[oyvei]

I had a non-wisdom tooth extracted this past Tuesday, Feb 19. It is now February 24. It's been approximately 5 days. I checked out my extraction site yesterday and I don't see any pink gums yet. It's still a maroon red color -- perhaps it's the blood clot? Should I be seeing some pink gums by now? I'm not experiencing any pain at my extraction sites, so I take that as a good sign that I might / will not have dry socket. (Although, my dentist said I'd should be out of the woods for a dry socket after a week.) I just want to ensure that this healing process will go by smoothly.

[joypulv]

Surely you were given explicit instructions about salt water rinses several times a day, and gently brushing the gum to remove any debris, dead tissue, and to stimulate new gum growth?
Yes, no or little pain is a good sign.
We can't see the red area so don't know exactly what it is.

[oyvei]

First, thank you so much for responding. Secondly, yes I did receive post-op instructions, which I have been following to a T. For example, salt water rinses 2-3 times a day -- I'm actually rinsing after every meal, even after snacking on fruit. No sucking through a straw for a week, smoking or drinking alcoholic or carbonated beverages. I don't actually smoke or drink alcohol or soda so if anything bad were to happen, I would have no idea what the cause of it would be.

After taking a closer look at my extraction sites, I do see very tiny white bits peaking out... it's not like a white coating or anything; I'm too scared to feel out what it is though. (Don't want to remove or dislodge anything.) :L

Additionally, I should add that at one of my extraction sites they put in some kind of collagen (plug) -- my dentist said that it could be removed if it started to bother me. But the very idea sounds rather daunting! It's a really weird squishy material. Would you happen to know anything about this? (Should I start a different thread for this? I am new here.)

[joypulv]

I never had a collagen plug. Many years ago (and some still these days) I had stitches. Newer theory is to leave it open. Faster healing, I guess, but not everyone will get food out by sucking when they rinse and really swirling the water around. Hence a resorbable plug, which dissolves in about 10 - 14 days. Or take it out if you want. Gums are tougher than we like to think.
Answering in one thread is the right way.

[oyvei]

I never had a collagen plug. Many years ago (and some still these days) I had stitches. Newer theory is to leave it open. Faster healing, I guess, but not everyone will get food out by sucking when they rinse and really swirling the water around. Hence a resorbable plug, which dissolves in about 10 - 14 days. Or take it out if you want. Gums are tougher than we like to think.
Answering in one thread is the right way.

Thank you! That was very helpful. I can't take pictures of my gums -- the angles are all off, and there's no one here to take them for me at the moment -- so I'm not sure if I'm healing normally or not, but I'm just going to take it one day at a time and if anything changes I'll definitely get in touch with my dentist.