What is Dry Socket?
One of the most common postoperative complications of dental extraction
including wisdom tooth surgeries called dry sockets. In this article, you'll learn about
What is a Dry Socket?
Causes of Dry Socket
Main Cause of Dry Socket
Symptoms of Dry Socket
How to treat Dry Socket
Home Remedies to Treat Dry Socket
How Common Is Dry Socket?
How to Prevent Dry Socket?
What Does Dry Socket Look Like?
What is a Dry Socket?
A complication
of low-grade infections of the socket (clotting) in which periodontal tissue
begins to die because the wound isn't treated. The dry socket is the most common complication of obtaining a tooth extraction. Dry socket is also termed alveolar osteitis. It is
a painful condition many people suffer from post-dental extraction as soon as
the tooth is removed blood fills the socket forming a blood clot
Causes of dry socket
Chronic
inflammation (think impetigo or strep throat) can also be a cause of dry
socket. People can get dry socket by an event (such as a car accident or
childbirth) that causes blunt trauma to the gums more than one event (bleeding
from dental implants is also possible) tearing or decay of soft tissues near
the tooth Or they can be developed when you do not get enough saliva into your
mouth. These disorders have different causes, but in general, you can have one
or more causes.
A dry socket is a
side effect of many surgical procedures. It can happen immediately after
surgery or months after an operation has been performed. When you have a
surgical procedure done, the healing process requires that the tissue that's
been cut during the surgery be fully healed before doctors will do any more
surgeries on the area. The body is very adept at regenerating tissue and a
surgical wound is no exception.
Main Cause of Dry Socket
Chronic inflammation: Impetigo, which is caused by staphylococcus aureus, causes chronic inflammation of your gums.
Symptoms of dry socket
When you
suddenly develop a sore in the mouth, it may look like raw flesh on the gum
line where your tooth has been filed down. The pain and swelling of the tooth
may feel very similar to toothaches caused by tooth decay or the gums coming
back after you've had a filling put in. You may also notice a dark red sore
below the gumline.
Who gets dry socket? Dry sockets can happen to anyone, although it is most likely to affect people who have experienced trauma to their teeth, including gum surgery, if you've broken a tooth, or if you have a bite modification like a crown.
How Common Is Dry Socket?
Dry sockets are extremely common. The vast majority of people develop dry sockets at some point in their lifetime, usually on a weekly basis. Though it is not at all dangerous, a dry socket can cause significant discomfort, and this discomfort can last for up to several weeks. In most cases, the dry socket will resolve within about two weeks, and the severe pain that it causes will slowly subside, gradually disappearing over a period of a couple of weeks or months. If a person has not developed a dry socket before, or if they have recently developed it, they should visit their dentist or doctor, so that the condition can be diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible.
How to Prevent Dry Socket?
Essentially, for
few days or a week after the extraction. You don’t want to brush the teeth, quickly
move your head, move your body too fast, or exercise. As these things will get
you pain. For the first night, you should
stay on a bed slightly elevated, and don’t lie flat in your bed.
The best way to
prevent dry socket is no rinsing, forcible spitting, and gargling because doing
such things will dislodge the clot from the extraction site.
When you drink
beverages, Avoid using a straw. Because straw may lead to creating a vacuum in your mode.
As result, this will forcibly dislodge
the clot from the extraction site.
Try all these
things so that blood clot establishes itself, and bone grows into it. That blood
clot is a matrix for bone growth.
Try to maintain good oral hygiene.
Brush your teeth with a fluoridated toothpaste two to three times a day.
For healing a
dry socket, take salt and warm water, and do gentle rinsing (don’t do spitting
or forcible rinsing) of your mouth.
How to Prevent Dry Socket While Smoking?
One of the essential ways to prevent dry socket is “Do not Smoke”. It slows the healing by contaminating the wound. If you’re someone who has a habit of smoking. Then you’re advised to stop smoking for 10 days or two weeks. The reason to avoid smoking after the dry socket procedure is that nicotine can dry up the blood clot. the act of smoking causes the formation of negative pressure in the mouth which can dislodge the clot. The presence of nicotine will produce a large amount of heat. And the result is that your blood clot will get dried. hence all forms of smoking should be avoided.
How to treat dry socket?
Follow these steps for dry
socket treatment.
• Loosen the painful area
• You can apply hot packs to the socket area
• Massage the socket with clotting and pressure-relieving cream, or use an ice pack
• Take paracetamol or aspirin for pain relief
• Take ibuprofen (Advil, Excedrin) or acetaminophen for pain relief to reduce inflammation
• Apply cold packs
• Use a moist, nonabrasive gauze pad and apply ice or heat.
• Use gauze pads to cover the socket.
• Apply an over-the-counter steroid gel or cream, like ibuprofen hydrocortisone ointment.
• Place a soft cloth over the socket or flush with saline solution
• Don't drink caffeine
• Don't go to sleep with the affected tooth.
If you experience excessive pain or swelling, call your dentist immediately or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.
Home Remedies to Treat Dry Socket
The treatment
for dry socket is based on the best-case scenario. Also, it is the kindest
treatment as dry sockets can be prevented by using home remedies, and it Is
treatable.
Drink more water before drinking coffee.
Avoid using
topical analgesics that contain lidocaine.
Conclusion
A dry socket is an inflammation of a blood vessel under the
jawbone caused by wearing a surgical implant that lacks sufficient amounts of
Hyaluronic acid (HA). Dry socket is more common in patients who undergo dental
surgery in which an implant replaces a fixed dental prosthesis such as a false
tooth or a bridge, rather than a dental implant in an existing natural tooth.
What Does Dry Socket Look Like?
Here are a few pictures of the dry socket. So that you should be able to know if you have a dry socket or normal pain.
What is a Dry Socket of Wisdom teeth?
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