Why is there a lump on the side of my jaw two months after having impacted wisdom teeth extracted?

Question

Two months ago I had four impacted wisdom teeth extracted. On the left side of my jaw, there is a marble sized lump that hurts when I apply pressure to it. The other side feels completely fine and all swelling has gone away. Although it is not extremely noticeable to most people, I can tell that the left side of my jaw has not returned to what it was pre-surgery, and this can be seen in photographs. What could possibly be causing this bothersome lump and swelling, two-months after surgery? The doctor told me the normal healing time for this surgery is 2-3 weeks. Is this a major problem and what can be done to alleviate it? I'm going to call both my dentist and my oral surgeon first thing tomorrow morning, because I no longer think that it is a normal part of the healing process. Any insights or possible explanations would be greatly appreciated.

Upon inspection of the inside my mouth, the hole remaining from the surgery on that side is still there. When I squirted water in the hole to rinse it, some blood came out (even after two months since the surgery!).

Answer 1

1). I'm no Dentist
2). you are taking the correct and indicated actions..to call
and see your MD's.
3). I betcha a nickle it has a minor infection going...it does
need to be seen. Any fevers? Other swellings under
the site? Appear red? Pus?
4). The Docs will fix you up..don't worry, but do get it seen
so you don't suffer needlessly. Also, you don't want
an infection spreading....then things do get nasty.
Hope you feel better!

Answer 2

it sounds like an abcess. it could just be a cavitation. i recommend going to a biologic dentist, though. i have a list of sites to look up one in your area if you need it. you also should get the cavitation cleaned.

here is what Frank Jerome, DDS has to say about it:

EXTRACTIONS

Extractions have to be done well. Normally they pull a tooth out, stick a piece of gauze in there and say bite on it. After the tooth is removed, the socket has to be completely cleaned so that complete healing can occur. If tissue such as torn pieces of ligaments or periosteum is left in the socket and covers the bone, the bone will tend to heal over the top, leaving a hole in the bone, and new bone cannot form. This hole can persist for the rest of the patient's life. It is a chronic infection that is called an alveolar cavitational osteopathosis or cavitation. This means that there is an infected cavity in the bone. These bone infections are only now being seriously researched. If they are fairly easy to prevent by proper socket cleaning, why is this not being done? But many if not most dentists have never heard of cavitations.

http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=19990303204231

CAVITATIONS

A cavitation is an unhealed hole in the jawbone caused by an extracted tooth [or a root canal or an injury to a tooth]. Since wisdom teeth are the most commonly extracted teeth, most cavitations are found in the wisdom tooth sites. Please see the graphic and photo below to get a glimpse of what may be in your mouth and the effects it is having. The photo and diagram demonstrate the destructive and pathologic consequence of a routine tooth extraction. Dentists are taught in dental school that once they pull a tooth, the patient's body heals the resulting hole in the jawbone. However, approximately 95% of all tooth extractions result in a pathologic defect called a cavitation. The tooth is attached to the jawbone by a periodontal ligament which is comprised of "jillions" of microscopic fibers. One end of each fiber is attached to the jawbone and the other end of the fiber is attached to the tooth root. When a tooth is extracted, the fibers break midway between the root and the bone. This leaves the socket (the area where the root was anchored in the bone) coated with periodontal ligament fibers.

There are specialized cells in the bone called osteoblasts. Osteoblasts make new bone. The word "osteoblast" means bone former. They are active during growth and maintenance. However, the periodontal ligament prevents the osteoblasts from filling in the tooth socket with bone since the periodontal ligament fibers lining the socket act as a barrier beyond which the osteoblasts cannot form bone. In other words, an osteoblast "sees" a tooth when it "sees" periodontal ligament fibers. Since there are billions of bacteria in the mouth, they easily get into the open tooth socket. Since the bone is unable to fill in the defect of the socket, the newly formed "cavitation" is now infected. Since there is no blood supply to the "cavitation" it is called "ischemic" or "avascular" (without a blood supply). This results in necrosis (tissue death). Hence we call a cavitation an unhealed, chronically infected, avascular, necrotic hole in the bone. The defect acts to an acupuncture meridian the same way a dead tooth (or root canal tooth) acts. It causes an interference field on the meridian which can impair the function and health of other tissues, organs and structures on the meridian. Significantly, the bacteria in the cavitation also produce the same deadly toxins that are produced by the bacteria in root canals (see Root Canals). These toxins are thio-ethers (most toxic organic substance known to man), thio-ethanols, and mercaptans. They have been found in the tumors in women with breast cancer.

Answer 3

that sounds like an abcess which is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue on the basis of an infectious process It is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious materials to other parts of the body.

. go to the dentist

Answer 4

Everything should have healed by now. It sounds like there is an infection at work here, kind of like an abscess. You should get in to see your dentist asap. Most likely, he or she will prescribe antibiotics that will get rid of the problem.

Answer 5

I would check back with the dentist, you are not healing as you should.Please keep me up to date with this problem.

Answer 6

this makes me nervous. i just got mine out 2 days ago :[
good luck, i'm sure the dentist can take care of it with meds...i hope this doesn't happen to meee