Posted by : James Smith in (Dental health)
What Are Dry Sockets All About?
Tagged Under : Dental health, dry socket prevention, dry sockets, root canal treatment, tooth cavity, tooth extraction, toothache, wisdom teeth, wisdom teeth removal
Dry socket is a very traumatic dental complication that happens after a wisdom tooth is removed. Normally a blood clot is formed to protect the jaw bone and the surrounding tissues. This blood clot due to some reasons gets dislodged. The pain due to extraction starts lessening by the second day. In this complication there is an increase of pain that spreads to the eyes and ears and becomes unbearable.
How will you know that you have this condition?
There are basically three signs that indicate this complication.
Firstly there is intense pain at the extracted site, which with time spreads to the ears and eyes on the side of the face that has the extracted site.
Secondly, there is foul taste at the extracted site which also emits a very foul odor.
The third sign is a visible one that shows the blood clot absent and the jaw bone exposed below.
Why does someone develop this condition?
Research has still to give us convincing reasons about what actually causes this. However some factors have been discovered that make a person more susceptible to this dental complication.
People who do not follow the dentist’s post operative instructions are more likely to end up with this.
Smoking can make a person more susceptible to this condition. The nicotine in the smoke can lower the healing powers of the body. What’s more the action of sucking can remove the blood clot.
Birth control pills taken by women are a major risk factor for them. The estrogen in the pills may have a role in disintegrating the blood clot. It is for this reason that women on pills undergo tooth extractions on days when estrogen levels are on the lower side.
People with a history of this condition are likely to get it again.
People who don’t practice good oral hygiene are more susceptible to this complication
How do you get rid of a dry socket?
There is nothing you can do to speed up the healing process. The removal of the blood clot delayed the healing process. The healing will continue but at a reduced speed. In the meanwhile medications are given to reduce the pain. Analgesics work in the initial stages. Then stronger pain killers are given in the form of medicated packings that are inserted at the extracted site.
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