Dry Socket: How to Tell, Pain Symptoms, Healing (2024)

FAQs

Dry Socket: How to Tell, Pain Symptoms, Healing? ›

If the pain worsens, becomes unbearable, or lasts days after the initial extraction, you could be dealing with a dry socket. Other symptoms include exposed bone at the extraction site, bad breath, a nasty taste in your mouth, and loss of the blood clot where the tooth was removed.

DRY SOCKET SYMPTOMS

With each day the patient should feel less and less pain as the healing process progresses. When a dry socket forms, the patient typically notices that their level of discomfort does progressively diminish for the first few days, but then, between 4-6 days the pain begins to intensify.

According to the Canadian Dental Association, dry socket typically occurs within 3–5 days of the extraction and lasts for up to 7 days. The pain is severe and can persist for 24–72 hours. The research recommends that further investigation takes place if pain continues beyond this timeframe.

Dry sockets become increasingly painful in the days after a tooth extraction. They may also have exposed bone or tissue, or an unpleasant smell. By comparison, typical healing sockets become less painful over time and do not cause any other symptoms. A dry socket can be very painful but is not usually serious.

But the pain with dry socket can be intense. It may start a few days after the extraction. If you have dry socket you may have: severe persistent, throbbing pain within 1 to 5 days of the tooth extraction — the pain may extend to your ear or eye on the same side of the face.

When am I no longer at risk for dry socket? You're most likely to get dry socket within three days after tooth extraction. If you haven't developed dry socket by day five, you're probably in the clear.

Dry socket typically lasts 7 days. Pain can be noticeable as early as day 3 after extraction. After tooth extraction, a blood clot usually forms at the site to heal and protect it. With dry socket, that clot either dislodges, dissolves too early, or it never formed in the first place.

Intense pain happens when the underlying bone and nerves are exposed. Pain occurs in the socket and along the nerves to the side of the face. The socket becomes swollen and irritated. It may fill with bits of food, making the pain worse.

How Is Dry Socket Treated? You can take a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), such as aspirin or ibuprofen, to ease the discomfort. Sometimes these over-the-counter medications aren't enough to relieve the pain. When that's the case, your doctor may prescribe a stronger drug or will anesthetize the area.

One of the most common reasons for persistent pain is an infection in the extraction site. Even if you maintain good oral hygiene, bacteria can sometimes enter the socket, leading to an infection. This can cause throbbing pain, swelling, and a bad taste in your mouth.

What does a healthy dry socket look like? ›

A dry socket looks like an empty hole with a light color at the bottom of the extraction site. The light color is from the white-ish bone showing. A normal extraction site is a socket with a dark red blood clot formation covering the bone.

An infected socket after tooth extraction is commonly mistaken for a dry socket, which is the result of your tooth socket being empty and having raw bone exposed. There's no infection, swelling, or redness.

The healing process begins within the first day or so after tooth extraction. A blood clot develops over the extraction site. Shortly after, you will see tooth extraction healing white stuff form around the tooth socket. If you are not in any pain, this is a good sign.

You should expect to take 7 to 10 days to heal from the dry socket as new tissue covers the exposed bone and help heal the wound. However, the dry socket may take longer to heal if you have a thin bone or periodontal disease.

If the non-resorbable packing is placed you will need to return to the office in the next two to four days to have the dressing removed and possibly replaced depending on how fast the site heals. Sometimes a dry socket requires multiple dressing change appointments until it has healed adequately.

Carefully rinse the dry socket as directed by your dentist. Take antibiotics as instructed. Do not smoke, use tobacco, or drink alcohol.

During normal recovery, your pain should steadily decrease over time. But instead of getting better, pain from dry socket will get worse over time. Dry socket pain usually starts a day or a few days after surgery.

Indications of proper healing after a tooth extraction include decreased pain and swelling within a few days, gradual improvement in discomfort, formation of a blood clot in the socket, pinkish tissue developing over the extraction site, and a normal or slightly elevated body temperature.