Blog

A dry socket usually occurs when the blood clot is lost from the extraction site in the mouth after a tooth was removed. They usually occur more frequently at the lower wisdom teeth extraction sites than the upper wisdom teeth extraction sites. Your Central London dentist can give you advice about how to prevent a dry socket from occurring, and help treat a dry socket if it does occur. Prior and post oral surgery instruction will be given to you both orally and written if you are to have a tooth or teeth removed. Your Central London dentist will tell you to: keep the dental gauze in place that he places after the extraction for 20-30 minutes; eat soft foods and drink a lot of liquids for a few days; do not smoke as the sucking will dislodge the blood clot and the smoke in your mouth will change the bleed vessels in your gums and cause the blood clot to shrink to fast; and do not use alcoholic beverages as they will help to dissolve the blood clot. Also, medications that cause bleeding, such as ibuprofen, should not be used, but instead to use Tylenol-based products. Dental patients should also be told not to pick at the blood clot if they see excess tissue at the site area, as this will resorb itself during healing. Patients should not eat any hard or sharp foods like chips, as these might cut into the blood clot and get stuck in the extraction site and delay proper healing. If the blood clot is lost, a dry socket will occur, and this means that the extraction site will have to heal from the inside outwards. If you are in a lot of pain from a dry socket, you should visit your Central London dental clinic, and have a medicated dressing placed inside the extraction site to help deaden the nerve pain. You may need as many as three such treatments until your extraction site is healed. Dry sockets are not just limited to the wisdom teeth areas, and can occur following the extraction of any tooth/teeth. Make sure you follow your dentist’s directions to avoid this unpleasant experience.