Dry Sockets

We do everything we can at Bernstein Dental Care to save our patients’ teeth, but when they have to be extracted, we do it efficiently and with maximum care for the patient’s comfort. While not done lightly, extractions are a routine procedure and very rarely lead to complications. When something does go wrong, it’s usually a dry socket, which we endeavor to educate patients on how to prevent.


After a tooth is pulled, a bit of blood will pool in the empty socket. This blood will ideally form a clot, which will protect the socket from dryness and infection while it closes. However, there are some medications which prevent blood from clotting, which is why it’s very important for patients to share their medication history with us.


A successful clot could still be dislodged by suction, which is why patients shouldn’t suck on straws after surgery. If they are in severe pain more than two days after the extraction, they should come see us for painkillers, antibiotics, and moisturizing medications, as necessary. Dry sockets are very rare, especially with extractions which did not require incisions, but when they do happen, we have ways of getting the recovery back on track.


Dr. Paul Bernstein runs Bernstein Dental Care at 350 91st St, Suite 1C, Brooklyn, New York, 11209. To schedule an appointment, visit BernsteinDentalCare.com or call 718-833-9191.


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mini Implants

Are you searching for a way to replace your teeth that won’t leave you with an extremely long recovery time or unstable denture? It sounds like you could use mini-implants. Available at the Bay Ridge office of Bernstein Dental Care, this technology allows us to secure full and partial dentures to a patient’s jaw through minimally invasive techniques. A typical implant is over three millimeters wide and supports a single tooth or part of a bridge. Those are highly effective, but they are not suitable for situations in which a patient has lost a great deal of jaw bone material or needs to replace multiple teeth that aren’t in a row. Mini-implants are less than three millimeters wide and their strength is derived from their length instead of their width. They can often be inserted without incisions and have a much faster osseointegration process, being able to bear the distributed weight of a denture immediately, whereas traditional implants needed several months to stabilize. The abutmen
Read more

Dental Avulsion - Traumatic Tooth Loss

During the summer, people tend to be more active outdoors and may be at greater risk for dental injuries. While nobody ever plans to get a tooth knocked out, we at Bernstein Dental Care thought it would be a good idea to remind our patients of what steps they can take during a dental emergency to have the best chance of preserving their teeth. When a tooth is knocked out entirely, we call that a “dental avulsion.” The tooth should be lifted by its crown, never its root. There are American Dental Association-approved tooth transport containers that will hopefully be available in a nearby first aid kit, but if not, the tooth should be rinsed with a saline solution. It should then be reinserted into the empty socket, with care to ensure it is facing the right way. If this is too uncomfortable, it may be held in the cheek or in a glass of milk or saltwater, but the patient should have facial lacerations attended to first. We can determine whether a tooth is salvageable. It may not be if th
Read more

Smoking with Sleep Apnea

Smoking will exacerbate any respiratory condition, and it is proven to cause snoring and lead to obstructive sleep apnea.  Patients struggling with sleep apnea should see Dr. Paul Bernstein and the staff of Bernstein Dental Care for evaluation. We can help patients find relief from sleep apnea with a snore guard, but quitting smoking is up to you! Smoking causes upper airway inflammation, meaning the swelling causes the airway to narrow and disrupts the flow of air to the nasal passage and throat.  This causes snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.  Cigarettes are highly addictive, and some smokers seek treatment for sleep apnea like a snore guard or CPAP machine, but continue to smoke. Smoking with sleep apnea not only puts more stress on the heart every day, but negates any treatment a sleep apnea patient is undergoing. Habitual smokers may feel relaxed by one last cigarette for the day, but it actually creates more complications for restful sleep. Smokers can experience nicotine withd
Read more