Hi all. I was wondering if anyone could help me. my face swelled up and I was told I have an abcess and it was probably the impacted wisdom tooth. Was placed on penicillin vk for 7 days and an appointment was made for it to be cut out with oral sedation. Three weeks later I had the surgery. That was exactly 14 days ago. I've been stressing to the max since then the surgery went great I don't recall anything really felt good that day. The day after surgery I was in extreme pain to the point of rolling around and crying in bed. This continued for 8 days straight. I've seen two different dentist since day 10 and both of them took a quick look in my mouth and said everything looks like it's healing nicely. My question is, is it normal to STILL be in pain? It's nothing that 400 milligrams of Ibprophen can't handle but I'm 14 days post op and still not sleeping through the night. Also, my face is just a small amount swollen (others wouldn't notice by I do) the pain sometimes goes all the way into my ear and from my temple down to my jawline. Also, there is still a small hole in my gums and sometimes yellowish clear stuff comes out of my socket that tastes salty. I returned to both dentist and one out me back on penicillin vk and the other said it doesn't look like I have an infection and I'm still healing nicely. When I asked about the pain he said maybe TMJ? I've had other teeth pulled including my right wisdom tooth and tookayne two ibprophens and was back to normal the next day. I'm worried and anxious this could be a bone infection? I've googled way too much and it's gotten to where it's all I can think about. If anyone could help please. And thank you in advance

2 weeks post-op and still having those symptoms means you DEFINITELY should be worried. You should get it checked! Bryanna would say the say thing 99.9%

Goood luck !

Hi mrslowry,

It is typical to have pain after the removal of an impacted wisdom tooth. The intense pain can last a day or two and then linger a bit for several weeks. The lingering pain, if there is no infection, would usually be muscular and joint related because the mouth has to be propped open very wide in order to gain access to an impacted wisdom tooth. There is also often a great deal of jaw manipulation during the surgery. All of which stresses the masseter muscle and tmj joint. Sometimes the muscle and joint pain doesn't kick in until a few days or so post op.

It is best to rest the jaw immediately following surgery and for at least 2 weeks post op. That means consuming a nutritious soft food diet, drinking lots of water and avoid over using the jaw to talk, etc. Chewing, talking, clenching or grinding the teeth early on can cause the masseter muscle to tighten up and inflammation will set in along the muscle up to the tmj area and beyond.

If you are very stressed about this pain, which is understandable, you may be clenching or grinding your teeth as that is a natural reaction that people have when their mouth or head hurts. It is important to be aware of that habit and stop doing it.

The yellow watery discharge can be normal and not necessarily an indication of infection. Continue rinsing with warm salt water 3 times a day for another week or two. Do not rinse with anything else but salted water as this is the most therapeutic solution you can use. Be mindful to let the jaw relax as much as possible. Don't overwork it with chewing, etc. Applying warm moist heat to that side of your face before bedtime and upon awakening can help relax the muscle and bring blood into that area to reduce the inflammation.

I hope this info is helpful to you. Hope you feel better soon!

Bryanna

Thank you so much for the reply! The pain was better yesterday, I only took one 200 mg Ibprophen. I forgot to add that I am a 29 year old female and I do smoke :/ also, could this pain be nerve pain? The wisdom tooth was very very close to the nerve and the pain is almost a burning pain. When I have the pain in my jaw and up to my ear the left side of my tongue also burns.The pain is not constant more like it comes and goes in spurts. I should have stayed off of google and I would have never even heard of osteomyelitis! Currently I'm on penicillin and doing the salt water rinses. The yellow drainage from the socket is still there though not as much as a couple days ago. It's been 15 days post op and I've never taken this long to recover from anything so I'm so thankful to your reply to my post.

mrslowry,

To be honest, the fact that you smoke is a concern. The chemicals in the tobacco are toxic and can prevent healthy complete healing from the extraction. Smoking also increases the chances of developing osteoymelitis.

Did you inform the oral surgeon that you are a smoker? If the burning pain does not subside within a few days, go see the oral surgeon and make sure he knows that you are smoking.

Most smokers have no idea what is in their cigarette. I would be remiss if I didn't share this with you.

http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/abo...cigarette.html

Bryanna