Sinus Perforation after Wisdom Tooth Extraxtion
 

Hey everyone!

Last Friday, 8/19th I went into my Dentist office to get my 4 wisdom teeth removrd. During my pre-op discussion I was told that all four teeth were very straight and fully erupted, I could get it done with just local anesthisa.

Went in and after removing my upper right wisdom tooth they stopped and said that with the tooth they removed some bone as well and now I have a sinus Perforation. My Dentist told me it would be wise for me to let that heal before getting the others out.

She packed it with something white and sutured it closed with silk. I've been on antibiotics, Sudafed, and Ibuprofen. It's been 7 days since the operation and I still have a lot of mucus leaking into my mouth. I haven't experienced any air flow or anything from my mouth go into my nose but when I put pressure on my right cheek, mucus leaks into my mouth. I also have had no congrstion or nasal leaking. It's pretty foul smelling and it's a light yellow, mostly white color. I do have some allergies in general but they're mild.

The silk sutures and the white material have both started to fall out and are sort of just dangling. It's the weekend so I have to wait until Monday for her to take out the stitches.

My question is what is the general timeframe of healing and when should I start to be worried. For a couple of days I had really bad sinus symptoms with very painful pressure in my cheeks and temple. They've since subsided but I'm afraid they'll be back. I've had no dental issues and the only reason why I was getting my wisdom teeth out is because it's hard for me to brush them.

Hi Ejamal,

I assume this dentist is a general dentist, yes? General dentist have limited oral surgery education and experience compared to an oral surgeon So if she was a general dentist, it would be best to see an oral surgeon for the removal of the rest of your wisdom teeth.

Based on your description it sounds like she may have used an improper technique to remove your upper wisdom tooth which resulted in the unnecessary removal of some bone contributing to a sinus perforation. She may not be very well trained in how to treat a sinus perforation, as most general dentists aren't, and just placed gel foam and sutured the wound closed.

The drainage that is occurring when you push on the outside of your cheek in the area of the extraction site sounds like you may have a large sinus opening which is building up with mucus or pus. Even though you are on an antibiotic, you can still have or get an additional infection because the antibiotic that you are taking may not be the proper one to deal with the species of bacteria that is causing the infection. The healing time for what you have described is complicated because this supposedly simple extraction has become problematic.

It would be advantageous for you to see your dentist on Monday for an xray of that area to see how large the opening is into the sinus and to see if the infection can be picked up on the xray. Sometimes it can and other times it has to become really large to be seen. Either way, the xray would be warranted. Then it would be in your best interest to ask her for a referral to an oral surgeon to evaluate it and to remove the other wisdom teeth. You can ask her to email the surgeon the xray so he has it when you arrive for your appointment.

I would not wait to act on this because the problem may be in the early stage of repair which is to your advantage because if you wait the problem may progress and become a very complicated situation.

I hope you find this information helpful. Please keep us posted.

Thank you Bryanna! I struggled with what exactly to ask the dentist for on Monday and how I should go about getting someone who is specifically trained in this. I will keep you updated with what she and the oral surgeon says!

I have a similar problem. Except I had my top wisdom teeth removed by an oral surgeon. I already saw him twice already and one different surgeon and they both said the whole will close. I had a yellow smelly stain out of the hole and now it’s more salty taste and have slowed down a lot. But it’s been three weeks since the surgery and I just competed my second course of antibiotics. The ct scan showed my one sinus is full. Both surgeons said the hole will close which is according to them is like 3-4 mm. How did your situation resolve?