Before I ask my question, I promise (cross my heart and hope to die) to see my dentist if I start having discomfort, significant bleeding, or any other significant symptoms. Regardless, I’ll be seeing my dental hygienist next month.
That formality out of the road - a few weeks ago I had a wisdom tooth extracted. It came out more easily than I expected (I thought teeth were fastened in more tightly than that). One piece broke, but my dentist fished around in there and got it out. I got the tooth as a souvenir, and to my very unprofessional eyes nothing else is broken off it.
Now that the gum has healed, if I feel in there with my tongue or my finger, it almost feels as though there is a tooth under the gum - something very hard and somewhat pointy below the surface of the gum. If I’m a little too vicious with my electric toothbrush, it does bleed a little in that vicinity (I can’t tell if it bleeds exactly there or some place nearby).
Any ideas what might be going on? Is my jawbone shaped funny? Is there actually a tooth or a piece of tooth (like I said, it looked like everything came out) under the gum?
When I had my wisdom teeth out, I did some reading and learned that it is not uncommon for bone chips and tooth shards to make their appearance some time after the extraction.
OK - Thanks. I suspect that’s it. I’ll leave it (other than mentioning it to my hygienist next month) until it causes me problems. With a little luck it’ll behave itself long enough for me to get another job that has dental insurance as a benefit.
My oral surgeon actually advised me to scrub the area with my toothbrush and/or gauze to, er, ease the passage of a bone fragment to the surface. Whether it helped or not I can’t say; I’m not even sure it came out (as distinct from being absorbed in some way) but it did go away in a while.
I didn’t see a dental surgeon - my ordinary dentist pulled it. I read about dry socket shortly after getting the tooth pulled; in my very non-professional opinion I don’t have dry socket (or at least, no symptoms indicative of it).
Another case here of a bone chip working its way out. It bothered me for a while as it was scratching my tongue. it came out as I picked at it with a finger. A little blood but no problems.
My dentist told me that when bone in the mouth is exposed to air, it will often shed a chip or two. It’s a natural process, and your own body will decide how long it takes. Keep your dentist informed; if it gets tender or takes a long time, your doc may decide to give you a healing rinse or antibiotics to use.
It has happened a couple of times to me. The skin stretched over my bony gums is rather thin, so I have to be careful eating stiff, crunchy stuff such as Fritos.
Sorry to bump this thread after so long, but I had to comment. Whatever that “pointy” thing under my gum was, it is definitely going away! Nothing has come through the gum, but it is most definitely almost gone; I can’t feel it any more with my tongue, and if I stick my finger it there it just feels like the bone is shaped a little bit funny; definitely not pointy at all any more. Weird! If I remember I’ll mention it when I have my hygienist appointment, but only as an interesting bit of “trivia”.
Regardless, I’ll be seeing my dental hygienist next month.