Dry Socket Symptoms

Almost everybody dreads a visit to the dentist. Even the prospect of impeccable teeth isn’t an incentive effective enough to lure petrified bad-toothed individuals to step into a dental clinic. Imagine the trauma endured by a victim of dental phobia who is on the way to receiving a tooth extraction! But once struck by the excruciating pain elicited by wisdom teeth (the third and final set of molars we develop in our late teens or early twenties), those fears vanish as the dentist is our only savior. You bear every ounce of pain with a fake smile and pray that you won’t have to set foot into the clinic again. However, hold your breath because the intolerable toothache might still persist; if that is the case, then you are probably suffering from a severe condition popularly known as the “dry socket”, and scientifically referred to as “alveolar osteitis”.

Dry Sockets are temporary in nature and aren’t particularly common. Dry sockets prevail when the blood in and around the tooth extraction site fails to clot. In turn, the underlying bone and nerves get exposed to air, food, fluid or any other element that might enter the mouth. This could lead to a bad infection and unbearable throbbing pain lasting for over five days. Around 2% to 5% of the people in the world tend to develop severe cases of dry sockets post tooth extractions. If you’ve recently extracted your wisdom teeth, keep a wary eye for the following symptoms.

• If you notice a visible dry bone in the socket instead of a blood clot on inspection of the tooth extraction site, then you are barely minutes away from experiencing tremendous pain and the dry socket condition.
• Nerve endings often transmit pain signals right up to your ear. Moreover, this overbearing pain radiates to the eye on the same side of the face as the ear. That is a clear dry socket indication.
• Has the world been avoiding you after your lips part to release a “hello”? Perhaps, you’ve been thumped by a severe case of halitosis. In spite of mouthwash sprays and peppermint, your mouth doesn’t cease to exude foul odour. Irrefutably, you are exhibiting the elementary symptoms of a dry socket!
• Apart from bad breath, have your very own taste buds reduced to rubble? Does your French toast taste weird? Are you coerced to ingest an unpleasant taste every time you swallow? Yes, you definitely have a dry socket and possibly require an immediate diagnosis!
• You might soon develop swollen lymph nodes around your jaw or neck leading to extreme jaw pain making it difficult for you to speak. Even the lymph glands around the ear begin to swell. This is again a dry socket warning sign!
• Dry Sockets are characterized by a strong infection that might induce gum swelling and puff up your face to a very embarrassing extent.
• A higher than normal temperature or a headache post tooth extraction could signify the prevalence of a dry socket.
• Smoking, poor oral hygiene and usage of birth control pills are just some of the factors known to aggravate chances of dry sockets.