What is dry socket?

What is dry socket?

If you have a tooth removed it obviously is an open wound that needs to heal. The immediate response from our body is to bleed. This then needs to slow and stop to form a clot. I won’t bore you with the biology but the importance of this clot formation is huge, it is the beginning of the healing process. The clot will eventually be the foundation for the formation of bone and soft tissue (gum).

If you lose this clot then you slow or halt the healing process and allow harmful microbes to invade the site leading to an infection – this is dry socket. The socket will look white/yellow in appearance and will be void of any clot. It will give a radiating, throbbing pain and be very tender to touch.

The good news about dry socket is that it will improve. The bad news is that it may well get worse before it gets better. If you believe you have dry socket it is important you visit your dentist ASAP so that he can irrigate the socket and apply a soothing antimicrobial pack that can alleviate the pain and help promote healing. More often than not antibiotic therapy is not needed as the infection clears up in time before any antibiotic therapy takes affect. If you have had dry socket before you may well be predisposed to it in the future. If this is the case then warn your dentist prior so that he may consider prescribing antibiotics at the time of extraction.

Dry socket usually has an onset of 48-72 hours post extraction. It is more likely to occur if you have not correctly applied a pressure pack to the extraction site following treatment, you are a smoker, it was a difficult extraction, have not been cleansing the area regularly with salt water solution or, as mentioned above, you have a history of dry socket.

David Hurst BDS (Lon)