xPAP after wisdom teeth extracted

[rockhound]

Greetings All!
Just had my remaining 3 wisdom teeth out (two bottom, one top). My surgeon said that his recommendation would be for me to not use my Bi-pap for a month afterwards! Actually he kind of went back and forth at first, saying it was okay, then deciding not. What have you been told following wisdom tooth removal?

[bdp522]

I have had several oral surgeries since starting xpap. According to my dentist and oral surgeon, if there are stitches xpap is ok, if they opt to not use stitches, skip xpap for 3-7(depends on the size of the whole and they tell me how many nights) nights so you don't end up with a dry socket. When they tell me 3 nights, I don't use the machine for 3 nights. When they tell me 7 nights, I still use the machine after 3 nights. Never had an issue. A month sounds like a really long time.

Brenda

[cowlypso]

A month is way, way excessive.

First, there's the question of whether PAP will cause a dry socket (that's what the worry would be). It's usually sucking motions that they want you to avoid (smoking, drinking through a straw, etc.). Although PAP seems similar, it's actually different. When you are sucking, you are creating a negative pressure in the mouth (and could suck the blood clot out of the socket). With PAP, there is a positive pressure in the mouth, which shouldn't pull on the clot. The biggest danger of PAP, I think, would be if it dries out your mouth.

So, now you have to decide whether you would rather slightly increase your risk of a dry socket (painful, but not dangerous), or skip using your PAP (which also carries risks/downsides).

If you do decide to skip the PAP while you heal, you certainly shouldn't have to wait a month. The biggest risk for dry socket is in the first few days after extraction. When I had my wisdom teeth out, I got some stitches, and the oral surgeon took them out a week later. Things were pretty well healed up by then. I'd guess the longest that you would have to wait to restart PAP would be about a week or so.