New slight pain in jawbone three weeks after molar removed

[TooManyFillings]

I had my already root-filled lower right rear molar removed three weeks ago (the tooth had cracked below the gumline), prior to that I had a CT scan and the dental surgeon noticed a small pocket of infection below the root and because of this he put me on Amoxicillin for a week after the extraction. The CT scan also showed that nearby some related infection had eaten a very small diameter hole in the jaw which went right through the bone. Curiously enough this hadn't been giving me much pain at all.

Since the extraction the gum area seems to have healed well, the sutures are out and it looks good. I've not had any pain, soreness, etc for over a week and even when I did it was only present in the healing gum.

However, for the past couple of days I've had a bit of intermittent slight to mild pain or discomfort in the area of the jawbone where the tooth was removed.

The pain is strange in the sense that it's not the kind of pain that can be reproduced with pressure, therefore if I push my fingers on the area then no problem. However sometimes if I turn my head far to the right and down or move my jaw a fair bit (talking or chewing a lot for example) I may feel the mild pain/discomfort in the bone.

I currently can't get through to the dental practice to ask them about this so thought I'd post my query here.

Is it possible that the extraction site is still 'settling down'? I know that even though the gum looks good the actual jaw area takes more time to heal, particularly if there has been an infection. However, if so, why am I starting to get this intermittent, slight pain and discomfort only now, three weeks after the extraction? Perhaps the infection hasn't quite been resolved by the Amoxicillin?

 

[Gordon]

Is it possible that the extraction site is still 'settling down'? I know that even though the gum looks good the actual jaw area takes more time to heal, particularly if there has been an infection. However, if so, why am I starting to get this intermittent, slight pain and discomfort only now, three weeks after the extraction? Perhaps the infection hasn't quite been resolved by the Amoxicillin?

It's just healing I think. No reason for the infection to persist especially after the source has been removed (as well as having antibiotics). It could even be the muscles or TMJ still being a bit stiff after the extraction/injections, given that it seems to be motion sensitive.

 

[TooManyFillings]

@Gordon Thanks for the helpful advice. It just puzzled me that this is only starting three weeks post extraction. I'll see how it goes in the next few days.