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Pain after lower wisdom tooth removal

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nicolei

Junior member
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
3
Hi,

I've had a right lower wisdom tooth removed last Saturday (6 days ago). I had IV and at the same time LL7 and LU5 were taken out surgically.

I am still in pain on the right side - possibly because the jaw muscles were strained - but since this morning I also have a more pronounced piercing pain in the jaw at the place of the extraction, together with pain in the right ear. I looked with a dental mirror and there is a lot of pink but also quite a deep hole at the site of the wisdom tooth extraction...
I'm worried about dry socket - is it possible to appear more than 6 days after the extraction?
There isn't any foul smell, but the gum in the area is sensitive and reddish - it's been like that since the extraction, it did not get better.
Meanwhile the other 2 surgical extraction sites are almost painless and the gum is pink.
The pain seems to go away slightly with Ibuprofen 200mg - but only for 3-4hours....
Should I get worried about dry socket?
I probably won't be able to see a dentist until Monday.... :(

Nicole
 
It doesn't sound like dry socket :) - (a) not painful enough and (b) it would be highly highly unlikely after 6 days. It might just have been a more difficult removal than the other teeth and thus may take longer to heal, though if you are in severe pain, do call the dentist's emergency number.
 
Thank you so much letsconnect!
I'm quite scared of the whole thing extraction. The fact that there is still quite intense pain sends me into a near panic....
 
If the pain is intense, do call them (did they give you an emergency number to call).
 
I had a lower wisdom tooth and the tooth next to it removed last September under IV sedation and it took a good couple of weeks until I could stop taking painkillers on a regular basis (Ibuprofen and Paracetamol - Tylenol if you're in the US - although I also took codeine at on and off intervals as well.)
I was fine if I stayed on top of taking my painkillers (i.e taking them regularly and before any pain could start) although I did find at night I'd wake around 5am when they had worn off and then I'd have to dose up and use my heat cushion which wasn't very convenient when I had work in a few hours!
I don't know if I did have dry socket or not (to be honest I wasn't even aware of such a thing until I found this forum and that was after I had the procedure done) as the pain could be pretty intense at 5am, which is where the codeine was required and I had a rather obvious bruise along my jawline for over a week which suggests to me it was a difficult extraction so I expected a fair bit of pain in all honesty. Or maybe thats just me being a cynical pharmacy tech!
However everyone is different and takes different times to heal and apparently wisdom teeth are not the easiest to remove either so I hope it all heals up soon and you'll be back to normal before you know it!
 
It's 11 days now since the extraction and the pain is still there. I finally went to see my dentist - who confirmed it was not a dry socket and also confirmed it's a strained jaw....

I also find that sometime towards the dawn the pain gets quite intense and I have to resort to an extra Ibuprofen dose... guess that's the one upsetting my stomach now.

I have a new appointment on 27th with the dentist to sort out 2 cavities.... hopefully this will be the end of my dental problems.
 
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