Wisdom teeth stitches still in after 11 days

[vbranston]

Hello there,

I was just wondering if a dentist could help me please? I had 4 wisdom teeth out 11 days ago and dissolvable stitches were put in. Everything seems to be fine apart from some of the stitches still haven't dissolved yet. Is this normal? I'm worried that the stiches will start to get infected if they are in there too long, but am worried about pulling them out in case it hurts or they should still be in there!

There is a bad smell coming from the site of the extractions, even though I have been brushing normally for a few days now. There is also a slight ache on both sides of my lower jaw, which can be controlled with iboprufen and paracetamol. Does this sound normal?

Thank you for any advice you can give me,

Victoria

 

[Buell]

let me see if i can help

When I had my extractions done .. the stitches were there for quite some time .. some of the dissolvable ones hung around for close to 2 weeks .. It is normal and nothing to worry about .. you can also contact the dentist /oral surgeon who did the extractions and they can easily take them out in a couple minutes if in fact the sites have healed.

I would be more concerned with the smell/aches coming from the site

How much pain are you in ? .. the bad smell and pain in the jaw sounds like symptoms of dry socket but it would be best to bring this up with your dentist as you should not have any foul odor coming from the site ..though having dry socket symptoms 11 days out is not usually the norm .. again .. best to have your dentist look at it

Signs and symptoms of dry socket can include:

• Severe pain within a few days after a tooth extraction
• Partial or total loss of the blood clot at the tooth extraction site, which you may notice as an empty-looking (dry) socket
• Visible bone in the socket
• Pain that radiates from the socket to your ear or eye on the same side of your face
• Bad breath or a foul odor coming from your mouth
• Unpleasant taste in your mouth
• Swollen lymph nodes around your jaw or neck

 

[vbranston]

Hi there,

Thank you very much for your reply. It's good to hear from someone else about what happened to them!

Thank you for your concern about dry socket, but I am sure it's not this. 5 days after the surgery I went back to the hospital because I was in a lot more pain then than I am now. The doctor took a look and said that there was no infection and everything seemed to be healing up nicely, and prescribed me some more painkillers. I think it's unlikely that dry socket would have happened after that amount of time, plus from what I've heard the pain with that is excrutiating, which luckily this is not!

Thank you for your help,

Victoria

 

[loubyyy]

I had oral surgery nearly 3 weeks ago now.. and parts of my stitches are still in!! the dentist that did it did say they took around about 3 - 4 weeks to fully go.

 

[Buell]

Hi there,

Thank you very much for your reply. It's good to hear from someone else about what happened to them!

Thank you for your concern about dry socket, but I am sure it's not this. 5 days after the surgery I went back to the hospital because I was in a lot more pain then than I am now. The doctor took a look and said that there was no infection and everything seemed to be healing up nicely, and prescribed me some more painkillers. I think it's unlikely that dry socket would have happened after that amount of time, plus from what I've heard the pain with that is excrutiating, which luckily this is not!

Thank you for your help,

Victoria

Thats great to hear .. I kind of figured after 11 days that it was not the cause .. but the foul odor was something that sounded odd ...

as for the stitches .. as mentioned above .. they can be stubborn .. if they decide they just dont wanna go away .. like i said .. your dentist can take em out ... only takes a min

 

[vbranston]

Yes I must admit the smell is what's bothering me - I think it is coming from the stitches, as when one of the others came out the other day, it smelt really bad!

There is no gross liquid oozing out or anything though, so not sure what to think. (sorry to be graphic!)

You see the problem I have about going back is that I had them taken out in a hospital, which deals with all sorts of medical problems, not just teeth. So you only get to see the duty doc, not the one who did the actual op. He might be a general doc, not neccesarily a dental surgeon. Also there can be massive waiting times in NHS hospitals (I am in England). I am a bit worried about going back for a second time, in case they think I am a PITA!

The ideal about going to the dentist is a good one. My actual dentist, the one who referred me to the hosp, is great. But the problem there is that he is private, not an NHS dentist, which means I would have to pay him £35 (about $55) for a check-up, which could cause costly if it only takes a few mins to whip them out, when they might have come out by themselves!


Thank you for your help once again,

Victoria