How do you prevent a "dry socket" ?

Question

I just had a tooth pulled... OUCH!!! and I need to know the best tips and advice for preventing what is called a "dry socket"

Answer 1

-Eat soft cool foods, try to eat on the other side from where you had the extraction.

-Don't drink through a straw

-Don't Smoke

-If it starts to bleed...bite on some of the extra gauze they probably gave you (for about 20mins, allows another clot to form)

-Rinse with salt water every time you eat

Answer 2

drink lots of water, get a seringe(sp) and shoot water at it a couple times a day, I've had 14 tooth pulled in my whole life, b/c i had a problem were my baby tooth didn't fall out by themselves

Answer 3

Beautiful blond women usually dont get dry sockets. LOL having said that let me explain what a dry socket is. When a tooth is removed blood fills the socket and forms a clot, slowly over days this clot is replaced by granulation tissue which is replaced by bone. Now if the intial clot is displaced u can imagine that the granulation tissue will not form neither will the bone, so the bone lining the socket is exposed and exposed bone is painful. The inital clot may be displaced by vigorous rinsing, vigorous oral hygiene procedures, infection, negative pressure during smoking or sucking thru a straw or poking stuff in the socket (yes some idiots do that), or if the initial clot itself is deficient. Apply cold for 24 hrs immediately after extraction, practicce normal oral hygiene in other areas of mouth and be careful around the area of extraction. Take a soft cold diet for first 24 hours. u can use chlorhexidine mouthwash if u feel uncomfortable brushing for 1-2 days.

Answer 4

Clean out the area when your supposed to. Like making sure there is no food in there or even smoking can cause it. And don't drink from a straw. That space needs to have a properly formed blood clot.