Infection after wisdom tooth removal
 

Hello! I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed last Wednesday 1/25. On Friday the swelling had went down on one side but not the other. I started having a nasty taste in my mouth from the bottom right side. I returned to the OS who confirmed a infection and put me on Amox 500mg 3x daily. By Sunday the swelling was down but I still had nasty discharge. Yesterday I returned to the OS and she irrigated the bottom sockets and said things look much better. She said it is uncommon to get such a bad infection less then 48hours postop and wondered is something was left in there? I was sent home and have a follow up Friday. Today is the 4th on the antibotics and I still have discharge should I be concerned? I have around 90% of the movement back in my jaw and just a little pain from the infected side.

Hi jason,

Well, I'm not sure what she meant by ....<<it's not common to get an infection within 48 hrs post op>>...... because infection can develop immediately after any oral surgery. There may not be symptoms until a day or so later, but an infection can develop quickly with any surgery.

Sometimes if the surgical site is not debrided thoroughly, the ligament that is not removed can become infected or if necrotic bone is not removed that too can become infected. There are all sorts of situations that can occur. Some are more serious or extensive than others. So it is a good idea to have several follow up visits with the OS until this area heals.

Any complication from any surgery will take time to heal. Symptoms will gradually decrease as the immune system deals with the bacteria and inflammation.

Let us know what she says on friday....hopefully it will be good news!

Bryanna

I called and talked to the OS today. I told her the discharge has increased and is not yellow colored vs pink-yellow. She is having me come in tommorow so she can open the socket and clean it. She also changed my antibotics from amox to agumentin.

Hi jason,

Ok, good plan. Still continue to rinse with warm salt water until you see her tomorrow. Don't use any other mouthwash or any mouth rinse, other than the salt water.

Please check in with us tomorrow!
Bryanna

The OS went in and said she removed some necortic tissue and debris, she said she feels confident it will heal up now. A culture was also done. I feel much better today and do not have the nasty taste. We also talked about the loss of feeling in the left chin and sensitive lip on that side. She said normally she would put me on steroids but since I have the infection it would have to wait. Also since I'm having orthognatic surgery in the next 6-9 months she said I would probably suffer similar loss of feeling from that being I'm 31 years old.

Hi Jason,

Well I am glad that you went back to the OS and had that surgical site cleaned out. Hopefully it will heal well. I would have it checked again in a week or two.

I'm glad she did not put you on steroids! There is no reason to do that... if the site is clean, the infection will subside.

So you're having orthognathic surgery? Is this due to an underbite or class III occlusion problem?

Bryanna

I'm not familiar with the terms but I think I have a Class II Malocclusion. There is about 1.25-1.5cm overjet of the top jaw. They will be doing a surgery to both the top and bottom as well as sliding genioplasty and something with my nose. At this point I'm 6-9 months away from surgery.

jason,

I am familiar with this type of surgery. It is quite amazing at the results that can be achieved!

After this type of surgery, it is imperative that you follow the post operative instructions to the "T" for the entire post operative period. Also, it is imperative that you wear your retainers as instructed afterwards because things can shift around in spite of having the surgery.

If you are curious..... you can go to youtube.com and type in orthognathic surgery. There are some videos made by some young people who have had this surgery and they take you through the whole process. Very interesting and it could be helpful!

Keep us posted ok...
Bryanna