staci33

I am 8 1/2 months pregnant, and have never had problems with my gums or teeth before in my life. Not even a cavity. Last week, suddenly I got what I thought was a sore inside my mouth. I went to the dentist, and it turned out to be a bone spur, or a bit of bone exposed through my gums, apparently because of eating something sharp that poked a hole in my gums. (Though I don't recall eating anything sharp, and it seems like I'd remember that.) I was referred to a periodontist, who filed the rough edges of bone down and said it would take about two weeks to heal. Also, in the two days between the dentist and periodontist appts., my gums had become rather swollen and sore. She said this is unrelated to the bone spur, and is related to water retension from the pregnancy. Well, after a week, the swelling and pain were much worse, and I could no longer chew solid food, so I went back, thinking it could be an infection, and anyway it hurts like hell and I'd like something done for the pain. She said the bone spur is healing nicely, and there is no infection, just swelling reated to pregnancy. She told me to rinse with salt water and massage my gums with a soft toothbrush for the swelling and pain. (This doesn't help at all.) Well, as of Sat. (when both dentist and periodontist are closed) I have another bone spur, which I know wasn't caused by eating something sharp, since I can't eat solid food anymore -- too painful, plus I can just barely touch my back teeth together. I plan to call the periodontist again tomorrow, but I'm beginning to think she may be wrong about the cause of my dental problems. Has anyone ever heard of this sort of thing before? I tried looking up bone spurs on the internet, but the only information on them refers to having them in one's feet. My gums are swollen and painful all the way around, upper and lower jaw, inside and outside of teeth, and sensitive to heat and cold. The only thing that helps is Tylonol. The bone spur looks like a dime-sized white spot on the back of my gums, on the inside just behind and below my last molar. If I touch it, it feels like exposed bone -- rough and hard. It doesn't really hurt much, it's the rest of my gums that hurt. But, it seems odd that it showed up at the same time as the swollen gums. They seem related to me. I read that gum problems are common during the second trimester of pregnancy, but are supposed to subside in the third. Well, I had no problems until now - two weeeks from my due date. Anyway, if anyone has any advice or info., I'd love to hear it.

--Staci