I have a dry socket.

Oh, I tried to apply oil of clove myself (found it at Whole Foods), but was not very successful. I might try again. It was a wisdom tooth, so it's way in the back of my mouth and hard to get to.

Is it safe?

drummerboy said:

For those unfamiliar with this dental condition, it happens when you have a tooth pulled, and the blood clot that's supposed to seal off the pulled tooth hole gets dislodged and goes away. Never heard about it til a few days ago.

It can cause infection, delays healing, and hurts like hell.

Going to the dentist today for my second treatment, which involves irrigation and application of some goo, which contains oil of clove, just like the movie Marathon Man. The first treatment really helped for several hours, but then the pain returned. Tylenol is pretty effective though. I can deal with the pain - I'm mostly worried about it getting infected.

Anyone have any dry socket stories?

Sorry to hear that. I had an extraction last summer and worried about getting dry socket, but fortunately, I didn't. I hope you feel better soon.

dave said:

Is it safe?

 Beat me to it. ;-)

Status report: so I had that clove gel applied today, and I have to say it feels pretty good. The first application, on Thursday, only lasted about 6 hours or so before it started to hurt, but I'm 12 hours in and it only hurts a tiny bit.  Dentist said he can see the hole closing up, which is a good sign.

Hopefully I'm over the hump. I have a high tolerance for pain, but this sucker woke me up a few times with the pain, which is very rare for me.

BTW: a plug for the oral surgeon Dr. Peter Hinic in Summit. Excellent dentist. This is my second extraction with him and I am very satisfied with his work. And I'm picky about my dentists.