I don't really know how to phrase this question and the dentist I'm working for this week was pretty fuckin busy when I asked, and then I forgot to ask later.

Today a guy came in with facial swelling 3 days after extraction of 17 and 32. The doctor was pushing and got a little bit of the pus to come out, but it was flaky and came out in pieces...sort of like weird, disgusting little soggy cornflakes. He opened him back up and irrigated the sockets, and tried again. He couldn't get much to drain, and the patient has to come back tomorrow.

A few weeks ago I saw a guy with crazy huge facial swelling (from the neck to the eye) and I was assisting when the doctor drained that one. That guy's pus was thin, runny, and...well, there was a LOT of it. He also was in the chair every day for a few days after that.

So what happened to make one guys pus hard and flaky and one guy's pus thin and runny? Why are they different?