Three weeks after I had a lower molar extracted, I went back to the dentist who confirmed it was infected. It was filled with very red gum tissue, which after a couple days developed into a round lump in the extraction site. He made an incision and essentially scraped everything out (I could literally hear him scraping against the bone in my socket the whole time. Initially I could feel it too so he gave me more of the numbing shot!). So, I was back to square one like I just had the extraction done again (gauze, clotting, etc). This time, the hole was actually stitched closed to promote healing, since it wasn't healing well before (even before signs of infection). I THINK it's healing better than it was initially (although hard to tell since it was stitched closed this second time & not the first).
HOWEVER my jaw is fairly tender still (week later). It's NOT a stiff muscle feeling, & it's only tender when pressed on the side of my face. I'm not even really sure it's it's the jaw itself, more like if I were to try to poke the extraction area from my cheek. That's the area that still feels sore. However, if I touch the extraction site with my tongue (I don't do this on purpose, but it's happened on accident a time or two!) that doesn't hurt. Just poking from the outside hurts.
Is this soreness just from him scraping so much to get the infected tissue out? & If so, how long can I expect this tenderness? I'm just trying to confirm if it's normal or if the infection went deeper (I'm a worry wart, to be fair, but still lol). I have my follow up in a little over a week (next Friday). The soreness hasn't gotten worse. If anything it has gotten a TAD better since the first day he scraped the socket out, but not much..
Thanks!
HOWEVER my jaw is fairly tender still (week later). It's NOT a stiff muscle feeling, & it's only tender when pressed on the side of my face. I'm not even really sure it's it's the jaw itself, more like if I were to try to poke the extraction area from my cheek. That's the area that still feels sore. However, if I touch the extraction site with my tongue (I don't do this on purpose, but it's happened on accident a time or two!) that doesn't hurt. Just poking from the outside hurts.
Is this soreness just from him scraping so much to get the infected tissue out? & If so, how long can I expect this tenderness? I'm just trying to confirm if it's normal or if the infection went deeper (I'm a worry wart, to be fair, but still lol). I have my follow up in a little over a week (next Friday). The soreness hasn't gotten worse. If anything it has gotten a TAD better since the first day he scraped the socket out, but not much..
Thanks!
