Wisdom tooth extraction - Complications?

<p>My son had his out in December and just now developed an infection. Anyone else had this happen? I’m not a happy camper and neither is my son.</p>

<p>I had a dry socket after mine (but it was right after, within a few days). It is pretty miserable, and I will NEVER eat anything clove flavored again without remembering that hideous stuff they used to clean it/pack it. Good luck to your son, hopefully antibiotics will take care of it!</p>

<p>Not fun… Get it treated right away. Make sure the antibiotics your doctor prescribes are appropriate for the eradication of the pathogen causing this infection! My H’s dentist typically prescribes a course of antibiotics before non-emergency dental surgeries if there is a hint of inflammation/infection, however, I wish he’d run a test first.</p>

<p>In my family, the only complication from wisdom tooth removal was a case of loss of sensation in lower lip - nerve damage.</p>

<p>It happens, particularly if the extraction was difficult. Doesn’t really indicate something went wrong. A certain percentage of any procedure develops complications.</p>

<p>OP-Imperative that your son abides by instructions to keep his mouth clean, rinsing after eating, no seeded, hard or sharp foods that can hurt the inflamed tissue. Brush gently in the infected area.</p>

<p>Thanks, all. He is on antibiotics and was doing everything right, (even irrigating after eating!) at least when he was home. Hard to say what he eats when he’s out of the house. Keeping my fingers crossed that these meds will knock the infection out soon.</p>

<p>It was ice cream and soup for me for a week when I had my wisdom teeth out a long time ago. Hopefully the antibiotics solve the problem.</p>

<p>They did for me in my recent root canal adventures.</p>

<p>A cautionary word for you, just FYI: if your S develops diarhhea, be sure to take it seriously and see both the oral surgeon and your primary care provider.</p>

<p>My H developed a very serious c diff infection in his digestive tract after being treated with antibiotics for an infected tooth that had to be removed. We were not even aware of this complication and it was pretty nasty.</p>

<p>bookiemom, can you talk more about that? I am on an anitbiotic prescibed by my dentist because of a bacterial infection in the bone under a previous root canal. The antibiotic has caused diarrhea but nothing untolerable, like cramping and inability to control it. Actually, I’m going back to the dentist today for a follow-up.</p>

<p>bookiemom, sorry to hear about your husband. That sounds like the same antibiotic my son is taking, lots of warnings about diarrhea and the condition you speak of. No runs yet…hope it stays that way.</p>

<p>Diarrhea can be a common side effect of many antibiotics. C diff can be a miserable experience, but not all diarrhea is c diff. TMI here, but the diarrhea from c diff is much more miserable than the loose bowels many antibiotics can cause.</p>

<p>I think that the antibiotics kill helpful bacteria in the stomach so stomach problems are possible with them. That’s one of the stated side-effects of antibiotics.</p>

<p>If your son has started antibiotics, you will know if they’re working properly within 48 hours, often sooner. The main work is done right away. The course of antibiotics then continues to kill whatever remains for long enough that nothing important survives and you don’t develop a resistant strain. Doctors often advise a double dose up front. </p>

<p>If he doesn’t respond within 48 hours, he may need a different antibiotic.</p>

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<p>Did the nerve damage ever heal /recover ? I ask because I am facing a decision to see if my son should have this one tooth that was practically sitting on top of the nerve and under his last molar removed.</p>

<p>The c diff infection that my H developed (this was a couple of years ago) was due to some very strong antibiotic that was due to a serious infection. (Infected molar that could not be saved with a root canal.) He was quite sick and the diah. was pretty serious. He was sick in bed, as I recall. He then went to our dr., who diagnosed the c diff infection. I had never heard of that before, but it is a complication of killing off so much bacteria in the gut. It can require hospitalization; in fact, our dr. was in between hospitalizing him or not, and she called our house to check on him, so you know that was serious.</p>

<p>I insisted that my H go to the dr. because he was just sick in bed and not getting better. He didn’t want to go. That’s why I posted this–since a lot of males don’t think they need to go to the dr.</p>

<p>munchkin, it took several years for the damaged nerve to heal completely (the person was an adult). Fortunately, it was just a small area affected. Apparently, it is a known complication of dental surgeries and in some cases, anesthesia.</p>

<p>[Wisdom</a> Tooth Nerve Damage](<a href=“http://www.atlantadentist.com/wisdom_tooth_nerve_damage.html]Wisdom”>http://www.atlantadentist.com/wisdom_tooth_nerve_damage.html)</p>

<p>^Thank you. I face a tough decision and was given conflicting advice by different dentist, oral surgeons. </p>

<p>It would be a difficult procedure, the wisdom tooth is far far down in the gums, close to the roots of the other molar. The dentist who I feel was more forthcoming with information, said it would take him about 3 hours to cut that far down. He said he would lose money on the procedure. </p>

<p>The oral surgeon said, it’s too close to the nerve and may damage it. It is butting against the next tooth and absorption and fusing may have taken place already and may need a root canal on the last molar. </p>

<p>The dentist said if not taken out, the wisdom tooth may push the other teeth and cause them to fall out. :eek: A doctor friend I talked to said that is a distinct possibility. </p>

<p>I am just confused and conflicted and of course worried. Son is 22.</p>

<p>I spoke to the dentist’s office this afternoon and my daughter needs two taken out. Two are simple. The other two are more difficult and would have to be cut out. He said that he could do it with local and gas or we could go to an oral surgeon and they would put her out.</p>

<p>It doesn’t sound that bad if the dentist could do it but I want to learn more about the procedure for our daughter.</p>

<p>Our son got his out in 30 minutes per pair. Piece of cake and very quick recovery.</p>

<p>Dentist had same issue with the difficult teeth - they can push against the adjacent teeth and cause additional problems.</p>

<p>Mine didn’t get infected-- but I did go back to the oral surgeon ~6-7 times after getting them out to make sure everything was okay. I appreciated the fact that he was so thorough-- the roots on the bottom teeth were right on the nerve so he left them in while removing the rest of the tooth, no complications and I’m finally free of oral surgeon visits.</p>

<p>No infection, but DD had the complication where bone splinters and comes through the gum – excruciating. I was in a state of panic because we did it a month before she was leaving for college across the country and then the complication set in. I was concerned she wouldn’t be healed in time for the backpacking trip she signed up for. It worked out, but for this reason I don’t recommend pushing the procedure too close to any important deadline. Stuff can happen.</p>