wisdom tooth recovery problems?

[I_did_it_-_it_was]

Hi -- I'm 58 and had my lower right wisdom tooth removed 8 days ago. It was a difficult extraction under IV sedation. and my chin and right front teeth are still numb. But I was warned about that, and that's not my problem.

I have a bony bump on my mandible ridge, on the tongue side opposite the wisdom tooth socket, with about a one-cm ulcer on it and a smaller ulcer right next to that, and it hurts quite a lot. 600 of ibupuprofen every 6 hrs is just about controlling it but not wonderfully welll. Also I have a pimple-looking cone-shaped tissue thing on the cheek side, in the cheek tissue, in front of the wisdom tooth socket, and that's burningly painful, too. It's red at the base, white at the pointy tip. Both these things appeared about four days ago.

The actual extraction site doesn't bother me much -- just those soft tissue things, which seem quite inflamed. I was on erythromycin for a week after the surgery -- done now. I got thrush from the erythro -- still have it a bit -- could that be causing all the cheek pain?

My local dentist doesn't seem concerned about the cheek tissue thing-- gave no explanation. And he says I am developing a sequestrum on the jawbone side -- that this is not worrisome and can be smoothed down or left alone.

I wish I weren't still so worried about both these issues, which look & feel wrong to me, even after seeing my local dentist. I have a follow-up w/ my oral surgeon on Wednesday.

Looking for some reassurancethat it's okay for me to wait that long, I guess. Thanks in advance.

 

[glitter_wench]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear that youare so sore I cant offer any diagnosis i'm afraid. I'm not sure where you live but if you are in the UK or Ireland there is a gel called bonjela which is used to treat mouth ulcers denture sores and is also used when babies are teething. Its available over the counter in all chemists. I had 3 teeth out last week and with two of them he had to cut open the gum (not as bad as it sounds i was off my rocker on the IV sedation ). When they were healing they felt stingy inflamed and uncomfortable. Not dreadful pain but not nice either. I had been taking painkillers for nearly 4 weeks at this stage and was getting worried about my stomach and liver so i wanted to get off them. I found the bonjela really helped. If you are in the US, the fancy medical term for it is *ahem*: an antiseptic pain relieving gel so maybe your pharmacist might be able to suggest an equivilant?

 

[I_did_it_-_it_was]

Thanks, glitter. In the states I think that gel is called orajel. Meanwhile I saw the oral surgeon and most of the pain was coming from some sharp bone points sticking up through the ulcer, painful in themselves and tearing at the base of my tongue, besides. He shaved those sharp things right off with a scalpel. It did not hurt at all to have this done, it took only a minute or so, and the pain decreased a lot right away. The other thing I learned is that for a surgery of this size, it's not unusual to be in a fair amount of pain even this many days afterwards, even if you don't have bony sharp things. So I guess the take-home lesson is, don't assume there's something wrong if this happens to you -- it's biggish surgery, that's all, and real recovery takes time. He said it could be even a few more days before I really turn the corner in the pain dept.