Had a lower wisdom tooth out on Thursday. Pain has been getting worse not better. Girlfriend said there is no blood clot just some white thing there, the white thing being my jawbone. Just read it can take up to 40 days for the pain to go away. Who has experienced this?

Not quite the same but
When I had mine out (20yrs ago) I was advised if I washed a clot off the put something in the gap and bite on it to make it bleed and form a new clot.
Lucky it didn’t happened. Just as well really as all 4 removed together meant that I couldn’t open my mouth more than 5mm ….

Daughter had the same just over a week ago. She ended up going back because of the pain. They tried to xray it to check nothing was left in but she couldn’t bite down on plate so they did a full head xray. There wasn’t anything in so they repacked it with disolving dressing

Yeah I had this when I had my lower wisdom tooth out two years ago. It is nasty and I sympathise with you. The horror stories on the web came very true for me.

The big risk is infection which is what happened to me and I ended up very seriously ill. Initially everything was ok but pain increased over the weekend (op was thursday like yours) The info I was given from the hospital was to contact them if pain increased so I did on the monday. Things went downhill quickly and very badly and ended up at the maxillo facial consultant multiple times.

The dry socket wasn’t the problem per se but it is very difficult to keep crud out of the wound as it’s at the bottom of the mouth, hence the infection. I wasn’t put on antibiotics soon enough and there is mixed opinion on the packing that was put in the wound early on as it held bacteria.

In your shoes I would be back at the dentist/hospital first thing and follow the advice fastidiously. Get lots of painkillers in stock too, and also I had additional anesthetic injections to break the pain cycle which over the counter painkillers won’t do.

Warm water salt mouthwash helps a lot. I was told to avoid corsidol mouthwash and take rest very seriously. I still have a divot where the tooth was, it slowly skinned over but without the clot it is slow. 6 Weeks sounds about what it took for me.

Good luck

had a rear molar (not wisdom) out a few months back. Was also worried that the white I could see in the mouth was a dry socket, but was assured prob not because I wasn’t attempting to saw my head off to alleviate the pain, and although it wasn’t pleasant it had been a traumatic extraction and was therefore just damage around the wound. But dentist was happy to see me back; assured me it was OK, and touch wood it’s now really just a minor depression on the gum.

Go and see him and let him check it out; he’ll set you straight either way, and if he says it’s normal, then persist with the salt water rinses, keep it clean while there’s a hole, and try not to poke about in it.

Go back to the dentist and get a prescription for antibiotics. There are 2 types for dry socket and it’s a lottery which one works for you. I got mine to prescribe both. One sort makes you sick if you touch alcohol though.

Had it twice now but with rear molars, like others have said go back and see the dentist I had mine packed with a gauze which helped and antibiotics. With the 2nd I had never felt pain like it had to sleep with an ice pack the pain got that bad. Don’t leave it like I did and think it will get better as mine didn’t and I didn’t do myself any favours.

I had it removed in Poland so bit of a problem to see the dentist who did it. I started to chew on a clove as I heard it was good for pain. I could feel what I thought was some clove stuck in the socket. managed to get it out and I think it was the clot (a spongy brownish yellow cone) So now totally screwed myself.

I had my lower one removed about 8 years ago and it proceeded to get infected.

I’d go to see a dentist ASAP, They will hopefully rinse it all out for you then pack it with some wool stuff which they use (and it also tastes of clove) to keep stuff out of it then hope that it heals up itsself.

Wisdom teeth are painful when they are coming through and still painful when they’ve been removed. It will take a while for that pain to disappear.

When I had mine out (20yrs ago) I was advised if I washed a clot off the put something in the gap and bite on it to make it bleed and form a new clot.

Should I do this?

It’s possible you had some packing in already and that is what you pulled out. It may have been absorbed into the clot and it all came out together. Either way I would get to a dentist asap. I got to see an emergency dentist through my partner ringing NHS24.

I’ve had the other 3 out over the years and never had any trouble.

So I should expect even more pain in about 3 days. Starting to wish I’d never bothered to get it removed.

So how is it today – receding, or saw your head off?

Me. Excruciating – the worst pain I’ve ever had.

I went back regularly and had it packed with this stuff which was formed from seaweed (?) and clove oil – revolting, but it worked a treat. Had to keep going back, and had tramadol as well to deal with the pain.

Good luck OP! 😕

If it’s a dry socket (which it does sound like) you need the socket washed out and packed with “alvogel” which is the seaweed stuff mentioned above. It will sort the pain quickly. That’s about the only thing that’s going to help i’m afraid.

If you cant see the dentist who did the extraction (a major difficulty with going overseas for treatment assuming you had a choice) then id suggest trying to see someone local. you might have to accept this will cost. The other alternative is to contact NHS 111 and see if they have an “access centre” local to you who would see you.

My girlfriend called the dentist and he advised me to get some antibiotics. Didn’t have much luck with trying to get a quick dentist appointment. At the moment I’m coping and trying to deal with the pain. I can sleep which is the main thing for me. The pain can be pretty excruciating but it’s not constant. It’s only temporary pain, some people have to live with it constantly.

I did read that if you have the socket packed out it slows healing as the body considers it an alien object?

Ok …so speaking as dentist and a tier 2 oral surgery provider to the NHS (I’ll probably have wisdom teeth to remove on my list tomorrow), …..

A dry socket is exactly what is sounds like. It basically means the clot which did form initially, has broken down (usually due to food debris becoming lodged), and the bone is exposed / becoming inflamed. It’s painful but it DOES NOT NEED antibiotics. They are not the answer to everything, and do not relieve pain! This is the most common reason for increasing discomfort (usually initially better, then gets worse after 2-3 days), post op. It can happen with any extraction, but more common with surgical removed wisdom teeth.

Treatment is to have the debris removed, usually achieved but irrigating the socket with saline, or an antiseptic mouthwash (I use either one containing hydrogen peroxide or one with chlorhexidine). Depending on how it then looks, degree of closure etc it may or may not be worth popping in a pack – these all delay healing, but may make it feel better, and / or reduce further debris packing. So go back to your surgeon or your general dentist.

A post op infection (a situation which may need antibiotics to manage), is relatively uncommon at around 1-5%. The main characteristic being the presence of PUS, a raised temperature, and swelling associated with the pus. Treatment is to achieve drainage (get rid of the pus), antibiotics may be needed after drainage, but not always.

Pain relief…. Unless there are reasons to avoid (asthma, stomach problems etc… Check with your dentist), I normally suggest paracetamol + ibuprofen taken together (1g paracetamol + 400mg ibuprofen at 8hourly intervals).

Rinse carefully after every meal with saline or an antiseptic oral rinse for 7-10 days post op.

Wisdom teeth are used to research the effectiveness of different analgesics, so yes it’s unpleasant, but it will improve. If in doubt, reattend for advice.

Update: Went to the hospital emergency dentist last week. They cleaned it out and put paste it the socket. Pain was gone until the evening. The pain is maybe getting slightly less but I’m still taking strong painkillers that are wiping me out a bit. Thanks for the advice.

I had my upper right one out last Wednesday.

The dentist had to give it some welly to get it out!

My gum is still sore, but I can handle the pain – if it gets too distracting, 1x ibruprofen takes it away!

I always worry about dry socket – how bad is/was the pain?

Lower ones have the most risk for getting a dry socket. The other 3 I had out were fine I didn’t even know what a dry socket was so didn’t worry about it.

The pain is a dull strong ache, sometimes was so strong I started to panic as painkillers didn’t seem to help.

Today I woke up without pain, think I’m finally over the hill.