Hi nukuspot,
Thank you for the kind words
It sounds like you really did your homework and searched out a qualified dentist to remove your root canaled tooth. General dentists have limited oral surgery education compared to an oral surgeon. However, there are some general dentists who have deliberately continued their education to become skilled dental surgeons. This is not a common practice, but they are out there!
It is important to know that although your oral symptoms did not become evident until a year ago, your rc tooth had been infected for 2 decades. Those pieces of gutta percha material scattered in the bone were chronic irritants and bacteria festered around each piece like they were magnets. Your immune system was able to keep the oral symptoms at bay until it could no longer continue to do so. Based on that knowledge and your detailed description of your present symptoms, it is possible that the removal of that tooth and the thorough debridement of the bone has woken your immune system and it's doing it's job to deal with the changes that are occurring. Based on your overall health and the overall health of your immune system, it may or may not be able to deal with this issue on it's own. Meaning you may or may not need antibiotics. That is a judgement call made by the dentist.
I am unsure as to why they only gave you one piece of gauze but evidently you did okay without it. Some people tend to overuse the gauze and they end up pulling out the clot. Because he placed the LPRF blood clots (leukocyte platelet rich fibrin centrifuged from your own blood) into the bony socket and tissue he did not want it to be disturbed. These clots are the first step of the healing process as they slowly release growth factors to encourage the formation of new bone. This healing process also stimulates your immune system to send out it's own healing cells. So for some people a low grade fever and some physical symptoms of feeling unwell may be a normal part of this cycle of healing.
I will re post your questions and answer in bold type.
<<1.) I usually do not take any pain medicine. For my wisdoms I only took one Motrin and that was the first night of surgery. However this time I simply cannot function without Motrin. I am taking 400mg every 6 hours around the clock, and have done since the night of surgery. I tried twice to go off and I cannot, the pain is too bad. >>
YOU HAVE A LOT MORE GOING ON WITH THIS SURGERY THAN YOU DID WITH YOUR WISDOM TEETH REMOVAL. YOU HAD A LONG TERM INFECTION THAT HAS NOW BEEN DISTURBED (FOR THE BETTER!) AND THERE IS A LOT OF INFLAMMATORY FACTORS COMING TO THE RESCUE WHICH WILL SIGNAL PAIN CELLS FROM THE BRAIN. ARE YOU TAKING ANY HOMEOPATHICS REMEDIES?
I took arnica 200k before the extraction and 1k potency right after, then more 200k as needed for the first 3 days (this was that my ND gave me to take, she had the same extraction and that was what she used.) The holistic dentist also gave me two other homeopathics to take, both blends with many many ingredients which I faithfully took for the first 2 days but kept getting really really nauseous after taking them. They were in an ethanol base (they were liquid) and I think my body was getting ill because of the taste of the alcohol? Not sure. So at this time I am not taking any more homeopathics but I was for about 3 days after the extraction.
<<Should it still be this painful over 3 days since the extraction?>>
IT WOULD NOT BE UNUSUAL GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES. THE PAIN SHOULD START TO SUBSIDE AFTER THE 4TH/5TH DAY AND SLOWLY IMPROVE WITH EACH DAY. IF THE PAIN DOES NOT SUBSIDE OR GETS WORSE, THEN CALL THE DENTIST. SHOULD THE PAIN SUBSIDE AND THEN COME BACK, THAT MAY INDICATE A PROBLEM SO CALL THE DENTIST.
Thank you, this has been worrisome to me. The sheet they gave me said that the pain should get progressively better after the 3rd day and since today is day 4 and it is unchanged I was getting worried. I do not think it's a dry socket as I can still see the PRF clots in the socket (I think, they are a weird off white color) and the pain is not excruciating like I hear dry socket is. When I take the Motrin it doesn't go away but it is manageable. It is not manageable without Motrin still on day 4. I think yesterday was the worst pain and today is the same as yesterday. You say day 4/5 it should start subsiding so that makes me feel better. The sheet worried me because it said day 3 for it to get better and it was not the case. I am wondering if I am also having a reaction to the stitches. He didn't stitch the socket closed, he stitched the clot to the socket so it wouldn't fall out, and sometimes I feel a LOT of itching in the pain so I wonder if the stitches are bothersome. I also have a small canker sore like ulcer next to the site which I imagine was from the pressure of a tool Also the gums all around the extraction site and the teeth next to it look like they have a layer of white on them which I imagine is a little dead skin or something?.
<<2.) I feel very flu like. Very lethargic, hot, muscle aches, slight headache. I have felt like this since the surgery but the feeling of being hot is more intense today. When I take my temp the few times I have gone off the Motrin I do have a low grade fever (between 99.0-99.7). When the Motrin kicks in it reduces the fever so it is hard to tell, on the Motrin I am at like 98.6-99.0.>>
A LOW GRADE FEVER INDICATES THAT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IS WORKING TO DEAL WITH THE SITUATION. FEELING FLU LIKE, ETC. COULD BE HOW YOUR BODY RESPONDS TO THE STIMULATION OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AND IT COULD ALSO BE FROM THE OUT PUT OF CORTISOL WHICH IS A HORMONE RELEASED BY THE ADRENAL GLANDS IN RESPONSE TO STRESS. IF EVERYTHING IS HEALING NORMALLY, THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AND THE ADRENAL GLANDS WILL CALM DOWN.
Thank you again. The good news is that even though the pain is still the same, I don't seem to have the low grade fever anymore this morning.
<<3.) I simply feel that I cannot stand the feeling of my teeth/bite. As soon as the anesthetic wore off I felt panic. The tooth in back of the extraction site feels fine but the tooth in front (#20) feels awful in my mouth. It feels like my tongue is laying on top of the tooth and when I talk or swallow it feels like one of the cusps is slicing the side of it. I can't stop touching this tooth with my tongue and as a result have barely spoken since the surgery, it feels so awful. That tooth specifically was previously a little rotated towards my tongue but it feels now like it's basically impinging on where my tongue should sit. It feels so foreign like a big chewed lump of bubble gum stuck under my tongue.>>
IT IS NORMAL TO HAVE ODD SENSATIONS WITH YOUR TONGUE AGAINST OTHER TEETH AFTER A TOOTH IS REMOVED. THE TONGUE IS A MUSCLE AND IT IS USE TO BEING IN A CERTAIN RESTING POSITION AGAINST YOUR TEETH. IN SOME PEOPLE THE SLIGHTEST CHANGE IN THE POSITION OF THE TEETH OR WHEN A TOOTH IS REMOVED CAUSES THE TONGUE TO TAKE NOTICE AND NOW IT'S TRYING TO FIND A NEW RESTING POSITION. THIS IS TEMPORARY, IT WILL ADJUST TO THE NEW SURROUNDINGS. IT IS BEST TO TRY AND IGNORE IT AND NOT KEEP TOUCHING IT AS THAT JUST STIMULATES IT ALL THE MORE. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE SOME INFLAMMATION IN THE BONE AROUND THAT TOOTH (NORMAL AFTER AN EXTRACTION) AND IT MAY BE A BIT OUT OF IT'S NORMAL SPOT WHICH YOUR TONGUE IS PICKING UP ON. ONCE THE INFLAMMATION SUBSIDES AND YOUR BODY CALMS DOWN, THINGS WILL SETTLE DOWN.
Thank you for explaining. However it is still driving me absolutely crazy. It feels like #20 is sitting UNDER my tongue and pressing up on it with it's cusp. It is way way worse when I talk so I have tried to keep talking to a minimum but that is hard being a mom of two young kids. Do you have any idea how long it takes to get used to this feeling?
<<Or is it simply my brain having a total freakout because my mouth is missing a tooth?>>
IT IS YOUR TONGUE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IS MISSING. YOUR BRAIN IS STIMULATING THE TONGUE TO BEHAVE THAT WAY AND IT WILL CALM DOWN WHEN ALL ELSE CALMS DOWN
I will keep hoping this happens but so far it's driving me nuts! Is there any chance the tooth #20 could have been permanently knocked out of position by the extraction? For some reason, over the last few years ONLY that tooth has been slowly rotating inwards to have the top point facing more towards the tongue than straight up to the palate. I never knew why, and it has always just been that one tooth that was moving. When I asked dentists they always said "teeth move as you age" but I never knew why it was just that ONE tooth. However the feeling never bothered me before the extraction, it was just cosmetic before.
<<I can honestly say that I never expected feeling like this after, and it has all thrown me for a loop.>>
TRULY THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS KEEP YOURSELF HEALTHY THROUGH THIS HEALING PROCESS. THERE WAS NO WAY FOR YOU TO KNOW THAT REMOVING THIS TOOTH WAS GOING TO BE A BIG DEAL TO YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. BUT IN THE LONG RUN, YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM WILL THANK YOU
I really hope so and I hope that I made a good decision. It is just the start of a long road ahead, 6 months of healing then 6 months of implant prep (I have been advised to get a zirconia implant since my two teeth on either side are healthy and they don't want to sacrifice them for a bridge. And the only other option left is a flipper/false tooth which since I am only 35 isn't really a great long term option....
Besides the motrin, what else are you taking? What are you rinsing with?