hello, my name is mike and I have been struggling with a dental issue for probably 8 months now.. to give some background information on what initially occurred :

7 or 8 months ago, at an ihop, my girlfriend could not finish her pancakes.. so I finished them for her, ended up with a strawberry seed stuck in my tooth but figured I wouldn't pick it out in public ... the very next bite I took felt like someone fired the seed from a shot gun through my tooth there was a audible crunch and immediate pain.. I then experienced pain when biting for approximated a week as I would routinely try to floss it out.. after a week and a half with the seed in my gums were so inflamed I became desperate and tied knots in dental floss and proceeded to dredge the area between my 2 back teeth... this actually got the seeds out but only at the point where I was bleeding quite a bit.. ended up swishing some arm and hammer toothpaste with water, the grittiness pulled the seed out after flossing..

unfortunately after this dumb decision of mine, the area never healed properly and eventually I developed a bad taste coming from the area between the teeth, my gums weren't the same and I started noticing changes in the roof of my mouth on that side.. so after a few months I decided to see my dentist.. he took xrays and could not see anything, but he drilled the tooth down to almost nothing and then I guess re built it with plaster or whatever the stuff was.. I was able to eat on that side again without any fear of more food slipping into the area.. however I was so paranoid that I decided I would just keep eating on my good side anyways.. as I said I continued to notice changes on the injured side and finally decided to go back.. the dentist suggested a root canal but wasn't entirely sure it would help, it basically would have been an expensive gamble... I decided to just have the tooth extracted.. my dentist first tried to pull the tooth in the normal fashion but it would not budge .. so he had to section it.. and I guess pry it out? anyways.. the tooth came out, I was sent home with antibiotics (amoxicillin) and after 6 hours I was still bleeding heavily from the area, went to the hospital at midnight and the ER doctor packed it with medicated gauze which FINALLY made it clot. so after 2 days of being swollen in exactly the spot I should have been, it started to go down, the area feels MUCH better and I believe healed up just great! however... after 2 days my LOWER just line on that side is still just as swollen as when I had the UPPER tooth extracted.. I am also having a lot of pain on touch with the tooth directly behind the one that was pulled as well as what I perceive to be a canker sore on the side of my cheek which I believe makes contact with the now pain stricken tooth.. I went to the dentist again and he said it was weird and could be drainage but should subside ... 4 days after tooth extraction the swelling has not gone down and now my gums are sore on the top and the bottom on that side.. so I went to the hospital again thinking it was either infection or side effect of antiobiotics.. the ER doctor believes it to be an infection and prescribed me stronger antibiotics.. just started those today and definitely am noticing a lot of pain when I touch the very back tooth which is next to the extraction site.. again extraction site feels COMPLETELY better already but now major pain in the back tooth.. my lower jaw is still swollen and the canker sore on my cheek is very painfull.. also I randomly taste a small amount of blood but cannot find any when I check my saliva.. the inside of my mouth doesn't show any bleeding either.. I am really worried that if it IS an infection, perhaps its coming from the top tooth?? but if this is the case why is my lower jaw swollen.. ugh.. I just want to be back to normal already.. any advice would be much appreciated and I will try to check back frequently to answer any questions in order to provide additional information..
thankyou for any constructive feedback

Welcome miked1988.

Hi miked1988,

I am in the dental field and can offer you some information here.

First of all, it is usually best to see an oral surgeon for tooth extractions as they deal with complications all the time. Most general dentists perform minimal surgery and are not equipped or knowledgeable to handle the complications.

It sounds like you had a traumatic extraction. This means that the dentist did a lot of manipulation of the jaw bone to remove the tooth. When this occurs, it is typical for the adjacent teeth to hurt for several days after the extraction.

I also think you may have developed a series of canker sores from all the manipulation of the oral tissue and irritation from the repetitive usage of the instruments to remove the tooth. These sores can take up to 21 days to heal.

Why your lower jaw is swollen... I have no clue. Perhaps there was trauma to the lower jaw during the procedure..... or you have a bad tooth in that area also.... ??

Do you have routine dental care or do you only see the dentist when you have a problem? Do you have gum problems (bleeding and/or receding gums) or other areas of decay or any lose teeth that you know of? Do you clench or grind your teeth?

If you have not had a comprehensive examination and a full mouth series of xrays in over a year, perhaps it would be a good idea to have that done to see if anything else is going on.

Bryanna