[identity profile] queenofdelosers.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] vaginapagina
Hey everyone,

I got all four of my wisdom teeth removed last Wednesday, the 9th of August. The extraction went fine, I was in hella lot of pain onces the anesthesia wore off that afternoon. Yesterday and today (Monday and Tuesday) I noticed that the left side of my mouth was hurting a great deal more than my right. And tonight at work, I was in such excruciating pain that I had to leave early, run home, and take a Vicodin that my oral surgeon had prescribed. After talking it over with my mother, I think I have dry socket. And I only have three more Vicodin pills left. I am going to call my oral surgeon as soon as they open in the morning.

What does dry socket have to do with vaginas? Well, I googled dry socket and found this website. According to them, oral contraceptives increase the risk of dry socket and excessive pain. However, I am not on oral birth control. I'm on the NuvaRing.

Could it be the birth control hormones in general increase the risk of dry socket?

I feel like my oral surgeon should I have said something about this. I mean, if I'd known that being on birth control could have caused me unnecessary pain when having my wisdom teeth removed, I probably would have gone off of it for a month or so (since I don't use it for contraceptive purposes right now).

Also, has anyone in the community had experience with dry socket? Do they prescribe an antibiotic to help deal with it? If so, I will get a yeast infection. And that will just make everything ten times worse.

Any suggestions to help with the pain, insight into the BC and dry socket mystery, or general words of whatever are welcome.

Thank you.

Date: 2006-08-16 04:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fireonthemt.livejournal.com
i can't offer too much help. but i got mine taken out two days before you. i feel your pain. literally and figuratively! my oral surgeon was an ass when i brought up bc. i wanted to talk about how antibiotics would change the effectiveness and was blown off more than once. i never heard about the increased chance for a dry socket either. good luck with getting it cleared up. wisdom teeth suck!

Date: 2006-08-16 04:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] macadamiaranch.livejournal.com
My dry sockets were bad enough to keep me out of work for a week. Plus I had nerve damage. But that's a tale for a different community.

I was asked at the time by my oral surgeon if I was on HBC, and I was. He did warn me that HBC might contribute to dry sockets before I had the surgery. He also said that smoking cigarettes might contribute as well. Those were the only two things he mentioned. And I sent home from surgery with prescriptions for an antibiotic and Vicodin.

Clove extract was immensely helpful. It's available at hippy grocery stores. A drop or so on a cotton ball held lightly in place for a minute of so would give me relief for an hour or more. Plus staying hydrated -- like drinking 24 ounces of water an hour -- really really helped. They are *dry* sockets after all!

Date: 2006-08-16 11:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sarahssoul.livejournal.com
My oral surgeon put gauze soaked in clove in the wound. It was thoroughly unpleasant at first (and when they take it out), but man it made me a functional human being since the dry sockets nocked me out for more than a week in the end. I know it sounds bad...there's no way to make that sound good, but it really is helpful. (Especially since the pain medication made me sick to I was resigned to taking over the counter pain meds...oi.)
Best of luck.

Date: 2006-08-16 05:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] loonylupinlover.livejournal.com
Unfortunately I think high levels of estrogen in general can contribute to dry socket. I've heard of doctors wanting to schedule extractions while women are on their periods, even if they aren't on birth control, so that they have the surgery while at the lowest ebb of hormones. I'm on the Ring too, and that's one reason I'm scared to have my wisdom teeth out. (That, and the fact that they've come in about 85% of the way already with no pain except the occasional few days when they're actually coming in. They're pretty much already there without issue, why take 'em out?)

Date: 2006-08-16 06:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vitrolic.livejournal.com
I second the clove oil comment.

When I had a dry socket, my dentist packed it with special gauze treated with all sorts of nice-smelling stuff- clove oil, oil of wintergreen, eugenol (thyme extract), and aspirin. Perhaps your oral surgeon will pack yours with something similar- It really took off my pain and I was on 2 Vicodin every 6hours for the pain. Most have some form of medicated dry socket packing that they can use. Ice may help you too.

I had antibiotics for my dry sockets but that's because my dentist always prescribes them after any dental work that involves drilling/cutting/pulling teeth.

I feel really bad for you. Mine knocked me on my butt for a week. Feel better soon! :D

Date: 2006-08-16 06:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] park-place.livejournal.com
My dry sockets were awful as well. But my oral surgeon didn't give me gauze with nice smelling stuff. You were lucky! I got gauze with some sort of numbing agent that tasted GROSS, and it caused me to salivate excessively for an hour or so. It was a terrible experience, but I lived! =)

Date: 2006-08-16 06:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] myfavouritescar.livejournal.com
I had a dry socket when my wisdom teeth came out a few years ago. I wasn't on BC at the time but my oral surgeon did warn me that BC increases the risk of getting dry socket. He also re-scheduled my surgery so that it would be when I was on my period.

Your doc should have warned you. Luckily for me it didn't cause too much extra discomfort, in addition to the pain meds I was on, I just rinsed salty water in my mouth.

Date: 2006-08-16 06:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fieldsclaphands.livejournal.com
I don't have a helpful comment, but I had to say that when I read your subject line, I thought you were talking about a dry vagina :) I thought "Socket! Now there's a term I haven't heard used before!" Oh boy.

Date: 2006-08-16 11:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fiercekitty.livejournal.com
oh boy that sucks. I'm supposed to get my wisdom teeth out next winter :( Dry socket here I come. Ugh.

Date: 2006-08-16 01:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fireonthemt.livejournal.com
it doesn't mean you'll definitely get any. don't get too worried. talk to your surgeon about it and they'll do what they can to minimize the risk.

Date: 2006-08-16 12:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] road-rash.livejournal.com
I got my wisdom teeth out this summer and my oral surgeon told me that BC can contribute to dry sockets, but there is no study that proves this. I'm on Yasmin and I didn't get a dry socket.

Call you oral surgeon and they "pack" your dry socket.

Goodluck and hope everything goes well =)

Date: 2006-08-16 12:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] plain-mornings.livejournal.com
I have nothing helpful to say other than:

Hello fellow 2_lines-er! Nuva-ring sure is nifty, isn't it? :) I hope you feel better soon.

dry sockets

Date: 2006-08-16 02:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] for-keepsx.livejournal.com
i had my wisdom teeth removed when i was 18,almost three years ago. The nurse or someone should have asked you if you were on any medicine if they put you under any anestheisa, that's just general practice, well at least with the few surgeries i've had. i had two dry sockets in my bottom teeth, and they got horribly infected, just make sure you take care of those and listen to when the doctor tells you no whole foods that you have to chew. I made the mistake of eating creamy soup, that had bits of stuf fin it and those got lodeged in my wounds and got me infected. so be careful :)

Date: 2006-08-16 04:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saffster.livejournal.com
If you did not tell the nurse or the oral surgeon you were on the NuvaRing, how would they know? I work in medicine and I can tell you that half of the female patients I see never mention their hormones as a "medication" they are taking. Some just forget or don't consider it a drug. So usually when the nurse asks if they are on any medications, a lot of women will say no. I always ask again when I am in the room to double check, and that is usually when I find out that they are on birth control pills.

If you did tell them, well then definitely complain about you not being told that possible side effect and get them to treat your pain. Good luck!

Date: 2006-08-16 11:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lilmizevolution.livejournal.com
I agree with you on this. I am having mine out tomorrow (weird timing) and they have never mentioned anything about HBC or being on my period to me at all either. Which isn't a big deal since I'm not on HBC, but that's really beside the point, because I just as easily could be. I'm really hoping I don't get a dry socket. I'm not in the mood for unnecessary pain!

Date: 2006-08-16 04:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] klemptor.livejournal.com
I don't have anything helpful to add, just my sympathy - my dry socket was horrible so I know what you're going through! I remember watching the pre-op video and thinking, *Man, I hope I don't get that!* And then I did.

Date: 2006-08-17 02:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pinkdramon.livejournal.com
I assure you, you can be off birth control and still get a dry socket. Because I was totally not on BC yet when I had my teeth removed and got a dry socket myself.

You'll need to go to the dentist or surgeon for that. The antibiotic won't help with the pain; that's just to prevent oral infection. They'll put some kind of dressing over the wound that will significantly reduce the pain.

I don't know what that dressing was but it was some kind of ... thing... coating the socket. Don't wait, I'm sure this sort of thing happens all the time.

Date: 2006-08-17 06:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thurstonmoore.livejournal.com
oh man i'm so freaked out about getting mine out

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