removal. I just started noshing on some more solid food today, and am feeling minimal discomfort. I ate some ground meat, and later discovered a piece stuck on the extraction site. After removing it carefully with a toothpick, I was suprised to find a hole about 1-2 cm across! I see nothing inside, and there is no discoloration or discharge. I am actually feeling more pain on the other side. Is this normal? Should I continue to eat solid food?
Answers:
Dry socket is actually marked by SEVERE pain coming from your removal site, not just minimal discomfort. It is caused my an inflammation of your surgical site. For now, you are just fine to eat solid food or whatever you are comfortable with, but also following oral surgeon's orders.
The hole you saw is completely normal; you will have one on each side. Your next follow-up with your oral surgeon is probably within a week of your surgery. They will use a small plastic syringe to irrigate your pockets (holes). Don't freak out, but just about everything you ate in the last week will come out! Gross, but you'll have to irrigate your pockets everyday to keep them clean. Over the next few weeks, they'll get smaller and eventually close.
Good luck!