Man, the clove oil thing is so real—felt like I was marinating in grandma’s spice drawer and it didn’t even help much. I actually tried rinsing with salt water a bunch, but honestly, it just stung and didn’t do much for the pain. Did your dentist give you any tips for eating? I remember being so paranoid about food getting stuck in there and making it worse. Ended up living on mashed potatoes for days...
Yeah, I totally get the paranoia about food getting stuck. I was basically living off yogurt and scrambled eggs for a while—couldn’t even look at crunchy stuff without stressing. My dentist just said “nothing with seeds or little bits,” but honestly, that doesn’t help when you’re starving and every commercial is for burgers or pizza. I tried to chew on the opposite side, but it still felt risky.
Did you ever try one of those little syringes they give you to rinse out the socket? Mine told me not to mess with it unless something was really stuck, but I kept wanting to flush everything out anyway. The salt water stung so bad too, like you said...not sure how people say it helps with pain.
I’m curious—did anyone else have a weird taste in their mouth the whole time? Mine tasted kinda metallic for days and it made everything just gross. Maybe that’s normal, I dunno.
That metallic taste totally happened to me too, and it was honestly the worst part besides the soreness. I kept worrying it meant something was wrong, but my oral surgeon said it’s pretty common—just part of the healing process with all that tissue repair going on. The salt water rinse stung for me as well... I think it’s supposed to help keep things clean, but yeah, never felt soothing. I also found myself wanting to use the syringe more than recommended, just because food paranoia is real. It does get better after a week or so, but those first days are rough.
That metallic taste is honestly so weird, right? I kept second-guessing everything—like, is this normal or did I mess something up? My extraction site was super sore and I swear the salt water rinse just made it throb more. Did anyone else get super anxious about using the syringe too soon? I was terrified of dry socket but also freaked out about food getting stuck... It’s such a weird balance. How did you know when to start using it without making things worse?
Did anyone else get super anxious about using the syringe too soon? I was terrified of dry socket but also freaked out about food getting stuck...
Yeah, I kept second-guessing the timing too. My dentist said wait 48 hours, but honestly, it still looked kinda raw at that point. I ended up waiting an extra day just to be safe. Did your instructions say anything different? The anxiety about food getting stuck is real — I basically lived on yogurt and mashed potatoes for a week.