Full mouth extraction, now have white over gums

[tabitha87]

I have problems with my teeth since I was at least 16 due to drinking a lot of Pepsi & having poor oral hygiene (a poor decision on my part, but it hurt to brush so I stopped). When I got pregnant (at 20) with my daughter, my teeth just started to crumble apart. I had seen a dentist afterwards who had told me that my teeth ALL needed to come out but he wouldn't give me any sort of referral to have it all done at once. Every week I had to go and get some pulled, but I got tired of the weekly pain & missing work so I stopped going.

A few months ago (I'm now 27) I started getting abscesses regularly so I finally went to a new dentist who happily gave me the referral I needed to be put out and have my remaining teeth pulled (24 of them). I went on Tuesday (Aug. 26th) and had the surgery. Now, 2-3 days later I can see all kinds of white stuff over my gums, but not on all of my gums. I don't believe it's dry socket as I've read that I'd be in excruciating pain, which I'm not & that it wouldn't be white ON my gums, but rather IN my gums. Sure, I'm uncomfortable, but that's normal I've been told.

So, I'm wondering if this is an infection on my gums or some sort of scab? I know that at the time of my surgery I had a few abscessed teeth (I was told 4 of them), so I'm wondering if the infection maybe spread to my gums? I'm currently on antibiotics and taking demerol & percocet's for pain but other than it putting me to sleep, I don't have too much pain relief. I'm still very achy. There's also a weird taste in my mouth but I think it may be from the antibiotics as I've tasted this before when taking Penicillin.

Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[tabitha87]

So, nobody has any ideas as to what the white/greenish stuff could be? I have a follow-up with the dentist on Tuesday, so I guess he'll tell me then but it's still a while away (at least for me lol).

 

[foreversleepy]

Not sure about green, but I do know that when I've had extractions in the past, the "scab" itself was white and nothing to be concerned with. Think of going into a pool when you have a scab on your leg--the moisture kind of makes the scab look white. But your mouth is constantly wet so your scabs look white . Good luck with the healing, I hope you feel better soon! Good luck at your appointment

 

[tabitha87]

Thanks! I went to see a doctor at the walk-in clinic today because I just had to know what it was, plus I ran out of pain killers and would've had a rough time making it til Tuesday with nothing.

The doctor told me that it was all healing quite nicely for having just been done 4 days ago. The holes are pretty well all filled (no more risk of dry socket) & that the white stuff is definitely scabs & that she couldn't see any sign of infection, which is obviously great news for me.

I had teeth extracted before but had never seen it scab over so that's why I wasn't sure. It's definitely been quite painful at times, but each day it's seemingly getting better. I hope that the next 3 months fly by so I can finally get the dentures and proudly smile again!