About 7 months ago I had my bottom wisdom teeth removed by a general dentist and have already gone back once about 3 months ago to have some boney growths shaved down on the sides. I'm still aware of that area all day and every day and it just feels like it is not healing up properly. There may still be some extra boney fragments but not sure. How long can it take to heal? Should I give it more time to heal and let the bone work itself out. Does age make a difference I'm a 37 male. Thanks for any help/info

Hi,

My reply ain't exactly an answer but I hope tat it helps.

It sounds like your wisdom tooth wasn't extracted properly.

What happened for my case some years back, my dental surgeon said tat mine was a case of "minor surgery". I was given 3 injections (funnily enough, the 2nd one didn't hurt) tat could have me in lawsuits since it was so painful tat I nearly kicked/punched the guy.

Add to the fact tat he told me tat a % of patients develop numbness in the affected tooth area, sometimes permanently.

After the injections, he cut open the area surrounding the offending tooth & removed it bit by bit. (very much like cutting a birthday cake!!)

He sewed up the area & I bit on some gauze thingy for some time. It's very painful at first when u finally don't have to bit on it anymore BUT the resulting finale is tat one has to eat soft foods, very much like baby foods!! (cos of pain in the affected tooth)

Hope tat this helps you.

Hi,

Sorry, it's me again. Forgot something else.

7 mths is a very long time to recover from wisdom tooth removal. Also, I don't understand why in your case, it wasn't called "wisdom tooth surgery". It's not a simple tooth extraction.

I would definitely question the dentist to find out, mebbie even get a 2nd opinion (from a different dental surgeon).

Tat's all. Hope that it helps you in some way.

something does sound wrong. I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted 2 years ago, all 4 were still under the skin so my doctor had to cut through the skin and chip the teeth out. I had them gas me for this, no way I was going to stay awake for it and 4 days later I was already eating hard foods.

Arctic-

Don't get overly worked up about it- my dentist told me that while the gums should heal up in a couple months, the surrounding bone can take up to a year to completely settle into shape again (don't know if I'm using the right terms, but you get the idea). Bone takes a long time to readjust after surgery, esp. at 37 years of age (no offense- it just usually takes longer to heal when you are older- so they recommend having wisdom teeth out early- but this can vary from person to person also based on your overall health). Anyway, just don't get too stressed over it unless you are in alot of pain. If you are in considerable pain, though, I would suggest seeing your doctor again- they will usually not mind giving you Motrin 800mg and I've found it is wonderful for dental pain. Hope you feel better soon. I just had mine out two weeks ago so I know how you feel! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Jules

Thanks Jules. Your response really put my mind at ease. I had no idea the healing could take a year, but then again I am at the ripe old age of 37