Surgical Extraction gone awry

[ExposedJawBone]

I am new here and sooooooooo scared!

I had left a broken filling which took a piece of my tooth with it too long due to fears of going to dentist and when I finally went 2 weeks ago the dentist told me it had to be extracted. During the extraction (it was one of my upper molars) the tooth broke apart and the dentist told me he had to extract the 3 roots separately. One of them wasn't frozen and had to be frozen 3 times. I was soooo happy when it was finally over....

I went home and immediately when the freezing came out I could feel a lump in my upper gum where it attaches to the side of my face.. the lump is painful and has not moved or lessened in 2 weeks. The lump is above the last tooth in my upper jaw NEXT to the extraction site. I went back to the dentist but the check up was done by a different dentist and when I asked him what's jabbing into my cheek he said "bone"..... to which I asked "bone??" but received no explanation and was sent home with some clindamycin (antibiotics).

Yesterday I was brave and put my finger in to feel around and the thing jabbing into the side of my face ISexposed jawbone!!! No one told me this happened - How does this happen?? - It's not even near the extraction but over the other tooth next to it! -- I am SICK that neither of the dentists told me about it or why I've been in such pain = Will the skin grow back over the jawbone??? How can they have done this and not even told me about it? I've been crying for 2 days and the pain has been unrelenting for 2 weeks and I cannot smile at all! Since the dentist never told me about what happened during the surgical extraction, will he do anything to help me? -- Will it heal????

PLEASE HELP! - I haven't gone back to the dentist again b/c I'm scared.

 

[Zuri Barniv]

Don't let this get you so upset, you will be fine. It is probably not as bad as it feels. When we do difficult extractions, sometimes a piece of the jaw bone can break off. Sometimes we see it and clean it out and sometimes we don't and it is noticed later. Exposed bone in your mouth is not a big deal in the short term, but you do need to get it looked at and treated. The treatment is usually to numb the area and clean the area where it happened. I understand you are scared, but you need to get it looked at. The office you are going to may not be a good match for you as they don't sound like very good communicators. Go to Yelp or the phone book and find a well-regarded ORAL SURGEON (not a general dentist) and pay whatever it costs to get it evaluated and treated properly. In most cases, everything heals up fine and there will be no long-term problems.
I hope that helps.

 

[ExposedJawBone]

Don't let this get you so upset, you will be fine. It is probably not as bad as it feels. When we do difficult extractions, sometimes a piece of the jaw bone can break off. Sometimes we see it and clean it out and sometimes we don't and it is noticed later. Exposed bone in your mouth is not a big deal in the short term, but you do need to get it looked at and treated. The treatment is usually to numb the area and clean the area where it happened. I understand you are scared, but you need to get it looked at. The office you are going to may not be a good match for you as they don't sound like very good communicators. Go to Yelp or the phone book and find a well-regarded ORAL SURGEON (not a general dentist) and pay whatever it costs to get it evaluated and treated properly. In most cases, everything heals up fine and there will be no long-term problems.
I hope that helps.

Thanks for your reply but you did not understand what I initially wrote.
I went back today. The owner of the dental institute saw me and told me that my upper jaw bone IS exposed, and it is not where the tooth was extracted. She explained that the dentist had to create a 'flap' over the extraction site, but I don't know how that has anything to do with the part of my jaw bone which is exposed since the exposed bone is above the tooth behind the extraction and above it.

She also told me that if the skin doesn't grow back they will need to shave down the bone. She says that usually they put people in my predicament on hydro morphine. I barely take the Ty3's they gave me because I don't like narcotics and they make me ill.

Additionally, she acknowledged that her 2 male dentists did not educate me as to what was going on and wants me to call her in a week to check in with her. I've noticed that men do not seem to know how to provide information the way women do. I will never go to a male dentist again.