How To Treat Dry Socket - A dry socket, as relates to dentistry, is any portion or hole (socket) in which a patient is experiencing pain due to loss of blood clotting which exposes the bone to air, food, and fluids. This generally also causes a foul odour to go along with the dry socket.

A dry socket often occurs two or more days after a tooth extraction and generally lasts about a week. Also known simply as tooth extraction pain, a dry socket can be a part of the normal discomfort or pain after an extraction takes place but generally lessens after a few days as the gums and bone begin to heal normally.

There are various methods as to how to treat a dry socket. These dry socket treatment methods include applying medication directly to the dry socket itself, using clove oil, using gauze with medication, applying a topic anaesthetic, or using any combination of other methods including recommending a home care technique that involves self-care of the dry socket. In most instances, a dry socket cure is readily available and patients notice a reduction in the pain within five minutes or less of when the treatment is administered to the affected area.

There are many ways to avoid needing a dry socket treatment in the first place. Prevention is the best way to avoid any unnecessary dental pain after regular procedures and most dentists have a general set of guidelines to follow in order to avoid this painful process. In order to avoid dry socket, try to refrain from drinking from a straw.

If you are a woman on birth control, avoid scheduling your dentistry or surgical procedures within 22 days of your menstrual cycle because tests have shown women to be twice as likely to develop dry socket as to the higher levels of estrogen. Avoid smoking as it can lead to contamination of the tooth extraction site and avoid excessive rinsing as it dilutes the process of the clotting of the blood.