Drug addicted teen? Not my kid!

babynurselsa, RN · Oct 28, 2005

How is the boy today Haunted?

I agree Danvocet is not much of a pain med for major oral surgery. I would have expected at least Lortab.

I had 3 teeth extracted a little over a week ago I feel for him. I would give the dose pack that is common tx and will help with the swelling.

SmilingBluEyes · Oct 28, 2005

The best thing to do is contact the oral surgeon who did the work and ask for a consult/change of RX as he/she sees fit. Really you can't assume anything here. Nor can we. Hope he gets better SOON.

gr8rnpjt, RN · Oct 28, 2005

He might very possibly have "dry sockets"
I had dry sockets at 29 when I had mine out. My oral surgeon ended up putting me on po demerol 50. That helped a lot. I agree with taking the po steroid. The swelling doesn't come out full force for a couple of days.:stone

RedSox33RN · Oct 28, 2005

I also had dry socket after my widsom teeth were removed. The pain was excruciating. I had a rx for Percocet, and was packed and re-packed every 2 days with the oil of clove packing (which I must be weird - I found it so relieving and soothing, the taste or smell didn't bother me in the least!). The combination of those with ibuprofen 800mg got me through the week, before it started feeling better. Hope he feels better soon.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Oct 28, 2005

Oh my goodness. I had two wisdom teeth dug/ cut out last year. Love the IV sedation. I was ordered a steriod and ABX for 3 days an Vicodin. I think I took one Vicodin a day along with Motrin RTC.

Very painfull for me. I would rather give birth than have oral surgery.

MDSlady · Oct 28, 2005

I too think the same...dry sockets. I've heard they are terrible!!! I would call the surgeon also. Maybe he has a low threshold for pain too. I don't think he is playing you. Call the surgeon and give it a few days, then reconsider..... Good luck....

SusanJean · Oct 29, 2005

He may very well have dry sockets...supposed to be horrible!
!

Have to agree this may be a possiblilty.

Call the surgeon so your son can be evaluated.

Hope he is feeling better soon. :balloons:

SJ

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Oct 29, 2005

DarvocetN is a very weak pain med.

And dry socket syndrome or postop infections (usually later, in 5-10 days) can hurt like the dickens. He probably needs something stronger.

Also, usually some Novacaine was given before the extraction, which would be wearing off a few hours after the procedure. Much like surgical patients that get some local pain killers along with IV during surgery, when that local wears off, it will actually hurt much worse for a while. And while he got Dilaudid in recovery, he was also not trying to eat and drink then. Now, that (presumably) he is eating/drinking, as well as wide awake, swollen, and the local has worn off, the pain can be major.

A few days of heavier pain meds that keep him able to take fluids/nutrition is preferable to hospitalization for dehydration because he was in too much pain to eat/drink or infection from poor mouthcare (d/t pain)

PS. Watch out for complaints of HA/sore throat/pain when swallowing, and especially an earache. These frequently have to do with infection at the site or dry sockets. For some reason the, pain frequently gets "referred" to the ear/eustachian tubes.

foxyhill21 · Oct 29, 2005

My fiancé got 4 wisdom teeth removed last Friday and he was under strict rules so that the bony sockets would not be exposured:

no soda, no alcohol, no spiting, no sucking from a straw, his med were hydrocodone every 4-6 hr for pain and cephalexin, methylprednisolone for infection.

I see it has been several days ago since you posted the ? has the pain subsided.

Gompers, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2005

PS. Watch out for complaints of HA/sore throat/pain when swallowing, and especially an earache. These frequently have to do with infection at the site or dry sockets.

:offtopic:

While I didn't have dry sockets, I did have a sore throat a few days after the teeth came out. Just when I was startingn to feel better, I woke up one day and felt like I was swallowing red hot swords! At first I thought it must have to do with the extraction, so I called my oral surgeon. Since there was no actual mouth pain and the swelling had subsided, he said it was probably strep throat. Went to my regular doctor, who did a quick swab test for strep...negative. She said my throat looked fine to her. I pleaded for her to look further down, because the pain wasn't at the back of my mouth but rather IN my throat. I asked if maybe I could have thrush, since I'd been on antibiotics for two weeks pre-op (to clear the absess that alerted me to the wisdom teeth in the first place) and one week post-op. She said that was ridiculous because my mouth had not a single white spot. After more begging, she finally looked WAAAAAAY down my throat with her little scope..."OH MY GOD! THAT IS THE WORST CASE OF THRUSH I'VE EVER SEEN!!!" She looked so embarrassed as she wrote me the scripts for Diflucan and Nystatin!!!

LoriAlabamaRN · Oct 31, 2005

Oooohhhh thrush... I was on a MAJOR round of steroids (trying to reduce spinal swelling) and I ended up with horrible thrush. I certainly sympathize!

Dry sockets are incredibly painful, but that packing sure helps. I never could get over that clove oil taste, though, and ended up sipping Dr. Pepper constantly (for some reason that helps with the taste.) I also had Percocet and that helped a lot.

I sure hope everything with your son is okay by now!

student4ever · Oct 31, 2005

OMG - I had major jaw surgery along with removal of 4 terribly impacted wisdom teeth - and on discharge, was never given a steroid. The swelling - well, lets say my face looked like I had just gained 400 pounds. I had an ice pack on each side with an ace all the way around my head too!

I don't remember having much pain though - I think I had tylenol with codeine. Not sure though. A call to the oral surgeon is definetly in order. Hope all resolves soon... it sucks having your mouth hurt!