TMI question regarding tooth extraction

In My Humble Opinion
1

Yesterday morning I had a wisdom tooth and two molars extracted under “concious sedation”, although I certainly don’t remember being concious.

My dentist called me this morning to make sure I was recovering okay, and I told him that I kind of look like Marlon Brando, but that I don’t hurt much and only needed one vicodin yesterday.

All was okay until I got the bright idea to check out my (lack of) teeth in the bathroom mirror with the assistance of a mini flashlight.

One side of my mouth (from which a wisdom tooth and 2nd molar were extracted) looks fairly pink and I can barely make out a suture or two.

The other side (from which the pathetic remnants of my 1st molar was extracted), however, appears to be a great deal darker and a little swollen around the edges of my remaining teeth.

I called my mom and attempted not to be too overdramatic when I squealed, “My jaw is black, AM I GOING TO DIIIE!!?!?”

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

She did what any decent mom would do and requested that I call my dentist with that sort of question. Durr.

I called and left a message for my dentist about 4 hours ago and still have not heard back.

I even called this great program that my health care provider offers called Care-24 to ask a registered nurse if my darkened gums were going to kill me. She was less than helpful, but did mention that if I start running a bad fever I had better get to a hospital.

I don’t have a fever (to my knowledge) and the pain on the dark side of my mouth is nothing more than minor discomfort. I can’t really feel anything on the pink side.

Any guesses on the dark gums? Could it be blood? Was it because that tooth had abcessed? Is it bruising? I don’t want to pick at it too much because numerous SDMB threads regarding “dry socket” have sufficiently terrified me from any further examination of my mouth. shudder

I do intend to call my dentist on Monday morning if I haven’t heard back from him by then… but until then, I guess I’m just looking for some “Oh yeah, I had dark gums and didn’t die” stories.

2

Well, for what it’s worth, I had a lower molar removed and it looked all nasty and dark colored, too. I don’t know if it was the stitches or bruising or what, but it looked way gross. IANAD, but just keep an eye on it, follow the dentists instructions, and call again if you’re still concerned. The doc should have an emergency number or have someone on call to answer your question.

PS- my removal site eventually healed just fine, but it did look nasty for a little while.

3

sorry for the slight hijack but I had a question. Is a person supposed to have 32 teeth after their wisdom teeth come in or do they already have 32 and the widsom teeth are extra?

4

I’m pretty sure that it includes the wisdom teeth which are referred to as “third molars”.

5

Well damnit all this time I’ve been wondering when my wisdom teeth would come in when they had been there the whole time. :smack:

6

IIRC 28 is the magic number and anything above that can be yanked if it causes problems, so 2 upper widsoms + 2 lower wisdoms = 32.

Mine are gone and I dont care what color my gums were-I had it done under local, so I’m a high pain tolerance bad guy. Woo hoo. :wink:

7

Anecdote here. Mr. Spry had the extraction from hell last year, and this did not happen to him.

Best of luck on your recovery! Hope this is a normal part of recovery for you, or at worst a minor blip.