I was chatting with my cousin yesterday who just had her wisdom teeth out, and she mentioned something called dry socket. I'd heard the term before but never really knew what it was. Turns out it's when the blood clot that forms after a tooth extraction gets dislodged or dissolves too soon, leaving nerves and bone exposed—ouch. She said it was one of the worst pains she's ever felt, even worse than the toothache itself.
Anyway, she told me something interesting: apparently, smokers and people who use straws right after extraction are way more likely to get it because the suction messes up the healing process. Also, poor oral hygiene can increase your risk since bacteria can interfere with healing. I had no idea about any of this stuff... kinda makes me glad I got mine out years ago without any issues.
Has anyone else heard of other weird or surprising things that can cause dry socket or ways to avoid it? Seems like there's a lot more to tooth extractions than just ice cream and painkillers, lol.