Dry socket (Alveolar osteitis)

Few have heard of this painful condition unless they have experienced it themselves. Dry socket develops when a blood clot fails to develop in the wound following the tooth extraction, or this protective “filling” is damaged due to improper post care. In such case, both bone and the nerve endings in the tooth socket stay exposed and become susceptible to irritation and inflammation. You may have heard from your dentist that the condition will go away on its own in 3-6 weeks, however, you will need to cover this period with pain relieve medication. Whilst that is an option, many try to avoid taking analgesics for a prolonged period of time. For those, there are simple solutions that will relieve your pain quickly. If all directions below are followed, you are unlikely to use any pain killers yet be pain free in less than 24 hours.Here are the simple measures to help you heal your tooth socket quickly and painlessly.

Avoid Irritants

Avoid foods and drinks that irritate the wound. It sounds logical that you would not apply anything spicy, acidic or hot on an open wound on the skin. Yet your fresh wound in mouth does not get so much of careful consideration. Avoid foods that are hard, hot, spicy, acidic or excessively salty. In the same way avoid hot drinks, alcohol, acidic and fizzy drinks. If you cannot refrain from tea and coffee, try to drink them cooler. Nothing that comes to your mouth should exceed your body temperature.

Cleanse with Herbal Infusion Rinse

Rinse your mouth by swooshing with lukewarm herbal infusion every 2-3 hours (and every time you have eaten or drank anything apart from water). To prepare this infusion, mix turmeric and liquorice powder in equal proportions. Use 1 teaspoon of this mix to brew it shortly in a mug of boiled water whilst being covered. Allow it to cool to lukewarm or room temperature. Use this throughout the day. Discard leftover if older than 10 hours.

Protect and Heal with a Herbal paste

Following the washing of the wound, fill the tooth socket with a generous amount of herbal ghee paste. Prepare the paste by mixing turmeric and liquorice in equal proportions in a little bit of warmed organic ghee into a thicker paste (not too thick as the ghee tends to solidify in our cooler temperatures and if too stiff, it may become a little difficult to work with). You will get the right consistency with a little trial and error exercise. Prepare a fresh paste every morning and use up by the end of the day. Plug your sore socket with this paste using a cotton bud or an opposite end of the teaspoon. This paste will both protect the exposed socket from irritants and bacteria, disinfect, reduce inflammation and assist in speedy healing.

Above simple therapies bring nearly instant relief. You will need to be, however, very diligent about their use. Initially make sure you use the rinse and apply paste every 2-3 hours, but over time, as the wound starts to heal, you may decrease the frequency of the applications.

Final Considerations

This therapy may not be suitable if you have complex health issues or specific allergies. In such cases, please consult us, your healthcare professional or another Ayurvedic practitioner to discuss how the treatment can be adjusted for you.

Dry socket (Alveolar osteitis)