My dentist diagnosed me in late December with a massive abscess/bone infection stemming from a root canal done 15+ years ago (some root was left). I had a perm. bridge which was removed (spanning four front teeth) and since the infection had been there a while two teeth had to be extracted (two teeth were already gone having been knocked out in a car accident). I was sedated (Halcion) and my dentist told me he would put in bone grafts and sutures and I'd leave his office with a temp. partial. All was well for two days when I woke up in a lot of pain. My gums were inflammed and the temp. partial was rubbing my gums in a couple of spots. Since it was the weekend I called and via the phone was told to take the partial out and leave it out. The next week I went in and was given a dexy mouthwash. A week later I went in to get stitches removed and I had developed thrush and oral ulcers. I was given an antifungal mouthwash. The pain never subsided. At four weeks the dentist said he said it was rare but I wasn't healing and wanted to perform another surgery (for free).

At that point I insisted on going to an oral surgeon. He performed something called an alveoplasty. I have changed to a more experienced dentist and saw him last week. He tried filling my temp. partial (which I've not had in since 2/20) with some sort of filling that smelled like airplane glue. It felt good, but within an hour it stung like crazy. When I took out the partial my suture line and two sockets had turned bright red. I called and he said to scrape out as much as I could of the liner (it was really stuck) and try something like Fixodent. I haven't tried that yet as my gums are still itch and burn like crazy.

Is any of this normal? My new dentist seems perplexed. And, the Oral Surgeon also seemed at a loss and referred to our dental school here to see an oral pathologist. But he was traveling and not available until 3/26. I can only eat bland soft food. Talking hurts, eating hurts...I'm loving the weight loss - but am really, really tired of going around with my four front teeth missing.

I was curious if the bone grafting material (and I have no idea what was used) could cause so much irritation. And, what happens to bone grafting material when the alveoplasty is done a month later? I'm new to all this and am so discouraged! Thanks for insights.