Home Remedies for Dry Socket

What is dry socket?

Dry socket is a relatively unusual but nonetheless painful condition following a tooth extraction. It is characterized by a throbbing pain and sometimes accompanied by foul smelling breath and a nasty taste in the mouth.

How do you Get a Dry Socket?

Dry socket only occurs following around 2% of extractions but that figure rises significantly when it involves wisdom tooth extraction. It is caused when the tooth socket fails to full fully clot after the extraction. When you get a tooth pulled out, the first stage of healing is the formation of a blood clot which protects the jawbone beneath it.

In some cases however, blood clotting is partial or absent leaving the bone exposed, causing pain and delaying the healing process. There are certain risk factors that can increase the chance of dry socket including smoking, chewing tobacco, prior infections of the affected area and hormonal factors-women are more at risk than men.

If it is left untreated, dry socket will usually clear up within 7 to 10 days and during this time it is important to avoid smoking, using a straw to drink and vigorous rinsing and spitting.

While dry socket will clear up eventually of its own accord, it can be very painful and there is nothing quite like dental pain to put you in a very cross mood. This article will take a look at a number of effective home remedies that you can try to ease your symptoms and seed up the healing process.

The Best Home Remedies for Dry Socket

1. Clove Oil

One of the best known and most effective natural remedies for dry socket is clove oil. Clove oil has natural antiseptic and analgesic properties which can be used to great effect in treating toothache as well as dealing with the symptoms of dry socket. Clove oil is widely used as a topical form of anesthetic and has a long tradition in dealing with dental pain.

To treat dry socket with clove oil, it should not be directly applied as it can cause a fairly painful sting. Instead, you should dip a cotton swab in water and then dip it into the oil.

1. Press the oil soaked swab against your dry socket and hold it in place for at least 20 minutes.
2. Try this remedy twice a day and you should experience a great deal of relief.

2. Turmeric Rinse

No home should be without it-turmeric is one of those traditional home remedies with countless benefits to your health and it can even be used to help treat your painful dry socket. Turmeric has antiseptic properties that speed up your healing and prevent further infections from developing.
Simply take a pinch of turmeric and add it to a glass of warm water then stir it well.

You can gargle the finished turmeric solution regularly throughout each day until your symptoms have cleared up.

3. Hydrogen Peroxide

You can try using hydrogen peroxide to ease your dry socket symptoms. Hydrogen peroxide acts to disinfect the area and prevents the development of any further bacterial infection.

Not only that but rinsing your mouth out with a hydrogen peroxide solution helps relieve the pain and will help remove any particles and debris trapped in the mouth and between the teeth.

4. Compress

Severe and throbbing pains are often the first signs you will have that you are suffering from a dry socket. These pains occur fairly soon after extraction and you will doubtless find yourself reaching for your stash of painkillers. Another great home remedy to alleviate your dental pain is either a hot or a cold compress placed onto the face over the affected area.

• You can make a cold compress by packing a towel with ice cubes or simply by using a bag of frozen vegetables like peas.
• A warm compress can be made by simply soaking a towel in hot water and ringing out the excess before using it.
• Whether you opt for a cold or warm compress, hold it firmly against your face for around 2o minutes and you should feel fairly instant pain relief.

5. Tea Bags

I am sure that nearly all of us have a pack of teabags handy at home and they make for a great home remedy for dry socket as well as several other complaints like puffy eyes. Their therapeutic use is down to the tannin content of the tea; tannic acid has effective antiseptic and antibacterial qualities that can help fight infection and leave your mouth feeling fresh and clean.

1. After removing the tea bag from the hot water, allow it to cool and place it directly onto your dry socket.
2. Try to keep it in place for at least 20 minutes and repeat several times a day until your symptoms have cleared.

6. Moist Gauze

Gauze is often used by dentists to cover the area of extraction and you can apply it at home in order to keep the dry socket free of irritating particles and the saliva that can cause pain when it comes into contact with your wound.

• Simply moisten a piece of gauze and place it onto the dry socket, biting down on it to ensure that it covers the entire area.
• Make sure that you replace the gauze at regular intervals throughout the day.

7. Yogurt

While certain food might irritate the dry socket and cause greater pain, eating yogurt is recommended because it contains antibiotic properties and will help keep the affected area free of further infection. On another note, yogurt is generally very good for you and it tastes great.

8. Valerian root

Valerian root has a number of medicinal uses and is very well known for its calming and sedative abilities. As a natural tranquilizer, it might be able to help ease the pain and discomfort caused by your dry socket and might even help move the healing process closer.

9. Salt and lemon

A mixture of salt and lemon juice provides natural antiseptic qualities which can deal with your oral bacteria and prevent against any further infection of the dry socket.

You can rinse your mouth out gently with a lemon and salt solution as often as necessary, until your symptoms have healed. Being such a rich source of C vitamin, drinking lemon water alone is also a great way to stay generally healthy and to freshen up your mouth.

Avoid these known triggers

Making sure that you stay well hydrated is important to prevent giddiness that can be caused by dry socket and you should also do your best to avoid certain triggers that tend to worsen the symptoms.

• Common triggers include smoking and other tobacco products. Believe me when I say I know how hard it is to stop smoking but you might be able to turn the pain of your dry socket into an opportunity to quit.
• Try to avoid vigorous brushing as this is likely to aggravate your symptoms and delay the healing process even further.
• Don’t drink with a straw.
• Avoid touching the wound with hard objects and your fingers.
• Overly vigorous rinsing and spitting is also likely to aggravate your symptoms.