The term Dry Socket is one of the most feared,
and most misunderstood, in the field of dentistry.
Whenever teeth, of any kind and not just wisdom teeth,
are removed there is the chance for dry socket.
But what is dry socket?
Dry socket is very simple to understand.
After a tooth is pulled out of the jaw
the surrounding tissues will begin to bleed.
This is a very good thing.
The blood will fill the socket, where the tooth used to be,
and a blood clot will begin to form.
A blood clot in a socket is kind of like a scab over a cut.
It serves to protect the injured areas until healing can complete.
A dry socket will occur when, for whatever reason,
the blood clot comes out of the socket prematurely.
If the blood clot comes out then the bone of the socket
will dry out. Thus, Dry Socket.
That's it.
Just like a scab being removed prematurely will reveal tissues
that are not ready to be exposed to the outside environment,
so to a blood clot being removed prematurely from a socket
will reveal tissues that are also not ready to exposure to outside forces.
When the clot comes out the tissues that are exposed
are boney tissues.
Dry boney tissues, dry socket, are very painful
and certain steps should be taken by both Dr
and patient to avoid them.
