Worried I’m not healing right

[Terrifiedintoronto]

Hello everyone.

As some of you may remember, I recently had the two bottom wisdom teeth removed due to a bad infection. The whole ordeal was really horrible for me, because of a huge amount of pain and even more anxiety and fear.

Once again, I am stressing out and nervous that I’m not healing right and I will have to go back for another surgery… or that my old infection is actually osteomyelitis. Or that they are infected now and it will become osteomyelitis. I really don’t want to go back and have to start all over.

The oral surgeon I went to doesn’t do follow ups of any kind unless you show signs of infection, and I don’t have a dentist. Just wondering if these look ok?

It has been exactly 7 days since the surgery. I still have some jaw pain/stiffness and pain at the sites, but with pain meds it is minimal today (which is nice because it was horrible 2 days ago). My right side gum and cheek did feel swollen this morning, but when I looked at it, it didn’t look like it really was. It just felt it.

I can’t tell if the white stuff is food, or granulation tissue, or the blood clot… don’t want to remove it if it’s supposed to be there. I’ve been irrigating with a syringe every time I eat and rinsing with salt water 5 times a day, as well as my regular brushing (although I haven’t used my electric toothbrush yet).

Anything insight anyone can give is much appreciated!!

 

[Tigerlily]

I'm not a Dentist so I have no clue but your pain is getting better not worse, so I don't think you need to be overly worried. I'm sure one of the Dentists said infection is quite rare x

 

[Gordon]

Looks fine to me. The greyish stuff is granulation tissue. Some stiffness of your jaw is normal try not to give in to it and keep your jaw mobile though. I'd stop with the irrigation now too, it's not going to help much at this stage.

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

@Gordon ok, thank you so much! I’ll try to not worry so much!

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

@Tigerlily thanks I’m always overly worried lol

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

Well here I am with another frantic post. I am emotionally completely drained at this point.

I had pericoronitis in both lower wisdom teeth for 3 months, and was in agonizing pain. Just had them removed 10 days ago, and today I finally turned a corner in my recovery. I had so little pain today I even forgot to take my afternoon meds! I thought, maybe tomorrow I will wake up pain free for the first time since May.

But then when I was brushing my teeth, the top left wisdom tooth gave a small twinge. That’s all, just a little twinge. I decided to check it because I am on edge and terrified all the time now, and was on the verge of a panic attack all day anyway.

Please please please tell me this is not what I think it is. Mentally I cannot go through that again, financially I can’t afford to do another removal. It will be at least a year before I can save enough to do another. the bottom two teeth plus a whole bunch of other terrible things in my life at the moment have drained my savings.

I can’t be in that pain for a year. I can’t. I’m so devastated. I can’t do this again. My dog just died and I barely want to go on without him, if I have to deal with pericoronitis again for a year and then go through another removal and recovery! I had such a hard time with this recovery!! I just can’t do it. I’m not strong enough emotionally for this again.

Sorry for the poor quality pictures. They’re the best I can do since I’m still unable to fully open my mouth.

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

Adding my X-ray if that is helpful. If I do have to get the top ones removed next year, are they at least far from any nerves? Do they look like easy extractions?

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

Managed to get a few more pictures. It doesn’t hurt (yet) other than the twinge when I brushed it. I’m just really praying it isn’t what I’m sure it is. I’m not mentally prepared to go through this whole thing again.

 

[Gordon]

It's not pericoronitis, the teeth are fully erupted. A slight twinge when brushing is nothing to worry about, loads of things can trigger it, nearly all of which require no treatment.

From the x-ray top ones are straightforward, no risk of any nerve damage and any general dentist could have them out in a jiffy.
(Also from the x-ray, you were spectacularly unlucky to have pericoronitis from those lower teeth, sorry you had to go through all that.)

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

@Gordon thank you very much. I’m very on edge right now so I got really scared when I saw that gum looking a little off, especially when I compared it to the other side.

“Spectacularly unlucky” pretty much describes my life at the moment.
The dentist I went to said it could’ve been triggered by stress/anxiety, which I have had an over abundance of these last 2 years. Only now I’m stressing that it’s going to happen again!

 

[Gordon]

“Spectacularly unlucky” pretty much describes my life at the moment.
The dentist I went to said it could’ve been triggered by stress/anxiety, which I have had an over abundance of these last 2 years. Only now I’m stressing that it’s going to happen again!

Oh, it's definitely triggered by stress, the teeth start to erupt at around 18-20 for most people, just when they're going through all the stressful young adult stuff, moving from home, university, exams and so forth. Rather a nasty trick played by nature

Anyway, I hope things get better for you soon.

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

Hello again, I genuinely feel bad that I am clogging the board with all my crazy questions!!

I’m just so worried about the fact that I’m still having jaw pain on day 11, when it says online it should be back to normal by day 7..

I had both bottom wisdom teeth removed due to infection. It was apparently an easy removal, and it only took 20 minutes to get them both out. It was done under IV deep sedation due to my severe anxiety. I figured it would be an easy recovery but it has not been!

my jaw still hurts a lot. I can open it now (2 fingers) with minimal pain but talking hurts a lot. I find it really, really hard to talk.

It’s ok if I’m just sitting still not talking, but for example if I go in a walk, the jostling it around makes it start to hurt. Then I have to lay in bed for a while until it feels better. It doesn’t hurt to chew though. I don’t have swelling anymore or any bruises.

But the talking. I work as a cashier at the moment so I have to talk for work. It hurts so much. After a 4 hour shift yesterday I was dying. And it’s like certain words I can’t say (ironically, “hurts” is one of them) because of the way I have to move my mouth. And when I do talk, I can feel my ears popping and I feel it in my nose too. I’m sure it’s not my jaw clicking, it feels exactly like when you yawn, or when you’re on a plane, and your ears pop.

I will say the pain is much better than it was. But very much still there. Mostly just triggered by activity now.

I fully recognize how dumb it is and that it it probably driven by anxiety, But I’ve read about people having their jaw dislocated after this surgery, from having their mouths open too long or just too much, and not even knowing.

So anyway. How do I know if my jaw dislocated during surgery? Maybe I’m just taking longer to heal, I really don’t know. I’m just worried about permanent damage and lifelong pain.

The oral surgeon I went to doesn’t do follow ups. I wish they did! I’d just like to know I’m healing ok.

I don’t want to go to the ER but I obviously will if I have to.. do I have to?

I was initially told by an emergency room doctor, when I first started having the pain of the infection 3 months ago, that he thought I either had a brain tumour or MS. Then they found the infected tooth a month later and were like “oh! Maybe it’s just that causing the pain! Not a neurological thing after all! Sorry!” And it was confirmed to be just the tooth and nothing else. But that was really scary for me.
So I’ve become very paranoid and anxious these last few months!! That’s why I have so many insane questions

As always, I appreciate any answers or advice. Thank you.

 

[Gordon]

So anyway. How do I know if my jaw dislocated during surgery?

You couldn't move it at all and it'd be wide open.

I don’t want to go to the ER but I obviously will if I have to.. do I have to?

Going by your subsequent paragraph that would be a really bad idea

Do you have a general dentist? This doesn't need an OS to look at it.

TBH it sounds like you've got a slight TMJ flare up following the surgery. Have a read on our pages regarding TMJ dysfunction here:

TMJ Pain, Clenching and Grinding

What can you do about TMJ pain, clenching, and grinding? We've collected tips from our readers and from dentists!

www.dentalfearcentral.org

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

@Gordon thanks again. I don’t have a general dentist but I will have to find the money for one I think. My pain went way back up today, I can barely open my mouth and my cheeks and gums are swollen
I’ll have to go somewhere to be seen, and although the ER is free, they are usually useless!

I just want this nightmare to be over, but every day it’s something new.. I’m just hoping for pain and fear free days soon.

 

[Cedar]

Could it be trismus/lock jaw? I had that last spring after a root canal and it took four weeks before it resolved. It did fully resolve though (at the time, it felt like my jaw was so physically locked from opening that I couldn’t imagine anyway I was ever going to regain motion). I was stuck at two fingers for most of that time.

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

@Cedar I hope that’s all it is that’s exactly how I feel right now, I think my jaw is permanently messed up. I can’t imagine it ever feeling right again. It still feels like it’s too far over too, which is apparently normal to feel after wisdom tooth removal but it’s just been going on for so long.
It’s good to hear that yours fully resolved, I hope that mine will too.

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

Hello everyone, it’s me again!

I had my 2 lower wisdom teeth removed just over 2 weeks ago now, because they were infected.

Ever since the surgery I’ve been clenching my jaw so tight in my sleep that it wakes me up, and my whole face hurts for a while after I wake up. I’ve never had any kind of issue with that before, it just developed about a week after the surgery. Probably around day 6.

I found one website that says this is common after tooth removal because you are unconsciously trying to protect the socket?? And that it will resolve itself in a few weeks with the healing. But I cannot find any other sources to back that up.

Is that true?

I did end up with dry socket according to my oral surgeon, based on the fact that I feel pain radiating up into my ears and down along my jaw. Even though for me the pain is not excruciating, it’s probably an 8/10 with the pain meds, so I was unsure because I’ve read dry socket pain is always agony. But he said that’s what causes that kind of pain. Maybe it would be agony without meds but I take them every 4 hours on the dot so I don’t know.

So maybe that has something to do with it?

He also said they had to cut through a lot of bone and muscles to get my teeth out because the roots were so big, and that is why my recovery has been harder.

I don’t want to cause some kind of TMJ disorder if I can’t stop clenching at night. I’m so worried I’ve messed something up badly by having the teeth removed. But they were infected! So I had no choice. I am hoping it’s true and it will resolve itself.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

 

[Anxiety Riddled]

I’m sorry I can’t answer your question but I feel for your situation. I had my four wisdom teeth removed in May and it altered my bite quite a bit which led to nighttime clenching and grinding which I never used to it. My “new bite” is very different, when I had my wisdom teeth my teeth did not touch, I’m assuming because they were partially impacted and there wasn’t enough room for them so it kept my mouth from fully shutting. To be honest I kind of miss them because I can’t seem to get used to this and I’m so worried I’m going to damage my teeth while I sleep. I will wake up some mornings and it feels like my back teeth are stuck together or I’ll hear a loud noise, I hate it and it causes me so much extra anxiety. I hope your issue resolves itself. They do say that it takes your mouth 3 to 4 weeks after wisdom tooth removal to adjust to your new bite so hopefully you will see improvement soon!

 

[Terrifiedintoronto]

@Anxiety Riddled thanks, I hope so too!

You’re right that it all causes extra anxiety. I’m so worried I’m not recovering properly and I will have pain forever! I felt better when I saw the oral surgeon and he said I’m recovering well, I’ll just take longer because of the dry socket. But idk about this clenching! I hope that one random website I found was accurate lol

I hope you feel better soon too!

 

[Gordon]

More likely to be a stress reaction, a lot of people clench when stressed. Hopefully as your sockets heal you'll get into a better place.