Questions About Broken Wisdom Tooth

[Catie McBain]

It's been more than a year since my wisdom tooth broke off at the gumline, and after all this time I'm starting to wonder whether or not things have gotten worse and I haven't realized it yet.

For starters, when the crown of my tooth broke off, the inside was completely hollow. Most of the remaining roots are hollow too, and every day I have to clean them out so food doesn't get stuck in there and rot. Now I'm not a medical expert or anything, but I don't think that looks right. I know that a cavity is basically a hole in your tooth, but I've never heard of a tooth being complety hollow like an empty shell.

The second thing is that I still have a hole in my gums where the tooth broke off, even though more than a year has passed. It looks like some gum tissue has grown into or over the hole. I thought maybe the hole would be filled by now. Or maybe it's supposed to be that way? I don't know, that's why I'm asking.

I tried taking a picture of this whole mess, though I only have my tablet so it isn't easy to take good pictures with it. Still, I tried. Points for effort, I guess. Here's the picture.

https://postimg.cc/JG302MhY

So what exactly is going on here? Is that some sort of inflammation or abscess? Or maybe just regular tissues trying to grow in and fill the hole. I know I have a really awful taste in my mouth over on the bottom left side where my wisdom tooth broke. There's probably an infection in there, but does it look really bad? It doesn't hurt or anything, so I'm not sure what to make of it.

 

[Gordon]

They're hollow because the nerve space inside the tooth is exposed.
The gum can't grow over it because the tooth is in the way, some will overgrow and cover up some of the root but it won't cover it all.
The infection is inside the tooth and is happily draining out into your mouth. It's not especially harmful but it is a bit of a time bomb and could turn quite painful at short notice.

 

[Catie McBain]

The nerve space is exposed? That doesn't sound good. And here I was, thinking that the gum tissues would eventually grow over it and cover the hole that was left behind. Guess I'm stuck with it then. :/

Thank you for answering my questions. But I have one more thing to ask about.
Is it possible for lower wisdom teeth to cause problems with your ears?

I know this one is busted and infected, but since its located on the bottom instead of higher up on top, I didn't think it could cause ear problems. And then a couple months ago I started experiencing a feeling of fullness in my left ear. Same side as my busted tooth. It's mild, but it feels like my hearing isn't so great in that ear anymore.

Around the same time I started having sinus headaches a lot. Like, every day for several days at a time. My other wisdom tooth on the upper right side is broken and probably infected. This has been going on for months now, the sinus headaches, ear problems and all that.

I can't help wondering if maybe my wisdom teeth are affecting my ear and sinuses. Supposedly they say that's rare. But you're the expert and a lot better than anything Google could ever tell me. Any idea what's causing this?

 

[Gordon]

It's unlikely that they're affecting the sinus area or the ear itself, but having chronic infection going on in your body will take up a little bit of your body's resources to deal with, which could leave you more open to issues elsewhere.
Generally people who get chronically infected teeth removed seem to feel just a little bit "better" afterwards, like they've got a wee bit more energy and a bit more get up and go, if you see what I mean.

 

[Catie McBain]

That makes perfect sense actually, that having a chronic infection would make it more likely to have problems elsewhere. I should have known that. You'll have to forgive me. The chronic headaches make my thoughts a little sluggish at times.

That's one thing I have very little of nowadays is energy, physical or otherwise. It's become a part of my life that I'm used to dealing with.

You're such a nice person, so I'm saying thank you again for taking the time to talk to me. I really appreciate it.

 

[MountainMama]

I know we have spoken on here before and I have shared my story. I just wanted to emphasize again how much better I felt after having my infected tooth out. As Gordon said, it was kind of like I fully “woke up” after being half asleep all the time. I had a large nasty abscess that had been there a few years.

I hope you can get a resolution to your issue.