# My Mouth Hates Me: Part 3 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 1, 2014, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouth-hates-me-part-3/697119 "2014-09-01T06:26:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouth-hates-me-part-3/697119/21 "2014-09-10T01:27:22Z")
Um… okay, my humor is gone. I just went to the bathroom for the first time since the extraction and my urine was red. What the hell. Now I’m really scared. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouth-hates-me-part-3/697119/22 "2014-09-10T01:40:23Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Um… okay, my humor is gone. I just went to the bathroom for the first time since the extraction and my urine was red. What the hell. Now I’m really scared. Call the dentist and ask if this is a side effect of anything. Some medications will do that. If the dentist says not, ask what you should do next. Don’t be afraid to call the dentist NOW. It’s still early. And remember that it’s unlikely to be anything serious. Statistics are on your side. So why are you still reading this? Go! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouth-hates-me-part-3/697119/23 "2014-09-10T01:54:00Z")
Yes I just texted their emergency line, thank you. Usually they get back fairly quickly so hopefully I’ll hear back soon. I see that Ibuprofen (Advil) can cause red/pinkish urine. Since I didn’t have anything to drink today (I should have had more to drink with the meds, that was stupid, but at the time I still had the gauze in my mouth and didn’t want to remove it to drink) maybe that also concentrated things. I don’t know. Thanks **GrumpyBunny.** ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouth-hates-me-part-3/697119/24 "2014-09-11T00:04:20Z")
I gotta start looking prior to bed. Glad **GrumpyBunny** is here to answer for me, right again. Yes probably the Advil in combination with small urine volume due to lack of fluids. You can drink with the gauze in, just don’t swallow it. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouth-hates-me-part-3/697119/25 "2014-09-14T23:31:10Z")
Belated thank you, **rsat4acr**. As it turns out, I stopped the Advil and stuck to Tylenol, drank more, and every other bathroom break since was normal. It is _really_ unpleasant to be this anxiety-prone. The [del]tooth[/del] socket was painful until about Thursday evening–mostly sore and a dull throbbing, not nearly as bad as it was prior to the extraction; I only used one Tylenol by Thursday. Over the weekend only my jaw’s been a little achy (like an underused/overused muscle–I’ve been slowly stretching it to help remove the stiffness) but otherwise other than a few twinges I’ve had no real pain at all. Doing the salt-water rinse when I wake up and after each meal, and used only water to brush my teeth for the first 48 hours (only because of the _caveat_ against rinsing vigorously, so toothpaste was out for me). I was very very glad to finally go back to a small amount of toothpaste on Friday. Still with the salt water after each meal. I noticed some weird white/granular stuff around the gum along with the dark red closure that I guess was the clot? I became worried that I had some kind of infection or necrotizing tissue. (Because worrying is what I do, as should be obvious by now. Dry Socket has been the haunting terror I’ve been desperate to avoid.) So we’re at Day 5 post-extraction and today is the first day the gap looks half its original size with noticeable gum tissue having grown in place of the white stuff. Last night I had my first not-completely-soft food (an omelet with very soft toast), making sure to chew only on the opposite side of my mouth. And it was amazing. Bananas and cottage cheese and pudding got tiring pretty fast! Interestingly I have no follow-up scheduled, except for an appointment with my regular dentist (not the one who did the extraction) for more cavity work in about ten days. I was tempted to postpone it but I guess it’d be good for _someone_ to take a look and make sure all seems well in there. The only thing I’m really curious about is wondering how long before I’m in the clear regarding risk of developing a dry socket. I’ve heard everything from “they only develop in the first three or four days” to “two weeks at least.” Mostly I just want to stop being paranoid, and also I just wanna not be afraid of rinsing/sneezing/blowing my nose and all the other stuff everyone warns you not to do. Also I miss drinking with a straw. 🙂 Anyhoo thank you to everyone for your support over this ridiculous ordeal for multiple threads. I still have an upper bicuspid to extract, but there’s no rush for that one–and now I’ll know what to expect. I hope if nothing else, my tale will help others who have extractions and tooth ailments… and will encourage people to take much better care of their teeth than I did! (Though I’ve been luckier than I deserve; 4.5 decades with 5 cavities and an extraction is much better than my parents’ dental histories.) ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouth-hates-me-part-3/697119/26 "2014-09-14T23:35:06Z")
> [@choie](#): > > This continues the apparently never-ending saga of [What the heck is going on with my mouth?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=727227) and [Help me prepare for my 1st tooth extraction](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=729161). > > First, I’ve already contacted my dentist but I just wanted more info because I’m a hypochondriac and scared, even though I know they’ll probably get back to me before anyone here does. I just need to vent. > > A very brief version of this particular dental issue: I was having significant pain in my tooth – the 2nd molar (lower left) – and my dentist discovered a crack. She tried to fix it via a drilling & filling, but discovered that the crack went lower than expected; temporarily she put in a filling in hopes that would be enough to prevent an extraction. > > That was toward the end of June. Two months later the pain has kept returning on and off, and I’ve been back to the dentist a couple of times for her to adjust the bite via shaping etc. (She noticed that I was biting unusually ‘hard’ on that side, so thought filing away at some of the cusps might ease the pain.) > > Anyway, about a week ago we did one final attempt to fix things by reshaping stuff, but it was agreed the next step would be extraction if this didn’t help. > > Fast forward to the end of this week, where this tooth’s been hurting me yet again. The pain lessened significantly; however Sunday morning (yesterday) I woke up with a lump beneath the gum-line on outside of tooth. I’m assuming this is an abscess. Of course Googling ‘tooth abscess’ resulted in my learning that I’m apparently destined for a brain infection and death. (Well, not exactly, but that’s the worst-case scenario, and that’s where my doom-laden mind takes me.) > > I just texted my dentist’s emergency line & the dentist said he’s calling in a prescription for antibiotics I can get in the a.m. He told me not to lose sleep and I shouldn’t be scared–“a brain infection is possible, but so is lightning.” > > My question: is he right? Also, what is the next step? He didn’t mention following up or anything, which seems odd (then again it was just texting). But I assume I should be making an appointment to get this tooth properly taken care of, because antibiotics won’t actually heal anything, will they? The meds’ll prevent it spreading (which is great) but the problem still exists. Should they be trying to fit me in ASAP to handle this? I’m just worried he’s not taking it seriously enough. Or am I being too paranoid? > > I should mention the lump has a dull ache/pain if I move my cheek or touch it with my tongue, but it doesn’t hurt otherwise; the tooth itself feels uncomfortable but not painful at the moment. > > Anyone have experience w/dental abscesses? I’d say your first decision is whether your dentist is male or female. You seem quite confused about that. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouth-hates-me-part-3/697119/27 "2014-09-15T00:12:24Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > I’d say your first decision is whether your dentist is male or female. You seem quite confused about that. 😕 Is this… is this even relevant? No, I’m far from “quite confused.” My regular dentist, the one I see for cavities/cleanings/etc., is Dr. M., a woman. Hence all the “she” pronouns. She’s part of a dental practice with about five or six dentists of varying types. The group has an emergency line you can use to text someone after-hours. This after-hours person on-call isn’t necessarily gonna be my regular dentist. In fact, thus far, it never has been. When I used the dental group’s emergency line (at least both times), the person on-call was Dr. L., a guy. Thus: > [@](#): > > I called my dentist’s emergency line & the dentist said he’s calling in a prescription for antibiotics I didn’t think it was important to distinguish the two different dentists because wow, it was soooo not the point of my incredibly dramatic tale of a crappy tooth. BTW, since for some reason gender seems extremely important to the veracity of my saga, the periodontist who did the extraction so unbelievably quickly and painlessly is male. Dr. A., for those keeping track. Do you think I’m making this up because I referred to two different dentists? Because damn, this would make the world’s most insufferably boring troll thread ever! 😃 I can give you a freakin’ photo of the tooth socket but trust me, ain’t _no one_ wants to see that who isn’t being paid multiple hundreds of dollars in compensation. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouth-hates-me-part-3/697119/28 "2014-09-15T01:08:23Z")
**choie** , no hard and fast rule on dry socket but usually about three to four days out. Very seldom after a week. By this time there shouldn’t be too much of a problem eating, sneezing etc. Glad things are getting better. I’d like to see the picture, but then most dentists like to see weird/gross things. No insult intended. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mouth-hates-me-part-3/697119.md?page=1)