Pain from tooth extraction

[Eddy10]

Hi everyone

just looking for some reassurance please! I had a molar extraction lunchtime yesterday under conscious sedation. I get very anxious with pain and become very distressed very quickly when in pain. This was my worst outcome for the tooth but it was a root canal that had cracked and apparently there was no choice but to remove it. I don’t remember a thing from the extraction nor what they said to me afterwards. However, the pain is much more than what I expected, the leaflet i was given mentioned taking some paracetamol to relieve pain but I’m currently on ibuprofen and paracetamol every 2 hrs alternately. My jaw is also very swollen, numb (bit like when you bang your elbow) and i am struggling to talk properly.

The dentist has put some stitches in and my husband says he can see a blood clot (I’m too squeamish to look) where the tooth was. Am also on a liquid diet and making sure doing salt rinses (no spitting or vigorous swilling). Is this a normal level of pain/numbness and anything else i can do? I’m getting particularly upset as i have a holiday of a lifetime in 4 weeks and don’t want to be in pain for it.

any advice would be much appreciated

 

[Kml1998]

@Eddy10 hope you feel better soon

 

[Gordon]

If it's not considerably better today, please call your dentist.

 

[Eddy10]

Thanks to you both for your responses, i have been back to dentist today and they confirmed dry socket, causing me to panic even further. They have packed it with some brown clove stuff and now anaesthetic has worn off it is sore and my jaw stiff but I’m hoping it will now improve. I fear a bit of the packing stuff may have come out when i was eating lunch (soup!) as i had a very strong taste of cloves at one point, should i be concerned or is this normal?

 

[realh]

I think it's normal for the dressing to come out a little bit at a time. If you think it's all come out too early or the pain isn't receding you can go back to the dentist and get it treated again. IME recovery tends to feel slow at first, but very rapid after the stitches dissolve, and you should be feeling OK in time for your holiday.

 

[Eddy10]

Thank you so much, this is the first positive thing I’ve heard. Dr Google just states 4-6 weeks for pain to subside and we have been discussing cancelling the holiday this afternoon So your comment is a little ray of light.

 

[Gordon]

Thank you so much, this is the first positive thing I’ve heard. Dr Google just states 4-6 weeks for pain to subside and we have been discussing cancelling the holiday this afternoon So your comment is a little ray of light.

4-6 days would be a lot more like it. Don't cancel the holiday!