Ouch! - extractions...

[kiwibug]

Just had 2 teeth out this afternoon, all went well and was done and over with very quickly. Numbing is wearing off now though and getting very sore! Any tips on how to relieve some pain? Have taken some pain killers, but they dont seem to be doing much yet
If just pulling 2 baby teeth is this bad, i'm getting very nervous about braces. ughhhhh!

[juppiejux]

Congrats on starting the journey of being braced! Try taking liquid via a straw and avoid rinsing for the first 24 hours. Extraction and spacers were the worst part of the bracing for me. Braces were a breeze compared to those two =D

[starfish88]

Sorry to contradict but Dont use a straw for at least a few days after extractions - it increases your risk of dry socket. Try ice on your face for the first day or so then warm packs after. Likewise cold/iced drinks to start with then warm drinks...but no straws!!!

[juppiejux]

starfish88 does have a point about the dry sockets so it may not work for everyone. What i did was placed the straw as far back as i could and basically just let the liquid flow down.. sounds miserable now that i think about it. Maybe i was just lucky to not get dry sockets

[Ciara]

It really is best not to use a straw. You can easily give yourself a dry socket doing this. Try some ice packs for 15 minutes on then 15 minutes off until bedtime. This will keep any swelling to a minimum and will also numb any pain. Moist heat after 36 hours may help jaw soreness. The ice followed by heat really helped me when I got my wisdom teeth out. For future reference, it is also best to take a pain killer before the anesthetic wears off. It is much easier to prevent pain from starting than to stop it.
After the first 24 hours gently rinse 4 times a day using warm salt water (1 teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water). Do not spit out forcefully! Rinse after every meal and/or snack, and try to make sure that the water removes any bits of food around the area where the tooth is missing.

[kiwibug]

Thanks everyone. I took pain meds as soon as I got out of the dentist's, but hasn't been enough to keep it at bay Intended to take them before I went in, but it was a mad mad rush to get there on time today

Fingers crossed tomorrow is a bit better. Both sides of my jaw are very tender as well as the extraction sites. Hoping sleep will help and things look better in the morning.

[Tobilei]

My baby tooth was surprisingly painful too. I thought it would be a piece of cake because it had no root. I hate being numb and I couldn't wait for the anaesthetic to wear off but when it did I wished it hadn't! I'm not sure what country you live in but here you can buy paracetamol and codiene over the counter. I took those the first 2 times. By the next day it was feeling much better and after 3 days it was pretty much all healed up. Salt water rinses helped too.

Hope you're feeling a bit better soon!

[kennyandrew85]

Yoghurts & Scrambled Egg got me through it...

The first 2 I had out were painless, but the second 2 stopped me sleeping at night, just take as many painkillers as you're allowed and eat soft food until it begins to heal.

[Raleigh]

I had four extractions and the first one was my most difficult because it was a root canal treatment. I had to go back to the dentist because it was hurting me so much that he had to put on a clove salve on it for a day. The best thing to do is to be very careful with what to eat so not to "stress" your extraction areas. Rinsing your mouth with salt will also help in the healing process and pain killers will help with the pain. Avoiding certain things like spitting, straws and smoking will help with avoiding the whole dry socket issue. Anyway in the end I think the best idea would be to take it easy and be gentle with your mouth until it starts healing.

[kiwibug]

Thanks again everyone. Nearly a week on of extreme pain and not being able to eat I went back to the dentist yesterday to have it looked at just in case. Both sides are infected so it's onto the antibiotics now
Really hope this isn't setting the tone for the whole experience!

[helricha]

so sorry to hear that!!! hopefully this will be the end of it. I was maxing out on pain meds after my extractions because I had dry sockets. Happy to be drug free as of yesterday finally. Hope you make it there soon!