{"id":1403,"date":"2026-09-29T16:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T20:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libertyvilledentist.com\/blog\/?p=1403"},"modified":"2026-09-29T16:00:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T20:00:20","slug":"what-if-a-tooth-breaks-during-an-extraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libertyvilledentist.com\/blog\/what-if-a-tooth-breaks-during-an-extraction\/","title":{"rendered":"What If a Tooth Breaks During an Extraction?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m worried something isn&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;m having be from a piece of tooth he left behind? He&#8217;s saying it just takes time for the pain to go away.\u00a0 But, this feels like it is spreading.<\/p>\n<p>Carrie<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Dear Carrie,<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1195\" src=\"https:\/\/libertyvilledentist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/emergency_patient.png\" alt=\"An image of a woman grabbing her jaw in pain.\" width=\"285\" height=\"284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/libertyvilledentist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/emergency_patient.png 285w, https:\/\/libertyvilledentist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/emergency_patient-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 285px) 100vw, 285px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This feels a bit hinky to me. <a href=\"https:\/\/libertyvilledentist.com\/tooth-extraction.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">When a tooth is extracted<\/a>, 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&#8217;t sound like what happened to you. My guess is you have an open socket.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, you have some type of infection and it is spreading. I would consider than <a href=\"https:\/\/libertyvilledentist.com\/emergency-dentist.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a dental emergency<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, many patients ask for an extracted tooth\u00a0 (so, no, that&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>The good news about it being a wisdom tooth instead of another one is that you don&#8217;t need <a href=\"https:\/\/libertyvilledentist.com\/implant-dentist.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a tooth replacement<\/a>. It&#8217;s a small silver lining in what I think is a bit of a disaster on the part of your dentist.<\/p>\n<p>This blog is brought to you by <a href=\"https:\/\/libertyvilledentist.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gentle dentists in Libertyville,<\/a>\u00a0Drs. Potts and Mirza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m worried something isn&#8217;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&#8217;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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[154,236,19,263,526,578],"class_list":["post-1403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-emergency-dentist","tag-dental-implants","tag-tooth-extraction","tag-tooth-infection","tag-tooth-replacement","tag-urgent-dental-care","tag-wisdom-tooth-extraction","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What If a Tooth Breaks During an Extraction? - David Potts, DDS Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What if a dentist leaves part of the tooth after an extraction because it broke?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/libertyvilledentist.com\/blog\/what-if-a-tooth-breaks-during-an-extraction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What If a Tooth Breaks During an Extraction? 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