M32: The dry socket visit: read the signs, rule out other causes, irrigate and dress the socket, pain relief without antibiotics, and the review

One visit for an adult whose pain came back a few days after a molar was taken out: read the signs (pain starting 24-48 hours after the extraction, no clot in the socket, a bad taste or smell); examine outside and inside the mouth to rule out a retained root tip, infection, osteomyelitis or drug-related osteonecrosis of the jaw; irrigate the socket with saline, not chlorhexidine, and pack it with a dressing that covers the bare bone, with local anaesthetic for severe pain; give pain relief and no antibiotic unless the infection is spreading or systemic or the patient is immunocompromised, with advice on smoking, hygiene and salt water rinses; and review: a nonresorbable dressing comes out after 2-3 days, the socket is repacked if the pain persists, and a radiograph is taken if it lasts beyond 72 hours, read against the SDCEP acute dental problems guidance and a JCDA clinical page.

Practice feedback against the 2026–27 published crown-prep criteria (molar). Not an exam or admissions result; your program and examiners decide.