H
healthyteeth
Junior member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2016
- Messages
- 10
I have a hardened ridge along the mid line gum in the very back of my left upper mouth. Comparing both sides of my mouth, it isn't alarmingly different in size. However, it most definitely is a bit larger on the left side. The ridge sort of dips between teeth, and crosses above two or three of the very back teeth.
I discovered this after a routine periodontal cleaning. The kind person who conducted the cleaning seemed especially thorough. I've had this cleaning done enough times to note an impressive attention to detail. Point being, my mouth felt a bit beat up for the next day or two. I noticed the area above my teeth (where the ridge now is) was very sore to brush. It was so coincidental that I thought nothing of it.
Weeks passed and that area was still sore to brush. I finally felt it with my fingertip and noticed the ridge. In the very back, it's a sort of hardened "ridge". I found photos of buccal exostosis and the more mild cases of it look identical to my gums. My wife both looked at my gums as well as some buccal exostosis photos and said, "If that's what you have, yours is mild."
The area is very firm. It is not sensitive in the least. Hot and cold have no effect on it, nor does mouthwash. However, I felt something sharp in the very back/most enlarged part of this ridge. It's been decades since I've sprouted a tooth. But I can't help but recall a similarity here. If I rub my fingertip against it, it's definitely sore. I also think it's a bit sore in general whenever it rubs against the inside of my cheek. But nothing agonizing at all, and I honestly hardly noticed it until I realized that it was there.
Still, the soreness concerns me. I decided to monitor it very closely for a few days. It's difficult to separate being plain old psychological about it once it's this high on the radar. Chewing doesn't bother me, nothing really at all. It's only if I'm intensely brushing or literally pressing on it with my fingertip.
This morning I took a flashlight and looked at it in the mirror. There's a white dot (I don't think it's even a bump) right in the center of the larger buccal exostosis-looking area. It looks very much so like bone, or as though there's a thin layer of skin over some bone. It feels very sharp to the touch. As soon as I saw this I realized it must be the culprit. What's interesting is you can feel a similar small/sharp bump right next to it, above the next tooth or so. Just not white or sore at all.
I've had an x-ray done in the past few months. I'm hoping that between that and the recent periodontal cleaning, anything alarming would have been noticeable. I intend to see a dentist, but would love some peace of mind here.
This isn't likely an abscess or some sort of tooth-destroying monstrosity that I should be racing to have removed, correct? Cancer? It's definitely sore, but by no means is it effecting my daily life. I'd really rather keep an eye on it until my next cleaning if possible.
I discovered this after a routine periodontal cleaning. The kind person who conducted the cleaning seemed especially thorough. I've had this cleaning done enough times to note an impressive attention to detail. Point being, my mouth felt a bit beat up for the next day or two. I noticed the area above my teeth (where the ridge now is) was very sore to brush. It was so coincidental that I thought nothing of it.
Weeks passed and that area was still sore to brush. I finally felt it with my fingertip and noticed the ridge. In the very back, it's a sort of hardened "ridge". I found photos of buccal exostosis and the more mild cases of it look identical to my gums. My wife both looked at my gums as well as some buccal exostosis photos and said, "If that's what you have, yours is mild."
The area is very firm. It is not sensitive in the least. Hot and cold have no effect on it, nor does mouthwash. However, I felt something sharp in the very back/most enlarged part of this ridge. It's been decades since I've sprouted a tooth. But I can't help but recall a similarity here. If I rub my fingertip against it, it's definitely sore. I also think it's a bit sore in general whenever it rubs against the inside of my cheek. But nothing agonizing at all, and I honestly hardly noticed it until I realized that it was there.
Still, the soreness concerns me. I decided to monitor it very closely for a few days. It's difficult to separate being plain old psychological about it once it's this high on the radar. Chewing doesn't bother me, nothing really at all. It's only if I'm intensely brushing or literally pressing on it with my fingertip.
This morning I took a flashlight and looked at it in the mirror. There's a white dot (I don't think it's even a bump) right in the center of the larger buccal exostosis-looking area. It looks very much so like bone, or as though there's a thin layer of skin over some bone. It feels very sharp to the touch. As soon as I saw this I realized it must be the culprit. What's interesting is you can feel a similar small/sharp bump right next to it, above the next tooth or so. Just not white or sore at all.
I've had an x-ray done in the past few months. I'm hoping that between that and the recent periodontal cleaning, anything alarming would have been noticeable. I intend to see a dentist, but would love some peace of mind here.
This isn't likely an abscess or some sort of tooth-destroying monstrosity that I should be racing to have removed, correct? Cancer? It's definitely sore, but by no means is it effecting my daily life. I'd really rather keep an eye on it until my next cleaning if possible.
