The other day I had a bout of fever. I discovered that there was a pointy piece of bone in the gum. Thank God that it came out on its own some blood came out. The fever is gone and no pain on the spot. I feel a bit numb on the gum. Is this not negligence? Is the dentist suppose to do an x-ray to avoid such incidents? What should I do?
Serious answers only from professionals in the field of dental.
2007-03-19 20:54:39 · 4 answers · asked by prettywoman 2 in Health ➔ Dental
Depending on the difficulty of the extraction, sometimes bone fragments can be left inside the socket. The dentist does his best to prevent root tips and other bone fragments from remaining in the socket, but it can happen occassionally. Sometimes the bone will just remain in the jaw with no problems, other times, the body will decide that it doesn't need to be there and it will push it out. The oral cavity is remarkable in its ability to heal itself. This is common and I do not believe it is considered negligent. Before you do anything rash, the best approach would be to contact your dentist and ask him. He will probably explain to you the situation and help calm your anxiety over the situation. Remember, health care professional do their best to help people, and and kind of surgery has its risks. In most cases it would be better to contact the doctor and ask if they can fix the problem before you consider legal action. Pertaining to your particular problem, it is quite common. For more information you can Google: sequestrum (that's the little bone piece) and 3rd molar extraction. Hope you feel better.
2007-03-19 22:40:46 · answer #1 · answered by Josh C 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It is NOT negligence.
It is incredibly common for small pieces of bone to break of as a tooth is removed, it is imposable for you dentist to prevent this.
Also an x-ray is unlikely to show up small pieces of fractured off bone in the socket.
And as you have experienced the body copes very well with these bits of bone by rejecting them and pushing them out of the socket.
I would say that this occurs in about 85% of extraction cases.
If you have no pain and the socket seems fine the only thing i can recommend is doing a warm salty water rinse (taste horrid, but really works) daily to keep the socket clean and help with healing.
Qualified Dental Nurse 10yrs+
2007-03-19 22:56:18 · answer #2 · answered by sassym 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You need to make an appointment with the dentist who did the extraction as soon as possible - something is wrong. Your mouth should be completely healed up by now.
2016-03-29 07:41:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Google "dental malpractice". You can find a site that serves your state. You may be able to get more information about your case from looking on one of the sites.
Good luck.
Note: I am not in the dental field, but am serious and concerned anyway.
2007-03-19 21:04:57 · answer #4 · answered by SympatheticEar 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋