Wisdom teeth.............plz help

Question

i had my two wisdom teeth pulled tues july 29. is it normal for my breath to have an odor...and i ran my finger along my gum @ the top and there is something prickly sticking out(not stitches). What could be wrong?

Answer 1

Yes, it is normal.  The prickly stuff you are feeling could be jagged edges of gum (which will come off in one of your salt water rinses).  

Answer 2

Yes, oder is normal. Rinse with warm salt water...and the prickly thing if not stitches are usually little bone fragments working their way out. No worries!!

Answer 3

Yes you can have bad taste in your mouth, even bad breath after a tooth extraction. But if you also have intense pain, it would mean that you have a dry socket. In that case, do not panic. Consult your dentist and he or she can put something in your extraction site to make it go away. It would go away by itself if you do nothing, it would just take more time.

If there is no pain at all, even better, just rinse with water and salt three times a day.

About the think sticking out, it might be a tiny bone spike. It happens a lot after wisdom teeth extraction. It is so tiny that it might come off by itself in a few days.

Answer 4

I had all four of mine pulled back in February just to get it out of the way in one fell swoop.  I noticed an odor of sour foods (I know...gross) after about a day or so after the extraction (I was fortunate enough to not have to have them cut out) so, like any good patient, I put in a call to my dentist whose office gave me some important information.  They indicated to me that I could be developing 'dry sockets' which is a type of oran infection...an odd thing for someone like me who generally takes really good care of his teeth.

They ended up prescribing an antibiotic and a pain pill since it was causing a great deal of discomfort, too.  I also asked how soon after my procedure I could resume rinsing (with Listerine, pretty much the only rinse on the market that's sugar-free) and they gave me the green light on that after just a couple of days.  

I don't know what they told you or what kind of procedure you had but reducing the amount of bacteria in your mouth by rinsing doesn't sound like a terrible idea to me at this point.  If you're unsure I recommend contacting your dentist (who is likely closed for the weekend) or maybe you can get into a 'nurse-line chat' with a rep from your insurance carrier.  You're going to want to take as many precautions as you can to avoid dry sockets because...for lack of a better word, they suck.  Good luck...take care of those chompers.