# Anyone else get pieces of calculus coming thru their gums? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 25, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268 "2017-12-25T15:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/1 "2017-12-25T15:19:38Z")
3rd time. And it feels like a big one, so the dentist can handle it. I have scratched one out before. Reason from my research seems to be poor dental hygiene, but I swear I spend 20 minutes a night on my damn shitty teeth. First a swollen sore gum, then I feel the piece coming thru. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/2 "2017-12-25T15:32:29Z")
I never got past algebra. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/3 "2017-12-25T16:10:38Z")
Bone slivers, never heard about that from my prof. In school. But I may have missed it, I cut that class often! Seriously, though, have you had an extraction in that spot? ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/4 "2017-12-25T16:12:21Z")
Nope, maybe years and years ago, but they show up in different spots. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/5 "2017-12-25T16:19:21Z")
Have you broken a tooth there? My daughter had her wisdom teeth removed. Apparently the oral doc. broke one as it was coming out. She had several bone fragments work out after that. One large one was quite painful, and the dentist had to get it all the way out. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/6 "2017-12-25T17:31:22Z")
[quote=“Mean\_Mr.Mustard, post:2, topic:805268”] I never got past algebra./QUOTE] Holidays with the family. I have Psych 101 coming out the wazoo. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/7 "2017-12-26T12:07:10Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > 3rd time. And it feels like a big one, so the dentist can handle it. I have scratched one out before. Reason from my research seems to be poor dental hygiene, but I swear I spend 20 minutes a night on my damn shitty teeth. First a swollen sore gum, then I feel the piece coming thru. > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I never got past algebra. \*\*DummyGladHands \*\*- I apologize for quickly responding to your serious question with a joke. Bad form on my part. Happy holidays! mmm ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/8 "2017-12-26T13:11:12Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > \*\*DummyGladHands \*\*- I apologize for quickly responding to your serious question with a joke. Bad form on my part. Happy holidays! > mmm Your derivative joke really approached the limits. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/9 "2017-12-26T14:20:47Z")
Ouch. Also, the dental problem sounds painful. (((DummyGladHands))) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/10 "2017-12-26T14:30:16Z")
OK, I’m still not getting what the mistake was. Calculus is a typo for… what? Calcium? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/11 "2017-12-26T14:44:20Z")
Calculus is really hard dental plaque. Less a typo than riffing on an alternative definition. While I don’t know if calculus deposits are what the OP is experiencing, but that’s the joke at least. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/12 "2017-12-26T15:05:05Z")
Do you floss every day? Because that’s integral to preventing calculus buildup. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/13 "2017-12-26T18:40:24Z")
I’ve had one, a thin disk flake about 6 mm in diameter, that appeared some time after bruising my gum badly there. One face was glossy and one rough with a texture like cut foam rubber. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/14 "2017-12-26T18:41:07Z")
Would dental plaque come through the tissue of the gums? Seems preposterous. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/15 "2017-12-26T18:51:38Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > OK, I’m still not getting what the mistake was. Calculus is a typo for… what? Calcium? A calculus is a small rock. That’s still what it means in medicine: Small rocks like kidney stones or tartar or other hard mineral deposits in the body. (They’re not _like_ rocks, they _are_ rocks. A concretion of tartar is a rock.) This is related to math in that people used small rocks to count with, before the invention of the abacus, or the portable rocks-on-sand device. From there, we get the mathematical meaning of the term, as (integral and differential) calculus is “advanced counting” as a professor of mine used to say, and the origin of calculation is even more obvious. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/16 "2017-12-26T18:54:42Z")
I’ve had this or something similar happen before, but it was due to a molar that had been filled as a teenager that ended up breaking (probably from me chewing ice all the time) and when the dentist was attempting extraction it shattered. Try as she might, there was one sliver still in the gum that she couldn’t retrieve, but she told me it was within some acceptable limit size-wise. It slowly worked its way out over several months, but it was quite sharp and I cut the tip of my tongue on it many times worrying at it. You know how that goes. It’s like getting some popcorn in your teeth. You just can’t stop futzing with it until it comes out. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/17 "2017-12-27T08:58:55Z")
When I was studying math in college, I had calculus coming out my ears. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/18 "2017-12-27T09:15:26Z")
I don’t know whats inside a gum boil, but it sounds like you had one and dug out whatever it is. Normally, with decent dental hygiene, they shrink themselves after a month or so. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/19 "2017-12-27T10:39:53Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Have you broken a tooth there? My daughter had her wisdom teeth removed. Apparently the oral doc. broke one as it was coming out. She had several bone fragments work out after that. One large one was quite painful, and the dentist had to get it all the way out. I had this as well. 4 years after post-wisdom-tooth dry sockets. I went to a periodontist who told me this would keep happening forever if I didn’t get a surgery for it. I got the surgery and congratulated myself for only waiting 4 years to fix a serious gum problem. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268/20 "2017-12-27T11:51:33Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Do you floss every day? Because that’s integral to preventing calculus buildup. I flossed this morning, and a big ol’ d/dx came unstuck from between my lower left molars. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-pieces-of-calculus-coming-thru-their-gums/805268.md?page=2)