I’m worried something isn’t right about my tooth extraction. I had a lower wisdom tooth extracted almost two months ago. When the tooth was first extracted, the dentist wouldn’t let me see or touch it even though I wanted to. Actually, I wanted to take it home. Does that sound weird? It took my gum over 3 weeks to close up but I was still having pain. Now it is up to the left side of my face to my eye. Could the pain I’m having be from a piece of tooth he left behind? He’s saying it just takes time for the pain to go away. But, this feels like it is spreading.
Carrie
Dear Carrie,
This feels a bit hinky to me. When a tooth is extracted, including a wisdom tooth, the pain from any kind of infection goes away fairly quickly because the infection can drain out. The exception to this, but that is only a possibility, not a regular occurance, is if the wisdom tooth was impacted and the gum area was sutured closed again afterward. That doesn’t sound like what happened to you. My guess is you have an open socket.
Obviously, you have some type of infection and it is spreading. I would consider than a dental emergency, especially because it is already up to your eye. If a piece of the tooth were left in the socket, it is possible that it led to a post-operative infection.
I’m going to recommend that you see an oral surgeon and have them take an x-ray of the area to see what is going on. I’m saying the surgeon because they can go ahead and finish up treatment if, in fact, there was some tooth left. If there is a root left, I would expect a refund from your dentist. Please let the oral surgeon’s office know that you have a suspected spreading infection up to your eye so that they can get you in faster. They should keep some extra time on their schedule for emergencies.
There are times when a tooth breaks during a tooth extraction. If it is just a tiny piece, it is best to leave it alone. If it is a significant piece, then a dentist should refer you to an oral surgeon so that it can be fully extracted. In those cases, it will often require the removal of some bone as well.
By the way, many patients ask for an extracted tooth (so, no, that’s not weird) and the dentist just typically gives it to them. The fact that yours refused to even allow you to look at it makes me highly suspicious.
The good news about it being a wisdom tooth instead of another one is that you don’t need a tooth replacement. It’s a small silver lining in what I think is a bit of a disaster on the part of your dentist.
This blog is brought to you by gentle dentists in Libertyville, Drs. Potts and Mirza.