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Tooth pain caused by localised inflammed gums...really?

L

lucklesspedestrian

Junior member
Joined
Aug 11, 2016
Messages
2
First of all Hi! First post, can't believe I'm posting on a dental fear forum but I suppose the first step is to admit it!

I have a lower (2nd) molar which had a root canal about 6 years ago and then fractured about 3 years ago (vertical fracture, dentist pulled out quite a long lump of tooth. It was assessed as not being strong or stable enough to support a crown so it was left as it was and has been fine for the last 3 years. I did have it x rayed and assessed and was told that it might have to be a surgical extraction when/if the time came as the roots were pretty curved.

Ever since then I have been absolutely dreading when the day came that I would have to have the tooth extracted, nightmare about roots getting broken of and stuck in etc.

About 3 weeks ago I noticed some pain in the tooth when I was biting down. Not severe or enough to make me jump but uncomfortable. No other symptoms, no bad taste, no obvious swelling, no sensitivity to temp and no pain unless I was biting down. I just switched eating to the other side of my mouth and waited to see if it calmed down

I finally went to the dentist 3 days ago (no change) expecting to be given the bad news that it would have to be extracted and was surprised when he told me that it looked like I had had some food trapped between the molar and the adjacent tooth in the recent past and that this had caused localised inflammation of the gum tissue. He reckoned this was causing the pain and mentioned that the gums bled a bit just with his gentle examination. He advised me not to floss just yet (too swollen, likely lots of bleeding if I did) but to use a course of the stronger Corsodyl mouthwash. He didn't see any signs of abscess and reckoned that a few days of the Corsodyl would reduce the swelling and tackle the pain.

I would be ecstatic if it really was as simple as that and there was nothing more serious wrong with the tooth but does this sound likely i.e. could gum swelling and inflammation really cause pain when biting down on the tooth? I've only been using the Corsodyl for 3 days now so I suppose it's early days.

Thanks for reading this and sorry for a) being such a wuss and b) doubting my dentist!
 
Hi Luckless, just wanted to say welcome!

I'm afraid I don't have the answer to your question (hopefully somebody will) - hopefully your dentist will have been right and it will start to turn the corner soon. If it's getting worse or you are really concerned and need him to help put your mind at rest, you can always go and see your dentist again. They will be used to people being worried!

Is it showing any signs of improvement?


Absolutely no need to apologise by the way (although we all do it!) - you're not a wuss, you're just worried! That's normal round here ;-)

Tink x
 
Hi :welcome: the gums can give you more pain than any toothache at times. Follow the dentists instructions and see how it goes. In the meantime come on here and vent all you want. We all understand how you feel it is so exhausting all this dental stuff at times.

If in the future the tooth does need removing don't worry about the curved root, I had to have a tooth removed and the roots were curved, my dentist said it was a difficult extraction which sent me into a panic. He added that it was difficult for him but would feel no different to me. It was no different from my side of things and didn't take him long to remove. I was amazed, relieved and thankful that it only took a couple of minutes to extract with no pain at all. :butterfly:
 
Thanks so much for the kind and reassuring replies!
 
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