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tooth extraction and the tongue

D

dobsonz172

Junior member
Joined
Oct 27, 2021
Messages
8
Location
UK
Hi guys so i have a little query, I was having jaw ache and throbbing for the last month on my second molar (one next to the wisdom tooth at the bottom) and I went to the emergency dentist and he suggested he can add a temp filling or extract the tooth, as all of the local dentists around my area have waiting lists of 800+ people with no guarantee of an appointment I opted to remove the tooth. I really regret this decision and I learnt a life lesson yday, to always try and salvage your teeth, never remove them unless completely necessary.

i'm 29 years old and this was my first dentist appointment i've ever had, so i don't have experience with tooth removal, my question is; the molar that was next to the one that was removed is getting caught on my tongue, i notice this when I'm drinking and most of all when i'm talking, i'm finding it hard to ignore this sensation.

will my brain adapt from this over time? or will i constantly feel this trapped feeling with my tongue?
 
It will go away with time. I have had several molars extracted, and most replaced by implants. During the 8 months of healing before the crown is placed, the gap where the tooth used to be bothered my tongue at first. The worst was with my first molar on the bottom. It took a month or so but then I didn’t notice it.
 
thanks for taking the time to reply!
 
Hi dobsonz172, I second MountainMama. Your mouth is super sensitive towards changes, but you will adapt to it. I‘m sorry to read that you regret your decision :( … but if you think of it: you had pain and was offered a solution. Who knows whether a temp filling would have helped? Maybe it would be only temporary. You can only make a decision based on information you have at that moment and with that perspective, you did the right thing. Don‘t be too hard on yourself.
 
I've had a rough few days... It turns out that the annoying feeling with my tongue was actually hitting the bone from my jaw that is now exposed through the gums... does anyone have experience with this? will they need to file it down? and if so will the gum regrow over it? ah man it's just problem after problem, the guy really struggled to get this tooth out, started with him snapping it in half then needing to get the drills out, just hope he hasn't damage my jaw too much.
 

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I‘m wondering whether it could be a bit of bone protruding, that‘s what sometimes happens with extractions. It may come out on its own or you can ask your dentist to check it. You can read about it here:

 
yeah ive tried looking it up online and all i seem to find is it could be a bone shard of some sort, tried plucking it out and man it's stuck it actually feels like it's part of the jaw bone. i have an emergency appointment booked in for Tuesday ?
 
Appointment didn't go so well, losing faith in UK dentistry, maybe a reason I stayed away from them for so long. Explaining to the dentist immediately as I entered the room that the healing site from the extraction is fine and the problem is occurring at the side of my gum. the guy goes forth in using tweezers to empty out the healing site of my tooth, and then proceeds to drill it out after i told him i feel no difference. After 4 attempts i had to show him the area with my finger and he was struggling to see it, he drilled once again and got the bone straight away. deffo some language barrier or vision error going on as he wasn't a native english talker, very dissapointing, i've come away with a huge hole where the tooth was now, back to stage one, and the bone still persists.

time to go private.

one question that I have is the scabbing and healing that he removed, would the gum eventually have been a hole like this? or would it have been more levelled off.
 
Hard to say without seeing. Any chance of a better photo?
 
Hey Gordon this is the best Image i could get, my phone wouldn't fit any further in, let me know if it's unhelpful and I'll try again

as you can see the bone that rests along the tongue was what i went in for, and he didn't realize that so he basically removed all the clotting now i'm left with a hole, will this effect the healing process or make the gum less flat? the white inside the hole is also flesh/gum I think, he did take an xray to confirm that there was no tooth in the extraction area.
 

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Those are fine, thanks.
The white stuff is granulation tissue, this is good stuff and you want to see it there. Things appear to be healing quite well. There's a bit of swelling on the tongue side which will fairly quickly subside over the next few days.
 
yeah the swelling is where the bone managed to poke out, not sure why this would occur during an extraction? maybe too much force? who knows..

anyway thanks for taking the time to reply and the time you put in on here, it eased me a lot.
 
Extraction forceps are designed to expand the bone slightly to get the tooth out. The boney plate on the tongue side of a molar is very thin and could "break out" quite easily during normal extraction forces.
 
Gordon, I had pain after the extraction that lasted a week that eventually subsided for a few days, I thought I was on the mend, however the last few days the pain has flared up again and every time i swallow or place my tongue on the extraction area I have a shooting pain in my temple, do you have any idea what this could be a sign of? or could it be the healing process after 2 weeks still?
 
Pain up into the temples is usually TMJ related. Possibly due to the strain of having your mouth super wide open for a while during the extraction, or possibly just a coincidence. I'd try some ice and or heat packs for a couple of days to see if it helps.
 
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