Questions About Wisdom Tooth Blood Clot

[JupiterEyed]

Hello all!

I had to have my bottom-left wisdom tooth pulled on Wednesday morning. The proces went surprisingly well (as this was my first necessary dental procedure); I was given novocaine to numb the area and the tooth came out very fast and easy! The extraction site has since clotted, and I have been rinsing with salt-water after the first 24 hours as advised, but there are a few things going on that I was not informed about, nor is there information on my take-home sheet.

1) My clot has shrunk quite a bit and I'm only going on 72 hours. Is this normal?

2) (This will sound dumb, but) I also can't tell if the white on the clot is part of a noodle that I may have inadvertently chewed "into" the clot, or if it is the normal healing process. I am too scared to pick it (if it's healthy, I don't want to remove it) and salt-water rinsing has not budged it. Advice?

Thanks much in advance!
*JupiterEyed

 

[RP]

Sounds like normal healing- the clot turns white and actually kinda gross and eventually dissolves away as the tissue underneath heals and pushes it up and out. Well done. You should be OK, past the dry socket stage and on your way to eating/feeling "normal" again.

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hey
Regarding the shrinking clot: After the tooth is extracted, there is a local wound in the tissue, so the body reacts with an inflammation reaction. One of the features of inflammation is edema, so the area get a bit swollen and later, while the inflammation reaction soothes down, the edema disappears gradually, and the tissue shrinks .