Archives: FAQs

Take medication as prescribed by your doctor. Do not drink alcohol while taking pain pills.

Dry socket can occur after any dental extraction. It is recognized when:

• Initial pain from surgery is better
• Then, the pain returns to the same area
• Socket becomes very painful
• Pain medication does not work
• Pain spreads to front of the jaw and/or to the ear

Depending on how painful it is, you may have to come into the Clinic to get the socket treated with medication. Dry socket is more common in the lower jaw. It is more likely to occur in females than males, females who take birth control pills, older people and smokers.

Remember that you may have only a few or all of the symptoms described depending on the difficulty of your extraction(s).

If you smoke, you should try to avoid smoking until the sockets heal over. This may take 2-3 weeks. If you cannot hold off for this period, it is in your best interest to stop smoking for as long as possible after the surgery. Smoking can complicate healing or lead to infection or “dry socket”.

You may have been given an intravenous sedative for your dental extractions. If so, you may or may not remember much about your procedure. Before you leave, the doctor and staff will ensure you have recovered adequately. Although you may feel awake and alert after your procedure, you may have some of the sedative drugs still in your “system”. This is why you are not allowed to drive a motor vehicle or perform any dangerous tasks for 24-48 hours (for example: do not use power tools). Do not sign any documents of legal importance. You should stay home and rest quietly for at least 24 hours. You must have someone at home with you for the first 24 hours.

If you had stitches inserted in your gums, they will dissolve on their own in 3-8 days. You may see a few spots of blood in your saliva when this happens.

Occasionally, infection can occur after the extraction of wisdom teeth. After the initial swelling period (2-3 days), continued swelling, pain and discomfort may be an indication of infection. You may develop a fever or feel sick. Pus may drain from the infected socket and leave a bad taste in your mouth. If this happens, call the Clinic.

• No hot food or hot liquid for 24 hours. You may drink and eat cold and soft food and liquids during the first 24 hours
• Try to eat softer foods for the first 2-3 days (puddings, ice cream, yogurt, soups). Softer foods will not tear any stitches and will not get jammed into any open sockets
• After the first few days, when eating tougher foods, avoid the open sockets until you find it comfortable to chew
• Some sockets will take several weeks before the gums grow over normally. Until the sockets close over completely, you will probably get food stuck in the sockets. This may cause problems with “bad breath” and a bad taste in your mouth

• Do not rinse your mouth for the first 24 hours after surgery. You may rinse the clots out of the sockets and start the socket(s) bleeding
• After 24 hours, start gently rinsing with a salt water mixture (a pinch of salt in a glass of warm water) and let it fall out gently
• As the gum incision heals, you can rinse more vigorously
• Do not rinse for 1 week with anything other than the warm water and salt
• You can brush your teeth after 24 hours but do not brush the area of the extraction(s) for 5-7 days
• If you are temporarily left with some “open holes” or sockets, you may have to rinse more often to keep the sockets clean until they heal over with normal gum tissue

You may see some bruising develop at the corners of your jaw and run into your neck after several days. If you bruise easily, you may have more than average.