R
realh
Member
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2012
- Messages
- 46
I had a bottom molar extracted on Tuesday May 9th. I was still in a lot of pain by the weekend so on Monday 15th I got an emergency appointment with my dentist, who diagnosed a dry socket. He irrigated and dressed it, and prescribed antibiotics (metronidazole, and I've just now taken the last one).
I found a couple of websites which said the dressing needs to be changed every 24 to 48 hours, but when I rang the dentist again on Wednesday the receptionist said I should just keep the original one in as long as possible, and call again if I was still worried by the end of the week. I noticed that the websites I'd seen were private dentists, whereas I get free treatment from the NHS in the UK. Although most people have to pay for NHS dentistry, it still runs at a big loss and they're under budget pressures, so I feel I'm seeing what I'd expect from one dentist who has incentive to do as much treatment as possible vs one who would want to avoid treatment .
On Wednesday evening the pain seemed a lot better, and I woke up on Thursday with the dressing nearly all gone, and it felt like the wound had significantly closed over, so I avoided the stress of calling/visiting the dentist this morning (Friday). But the pain came back, especially in the evening, and I've been feeling run down all day with a sore throat. I have Chronic Fatigue SYndrome, so it's probably just that flaring up again, not surprising after the last few weeks (the tooth was painful before the extraction), but I can't help worrying that I've still got an infection deep in the socket/bone.
Another big problem is that no matter how carefully I eat, food always gets stuck in it. I'm not sure whether it's better to leave it and hope it works its way out before long (this does seem to happen) or try to get it out and risk doing more damage. I doubt I'd easily be able to buy an irrigation syringe at the weekend. I used the end of a small zip tie earlier, that was quite successful. What would you recommend?
I was also wondering whether it would be a good idea to try stuffing some Iglu gel in it, at least before eating. It isn't something I'd like to try without the recommendation of a dentist or someone who's found it helps.
I found a couple of websites which said the dressing needs to be changed every 24 to 48 hours, but when I rang the dentist again on Wednesday the receptionist said I should just keep the original one in as long as possible, and call again if I was still worried by the end of the week. I noticed that the websites I'd seen were private dentists, whereas I get free treatment from the NHS in the UK. Although most people have to pay for NHS dentistry, it still runs at a big loss and they're under budget pressures, so I feel I'm seeing what I'd expect from one dentist who has incentive to do as much treatment as possible vs one who would want to avoid treatment .
On Wednesday evening the pain seemed a lot better, and I woke up on Thursday with the dressing nearly all gone, and it felt like the wound had significantly closed over, so I avoided the stress of calling/visiting the dentist this morning (Friday). But the pain came back, especially in the evening, and I've been feeling run down all day with a sore throat. I have Chronic Fatigue SYndrome, so it's probably just that flaring up again, not surprising after the last few weeks (the tooth was painful before the extraction), but I can't help worrying that I've still got an infection deep in the socket/bone.
Another big problem is that no matter how carefully I eat, food always gets stuck in it. I'm not sure whether it's better to leave it and hope it works its way out before long (this does seem to happen) or try to get it out and risk doing more damage. I doubt I'd easily be able to buy an irrigation syringe at the weekend. I used the end of a small zip tie earlier, that was quite successful. What would you recommend?
I was also wondering whether it would be a good idea to try stuffing some Iglu gel in it, at least before eating. It isn't something I'd like to try without the recommendation of a dentist or someone who's found it helps.