Aw, lacaster, that's not that reckless on the scale of reckless drug behaviour!
If it's been more that 2 days it should be fine to smoke. Only about 2% of people develop dry socket. Mostly dentists recommend avoiding smoking for 2 days after an extraction because smokers have higher rates of dry socket; it is theorized that the chemicals in the smoke could slow the healing process. After a tooth is removed, a blood clot slowly forms in the hole left in the bone by the removed tooth. This blood cloth is the initial phase of the healing process. The blood clot’s formation may be slowed down when a person smokes. There is also the fear that strong suction could pull out the forming blood clot. But with smoking it is not really like sucking hard on a clogged straw or something, for me at least it is more like just breathing in through my mouth. Smoking a joint would have more suction though. But if it's been over 2 days since the OP got the teeth extracted, they should be able to smoke, use a straw, etc without too much fear of it increasing the likelihood of getting dry socket. Some dentists suggest waiting 72 hrs in the case of wisdom tooth extraction to be safe. Really even if a person smokes before 48-72hrs are up, the risks of dry socket are not
that high and it is just a temporary and easily treatable, but painful condition. If someone thinks they have dry socket (ie they are in a lot of pain from the exposed nerve and there is just a hole to the bone where the tooth was instead of a clot), it's best to see the dentist so they can put some antibiotic in it and some gauze or healing paste, to keep it from getting infected and give a chance for the blood clot to form. I would say it's best to ideally wait a couple days and avoid sucking too hard if someone is going to smoke anything and make sure to keep the mouth hydrated, but not stress
too much over it. Maybe in the interest of harm reduction I should be saying absolutely wait a minimum of 72 hrs before smoking anything, but I'm just trying to be realistic
. I told my dentist no way was I going to wait 48 hrs and she said just to try to wait a couple hours before smoking and smoke gently. It's not like if you smoke you're guaranteed to get dry socket.
