Dissolvable dressing

Hi everyone.

Well, it's been ten days now since I've had my wisdom teeth extracted.

I have had this really bad taste in my mouth(no matter how many times I brushed my teeth and tongue or rinsed with salt water etc.), plus my lower left extraction site was aching a fair bit, so I thought I'd better phone the Oral Surgeon's office for an appointment. The lady on the phone said it seems unlikely it would be dry socket(given the length of time since the extractions), but said I should come in anyway for a check-up.

So I went yesterday. The Oral Surgeon took a look inside my mouth, touched the socket and it really hurt. He filled a syringe with water to clean it out and had me spit in a cup a few times. They were a couple of tiny bits of food in it, but he said overall it was very clean. He did however say he wanted to put a dressing in the socket, just to help ease the pain.

When he put it in, it really hurt, but the taste was even worse. Oh my God, it was foul, lol. He said it's dissolvable, so I don't need to come back to have it changed, unless I experience more pain. He also said they normally don't do follow-up appointments after wisdom teeth extraction(is this an American thing or is it the same in the UK?), but if I would like to come back and have him check it out, he'd be happy too.

He also said that my teeth were very difficult to remove, so it would be natural that everything isn't back to normal just yet.

Just to clarify: I only had three wisdom teeth. The worst bit is where the bottom left one was - there is a huge hole. I wonder if this is because the tooth was almost fully out?

Also, do I go back for a check-up after a while, just for peace of mind? But I don't want to keep bothering the oral surgeon.

Katx

The dressing he placed would have been a kind of sedative dressing to help the area feel better and heal. It doesn't smell or taste too good but I always joke that that is how you know it is good for you- most things that are good for you taste bad and vice versa!! lol.

If the healing process has had a little set back it can take a little longer for things to fully heal up. Usually dressing a socket once is enough if there are healing issues, however sometimes it needs to be repeated.

It seems that the oral surgeon has explained things quite clearly and I would agree wit the things you have repeated from him- (eg that if would take a while to settle as they were difficult).

If think from your descriptions that it sounds like things are on the mend, but make a 5 minute appointment to get it checked if you are worried. Better that than to have problems further down the line. They may be busy, but I am sure they would rather know that everything is ok with you, than leave you to worry. Being busy doesn't mean that you shouldn't have time to help people who are having some issues after treatment! It should all be part of the service!

In saying that, from your description, i would probably have said the same thing to a patient- ie come back in if you are worried or having pain/discomfort, but otherwise things will heal up fully in their own time and there would be no need to review things.

kind regards

Dr Mike

Thanks Mike!

At the moment it seems to have settled down a bit, but I'll see how it goes.

Katx