Sore throat and tongue after wisdom tooth extraction

[advil_lover]

Hi,

No doubt a similar question has been asked before, but here goes.

I am a 56 year old male in good health. Six days ago I had my lower right wisdom tooth extracted. The tooth had developed normally but was shaped to hold a crown. The crown came loose and the dentist recommended extraction because there wasn't enough tooth above the gumline to effectively re-cement the crown.

It was a difficult extraction because there wasn't much tooth above the gumline. The dentist had trouble gripping the tooth, and in the end split the tooth in two pieces so she could grasp and remove each piece.

The day after the extraction I developed a sore throat and the back of my tongue became sore. On the fourth day the pain became more severe in the area of the socket. The tissue behind the socket was swollen and tender. My throat is tender under the jaw on the right side. I went back to the dentist and she diagnosed dry socket. She packed the socket with something that smells like cloves. She thinks the lymph nodes in the throat are inflammed and prescribed Amoxicillin 3 x 500 mg daily to treat that. I have been on the Amoxicillin for 24 hours without any improvement yet. I am returning to her office daily to have the socket repacked.

The pain around the socket eases following the treatment with the clove pack. But the throat and tongue pain remains intense, particularly the throat. It is difficult to swallow and talk. When I speak it feels like the back of my tongue is swollen. I'm almost constantly salivating. I am taking 600 mg of Advil every 4-6 hours. Once the Advil wears off the pain intensifies and I become very uncomfortable.

Today when I saw the dentist for the 2nd repacking the Advil was wearing off. During her inspection she put finger pressure on the back of my tongue and the pain was so intense that I held my breath and the back of my calves perspired leaving droplets of sweat on the plastic covering the dental exam chair. The dentist prescribed Tylenol 3 to help with pain management.

I need to speak on my job and I can't so I've had to take the past couple of days off.

I'm wondering what others think might be going on here. Is the treatment regiment appropriate? Is it normal to have this level of pain for almost one week? Are these symptoms to be expected? When can I expect to recover?

I'm concerned.

 

[advil_lover]

A follow up on this, it so happens that I developed an infection as well as dry socket. I am on two antibiotics and after five days they finally started to have an effect. Pain is reduced enough now that I can swallow without the searing pain I had a few days ago. The infection affected my tongue, causing painful bumps or sores on its surface at the far back. Last night I reached way back with my index finger and felt them. I'll remain on the antibiotics until they are finished. Also I am referred to an oral surgeon for a second opinion.

I read on wikipedia that dry socket can be caused by a difficult extraction and this is surely what happened to me because the dentist worked on the tooth for almost an hour.

 

[Zuri Barniv]

Yes, that could be, but sometimes dry sockets happens for no reason at all. No one really knows what causes them, but they do occur more after difficult extractions. I know you are not a women, but they also tend to occur more in females and those on birth control pills especially (double the risk) due to higher estrogen levels. This is why women should probably wait to have teeth extracted till around the end of their menstrual cycle when estrogen levels are lowest.