Home Remedies for Dry Socket
Dry socket refers to the area a tooth was extracted from. When the dentist pulls a tooth, he places a swab of cotton wool into the hollow to stem the blood flow. Nature’s way of healing a wound is to form a blood clot or scab over it for protection until it heals. The dentist will tell you to leave the swab in and not rinse or eat anything hard for a few days to ensure the clot is not damaged or rinsed out.
Frequently, the patient will remove the swab too soon and rinse to get rid of the taste in the mouth. But if the rinsing is too vigorous, the clot is dislodged and the ensuring condition is referred to as a dry socket. It is extremely painful and will often feel just like a toothache only worse. The pain may radiate along the remaining teeth.
A dry socket will need to have attention by the dentist, but until this can be arranged there are some things that can be done to help relieve the intense pain. Firstly, gently irrigate the area with a warm saline solution. One teaspoon of salt to one cup of water is about right. It is a good idea to first boil the water so it is sterile, then add the salt. Rinse the mouth gently with this solution to cleanse food particles out of the tooth socket.
Clove Oil as a Home Remedy for Dry Socket
Clove oil is the best thing to use to heal and take away the pain of a dry socket. You can either get this as a Red Cross toothache kit in which case it will contain a product called Eugenol, which is similar. Follow the instructions in the kit carefully. There will be small pellets of cotton wool that must be gently inserted into the cleansed socket.
If you cannot get this kit, then you need to soak small pellets of cotton wool with clove oil and insert it carefully into your socket. It may sting for a few minutes, but then will come relief from the pain. These was must be changed at least every two days or even daily because they will get small amounts of blood or food on them and should not be left in the mouth. Do not spill or smear clove oil on your lips as it will burn. If you find neat clove oil is too strong, then it can be diluted.
If the dentist gave you antibiotics, it’s a good idea to start eating yogurt after you’ve finished taking them. This will help to restore the friendly flora in the gut to help prevent any side-effects such as yeast infection that often come after a course of antibiotics. Yoghurt is also soft to eat and so will not injure the damaged tooth socket.
Do not eat hard foods until the dry socket stops being painful and is healed over. Even crisp foods such as toast and dry biscuits can have sharp particles that will cause pain if they lodge in the dry socket. They may scratch the tender surface of the healing gum and cause infection or pain. Soft moist foods are the best.