I had tooth no. 13 removed 7 weeks ago - this tooth had had a root canal about 13 years ago, got a crown about 4 or 5 years ago and had now developed a cyst next to the root (plus, they could tell on x-ray that the root hadn't been completely filled during the RC procedure, so maybe this was causing the cyst, who knows.) I wasn't in any pain and had discovered this more or less by accident - I'd had a bad taste/smell coming from that tooth and suspected the crown to be faulty (which is was. When I was at the endodontist's office to have the RC redone, it came right off and any remaining tooth material under the crown had been rotting away - hence the taste/smell!). Unfortunately, the endodontist and my regular dentist in concert determined that it wouldn't make sense to try and redo the root canal under these circumstances as the regular dentist said she wouldn't be able to fit another crown on top, even with a crown lengthening, plus there was the issue with the as yet undiagnosed lesion (they suspected a cyst but couldn't be sure). So, the tooth had to be removed - or what was left of it...

So I went to an oral surgeon, who was pretty young and rather new to the area but who had gotten very good reviews, and I got a good vibe from her when I talked to her on the phone - she took a lot of time to explain and go through everything, which I thought was great! The actual extraction went well, as far as I was able to tell - well it was actually surgically removed, rather than extracted, due to there not being any tooth left to grab onto. She had to make incisions into the gums to create a flap, and I think this is where all my problems originate - to this day, 7 weeks out, the gums in that area are still not fully healed and it is driving me crazy with worry!! There was a lot of bleeding the day of, and it actually continued to bleed all through the first night. And the bleeding didn't come from the extraction site (where she had placed a bone graft), but from the side, where she had made the incisions for the flap. I personally think she cut too close to the frenulum, as this was where most of the bleeding came from - when I woke up after that first night (I had to take a sleeping pill to even be able to sleep, I was so uncomfortable and worried - I have bad anxiety over everything health related as it is, and teeth are one of the worst!!), a huge blob of congealed blood had formed and was hanging down from the tooth next to the extraction site...that came off after a while, and it started mildly bleeding again...it eventually stopped, but that area took forever to mostly heal up - it still feels "raw" and different from the equivalent location on the other side of my mouth. It also took forever for that area of gums to go down to more or less regular size - it still feels different to the touch of my tongue, and it does get irritated depending on what I eat and drink.
However, I am actually at this point even more worried about the gums that have grown over the bone graft - they had closed over I think in a normal amount of time, but they, too, often feel very irritated, especially the walls...and that area has not evened out, it still looks like a little crater - well, it's not that deep, more like and indentation - x-rays showed that I hadn't lost any of the bone graft, and it seemed to be taking well, but I have to wonder if the reason for the gums to not fully turn into normal, healthy, even gum material has something to do with the bone graft? Is it possible that my body is not recognizing it - I do'nt think it's fully rejecting it as it feels mostly ok. I sometimes get a bit of a pinching sensation, and a sensation of "fullness", but I am pretty sure it's not infected or anything. It's the gum situation that worries me - in particular, the gums touching the molar next to it seem to be the most easily irritated. That molar has a crown, and I can see the dark edge shining through a little.
I have never had gum issues before, so I am baffled as to why this is happening! I have also had issues with my mouth feeling / tasting extremely sour - I think using the chlorhexidine rinse after the surgery completely messed up the flora in my mouth - I think it lowered the PH level so much that I kept having this very acid environment, which in turn is obviously very bad for the gums overall and especially those trying to heal! The sourness is not as bad anymore at this point, but it still doesn't feel right - my saliva still seems to be too acidic to me and I've taken to using lozenges which help with dry mouth to make sure I have good saliva production, as I can tell that helps.
I have been using a very mild toothpaste (Therabreath) and salt water rinses after meals and sometimes in between when I feel I need them. But I'm not sure if I should still be doing this now, as sometimes, the salt also seems to irritate my mouth...but both regular dentist and oral surgeon recommended using only salt water to rinse.

The oral surgeon, who was supposed to place the implant, has now said that she won't be able to do it as there isn't enough space - apparently, I have only 4.5 to 5mm which is not enough for a regular implant. So I am not going to see a periodontist, whom she recommended and who also comes recommended by my regular dentist. I guess if anyone can do an implant in that area, it is him. Unfortunately, this is now going to cost me twice as much since he doesn't accept insurance....but honestly, at this point, I am more worried about me not being able to get an implant at all, either because there is not enough space or because my gums aren't allowing me to!

This all seems crazy to me and I've had the worst 7 weeks of my life. I worry day and night, and it's really having an impact on my life!!

I was hoping that wonderful lady Bryanna might be able to shed some light, I hope she will see this!

Kat