Infection after wisdom teeth
 

I had 3 wisdom teeth taken out. One bottom left was taken out by my dentist. But due to its difficulty, he suggested I see an oral surgeon for the other 2. So July 6 I went to oral surgeon and got the right bottom and top teeth out. I came for a follow-up 3 days later and was seen by an assistant or tech I'm assuming. My swelling was still pretty bad then, and after I informed her I didn't have any excessive pain, she instructed me to keep applying heat and to call the office on Monday (6 days post op) if there was still swelling.

On a sidenote for a bit of history, my gums are in bad condition according to my dentist. I am 22 and have gums of a 40 yr old he says. When I had the panoramic xray done at the oral surgeons office, he said there was a shadow where the dentist removed my tooth and that it probably is a cyst. After I responded that I had no pain, he said that we'll just leave it alone. IDK what that's suppose to mean??

Anyhow, come Saturday (4 days post op) I noticed some swelling had gone down, but that there was a hard lump on my right cheek, right on and above my jawline. I didn't experience any unusual pain, just difficulty opening my mouth due to the lump. So Mon (6 days post op) I revisited my doctor. He lightly brushed my cheeks with the back of his hand and told me I had an infection. He said I needed to use moist heat and squeeze the lump, then gave me Amoxicillin & Clavulanate Potassium and Peridex. I was told to discontinue the Penicillin. I left without him ever looking in my mouth..

Next day (7 days post op) I wake up to sporadic shocking pain on my lower right jaw. I went to the bathroom and rinsed my mouth, getting ready to brush...and a mouthful of blood came out. The pain had disappeared though. I called the office and mentioned the bleeding and asked if I should continue using the rinse or what to do. I think the lady misunderstood because when she came back she said the dr said to use the rinse for 2 weeks and didn't even address the bleeding. I thought perhaps maybe the lump was dissolving and it was standard to bleed.

I had to take my dad to his dr's appt, so we left. On the drive there I get another pang of pain and then I could taste oozing of blood. So I ended up having to spit it in a bottle for another 2 hrs until we got home. Once home, I wash out my mouth and realize the lump is still the same size. Maybe my cheeks are sloughing off?? It takes me half a day to realize the bleeding isn't going to stop so I stick a napkin in there to try to absorb some of it. I did notice that using Peridex stopped the bleeding momentarily, so I thought the bleeding was standard. By evening I wise up and buy some gauze, at which point I can tell when I changed out the gauze that it is my extraction site that was bleeding!!! It was 6 days after surgery and I read the symptoms of dry socket...it doesn't sound like I had it?? I thought the pain was worse and constant?

The next day I guess I should have gone to the dr, but the bleeding had finally stopped (I kept the gauze in all night) and I was thankful for it, and didn't want him to pry open my mouth because I could barely fit a spoon in there. I reasoned that if it got worse I would go. Today (morning of 11th day) everything seems stable, just that the lump is still there and hard as ever. I've been squeezing it til it hurts with moist heat but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. It's not painful, but I can feel its heaviness when I walk or when I lay and it's very uncomfortable. Well it is painful when I pull on it certain ways. How do I get rid of it and is this squeezing really going to help?

...and why did I bleed out like that?? Did the clot really get dislodged 7 days post-op??

**sorry, I meant today is morning of post-op day 10

Hi Kayy,

In case you are new here and don't know my background ... I've been a dental assistant for 30+ yrs and have extensive experience with oral surgery. Without any doubt what you have experienced is not normal or going to resolve properly on it's own. You cannot always gauge a problem on how much it hurts. My suggestion is to see a different oral surgeon and have all surgical areas thoroughly evaluated. A panoramic xray may also be helpful even though you just had one. The big concern with extracting wisdom teeth is the post operative healing. If the areas do not heal well, you can be left with a serious condition called Osteomyelitis. This condition can be very painful, progressive and very difficult to get rid of. So any post op abnormalities should be thoroughly evaluated by a surgeon ASAP.

Please let us know how you are doing...
Bryanna

You are right. I gauged my problems by pain because I wasn't sure how else to. I guess I just didn't want to be that whiny patient who was making a big deal out of a small infection. The office is now closed, and since I don't have any immediate problems I left them a message on their general answering machine for the soonest appointment. Thanks, and I'll keep you posted. The awful thing is that I'm moving out of town this coming Tuesday. So Monday will probably be the last time I can see him =\ I hope it's not too serious!

Hi kayy,

I tell patients all the time.... never worry about being a whiny patient! If something doesn't seem right get it checked until you feel confident about the outcome. Believe me, dentists and physicians are the whiniest patients in the world!! Why..... because a little knowledge can cause a big stir!!

If you cannot go in on monday, then perhaps you could see an oral surgeon near your new home by the end of the week? The sooner you get this checked out the better because if it should need some intervention, it's best to do that before it progresses. The problem may be minor at this point....

Good luck on your move and please do keep us posted on how you're doing!

Bryanna