Sir, I was interested to read the letter Dry socket secrets (BDJ 2008; 204: 703). I have written in similar vein on two previous occasions in the BDJ and last year carried out a short survey of the incident of dry socket. During the period I extracted 263 teeth of which 63 were surgical extractions of varying difficulties including a few challenging lower third molars. I had four cases of 'dry socket' which equates to 1.52%, a similar figure to the 1.45% recorded by J. A. Speechley. My secret is giving a single dose of 200 mg metronidazole post operatively with the distressing advice that no alcohol can be consumed that day; made worse if it is a Friday!