scar tissue inside cheek following difficult extraction?

Question

About a year and a half ago, I had an upper back molar extracted under general anesthesia. Within a week or so, I had swelling and a line of canker sores on the inside of my cheek where I assumed a local anesthesia had been injected. The swelling in that area never went completely away. I finally went back to the oral surgeon a few months ago and he said he couldn't feel anything unusual. When I press my tongue on that area of my cheek I feel a spongy mass - it almost feels like my cheek has grown attached to my gum in that area. The mass has gotten smaller but has never gone completely away. I still get canker sores there from time to time, so high up I know it's not caused by biting my cheek. When I fill my cheeks full of air there is still a pulling sensation in that area, and it still hurts - not excruciating pain, but a definite soreness on stretching it. Could trauma from the injections or the extraction itself have caused painful scar tissue to develop in this area?

Answer 1

This is a very strange situation that you are describing. In 15 years of practising dentistry I am not sure I have heard anything quite like it. And I am not sure that when you say cheek that you mean cheek and not jaw. For instance is this spongy mass that you feel with your tongue actually in your cheek or is it where your upper jaw is?
I can't imagine why you would feel a spongy mass in your cheek. If you put your fingers inside your mouth, can you feel this spongy mass with your fingers?
If the spongy mass is actually where your jaw should be, perhaps what you have there is a loss of jawbone that resulted from your extraction, and the floor of your Maxillary sinus has fallen down to just above your gums. In other words, the bone where the tooth used to be is very thin, making the area feel spongy when your tongue pushes on it.
Again, pulling of gum tissue from scaring, is not something that I have ever heard of before.
So...I do not believe that the injections would have caused you any problem at all. Yes, perhaps what you feel could have resulted from the extraction.
I am not sure what I have said helps in any way. I hope it makes some sense, and I can't wait to see what other dental people might say about this case.