Bone not filled up half a years after extraction
 

Hi,

I have two teeth extracted last Oct. Now it's been 5 months, I just took an X-ray at the clinic and it shows the bone is still not filled up properly, my concern is that are there any cavitation formed because it's been half a yea



Thanks,
Vivian

just want to add that the gum seems already close up. I'm still breastfeeding my baby,is it because of this the bone build up inside is so slowly?

Looking for help! Bryanna
 

Hi, Bryanna,

Here I attached the picture for your reference. You see there are three missing teeth. The left one and middle one were pulled out last Oct, and now it has been 5 months, bone inside still not filled up. Especially the left one, it was a front tooth, it got press hurt on gum during the first month after extraction, then the pain disappear but now x Ray shows there is only a very little build up there. I'm so afraid that it ends up with a cavitation although my dentist says there is no sign of infection or cavitation at least now. I heard if after extraction x Ray still shows an outline of the tooth it has a potential cavitation.is that true? Please give me some suggestion, I'm still a nursing mother,is it because of this so the healing inside is so slow?

Hi vichen,

Thank you for posting the xray. The bony area of the extracted tooth on the left of the xray shows two things. One is the outline of the root of the tooth that was removed and secondly the dark black area indicates very shallow bone formation. After 5 months of healing, this radiographic finding usually indicates that the periodontal ligament was not removed and perhaps the site was not debrided thoroughly after the extraction of that tooth. This could be a contributing factor as to why the bone has not filled in more densely. Depending on the health of that bone, the bone may or may not continue to become more dense over time.

The bony area of the extracted tooth on the right of the xray shows a denser growth of bone with some bony spicules which are basically some irregularities in the new bone. This could be due to some tissue that was left behind when the tooth was removed and/or it just may need more time to fill in.

There is always some degree, about 50%, of permanent bone loss when a tooth is extracted. This could result in a thinning, narrowing, and reduced height of the final bone growth. If a successful bone graft was placed in healthy bone, then the overall bone loss is usually quite less.

In healthy people, the jaw bone of the extraction site takes a full year before the bone becomes solidified. It is a long process of healing that takes place. The outward appearance of the gum tissue heals much sooner than the actual jaw bone.

May I ask, were these teeth previously root canaled? If so, were they retreated prior to being extracted? Had you developed a fistula above either or both of these teeth prior to the extractions?

Are you contemplating dental implants in these two areas?

The fact that you are breastfeeding does play a role in the way your body will heal from oral surgery. It would have been ideal to eat a diet rich in bone building minerals and also supplement with the same. Were you advised to do that?

Bryanna

Thanks for your detailed analysis,Bryanna. I feel really depressed it ends up like this. The left tooth was not root canalled previously but crowned,it just got worse infection and I don't want to do root canal so I have it removed. I remember the dentist told me he did a thorough cleaning after tooth out,they even gave me ozon to kill the bacteria. Can you let me know what should I do with this teeth if bone stops growing and just stay like this?

The right tooth does feel a spicules bumping out there, and it has press hurt for almost 5 months,actually this is the reason I went to the clinic to have the X-ray.but doctor said there is nothing left there from the xray, and it surprisingly stopping press pain since that day.God miracle!

So from your experience, if there is any irregular spicules in the new bone,what should I do?

As I remembered, the dentist didn't use anything like bur to scrap the socket,instead he use some drill like electric drill to clean the socket after the tooth out. Is it the right way to remove the ligament and cleaning?

Bryanna, from my X-ray, you can see the very right one was also missing,it was extracted 2years ago,do you think it looks normal? I see there are some dark spot near gum line, I hope it doesn't indicate anything like cavitation.