Hi all, I was hoping for some advice from the posters here.

I had 4 of my wisdom teeth removed 7 days ago. Today I went for my checkup
and they gave me the syringe to clean my sockets.

Now is it normal that a "flap" of my gums is completely covering the side of
my back tooth?

The surgeon's assisntant was a bit rough one one side, and I think the
syringe penetrated the socket giving me the most excruciating pain for a few
minutes. When the surgeon came in, he was trying to show me how to "get
underneath the gums" and I started bleeding quite a bit.

I tried it just now at home, and it is easy to do one side (again, more
blood), but it's very difficult on the other because the "flap" seems to be
much smaller, and it's hard to see if I'm actually getting underneath the
gum.

The surgeon said to keep using salt water until it's healed.

My questions:

-I am wondering how long I'll need to use this syringe.

-Does it matter if I use salt water or mouthwash in the syringe?

-It has been 7 days. Can I still get dry sockets? I read somewhere that
these happen usually 2-3 days after the operation.

-There is still a tiny bit of swelling (not noticable from the outside) that
is making it difficult for me to bite down.

I am still unable to eat solids 7 days after the procedure. I am getting a
little paranoid as I heard that many people can start eating a couple of
days after the operation.

-Is it normal to bleed when I "open the flap of gum" to clean the sockets?

Sorry for this rather lengthy post, thanks in advance for your responses.