*Sonic*

Just a quick question

I had two teeth removed a week last sunday (one of them my lower wisdom tooth, the other the tooth next to it)

Anyway I had my gum cut, peeled back etc to allow easier removal of the teeth (due to them breaking away)

I had quite a number of stitches there (about 10 or more), and ive noticed last night, that the stitches where he peeled the gum back, looks like it is stitched to my cheek, and a rather large knot on it, and moves when I eat, talk etc etc and what looks to me like the gum itself has healed, but I know have a hole (similar to a piercing inbetween my gum & cheek)

But what has also happened, is that where the stitches are, my gums are nice and pink, but next to where he cut the gum, they are almost white now, just a very very pale pink colour

it is still ever so slightly swollen, and still hurts when I swallow (this is with drinks only, and not food)

Is this normal?

Im phoning them shortly to get them to take a look, they said they are dissolvable stiches, but not for another week or so

BTW it was a medical graduate who did the work on a sunday for some extra cash

Steve

ajm

I think it is quite common to put the stitches through the cheek.... I had the same when my wisdom teeth were done. I ended up sneezing and it pulled some of them out which left a few dangling out of the side of my cheek!

If you had it done over a week ago then the stitches have probably done their job by now... if they aren't dissolving and they are bothering you then maybe ask about getting them removed?

Gums that are less red/pink is a healthy sign. They are probably pink around the stitches because they are irritating the gum slightly.

p.s. I'm not a dentist... standard disclaimers apply!

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Sonic

As ajm says it's common to have sutures in the cheek after wisdom teeth removal.....it's due to the shape of the gum flap needed for access.

For example, if you cut a single straight slit in a piece of paper you can't peel it back. If you then cut another slit at one end at right angles (like a letter L) you can lift the corner and peel up a triangular piece of paper.

Lots of gum flaps work on this principal, in the case of wisdom teeth the straight cut in the gum is next to the teeth and the one at (sort of) right angles is into the cheek. The extra cut is called a relieving incision.

Because there are two holes (where the teeth were) the edges of the gum flap don't go together 100% and it often looks a bit ugly for a while. I'd guess he used a suture material called Vicry Rapide which can take some time to dissolve.

I'd try and make an appointment sooner just to make sure it's on the mend.

There is a condition called "dry socket" where healing is delayed and needs treatment otherwise it can get quite painfull but if you had them out on Sunday this is pretty unlikely !

Hope this helps

Midlife......... (used to be an Oral surgeon type person quite a few years ago so the usual disclaimers apply..LOL)

*Sonic*

Cheers Midlife, the sockets are healing quite nicely, and dont look too bad, cept the mass of string on top of them (sticthes ) i asked how many, he said usually 3 per socket, but he said he was putting more in mine just to be on the safe side

I understand what you mean about the gum cutting to peel back, now I have seen the cut, I understand better how & why he did it that way

However it is that bit that looks a mess, as the stitches there are quite big, and I now have a healed gum with a big hole in it and a loose stitch running through it, that once dissolved, i could quite easily fit a darning needle through (not that I would of course, but just to give u an example of the size of the hole)

It did bleed *all* day the day it was done, but hasnt bled since, and eating has more or less resumed to normal

Steve

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Quite painful? That's the understatement of the year I had a dry socket once and it was like nothing I'd ever experienced before or since. There aren't the words in the English language to describe how much pain I was in 24 hours a day for about a week

weapon69

Yup i got dry socket after having a tooth taken out and now i face having nerve supressants for the amount of pain i have daily now (although that wasn't caused by dry socket it just didn't help )

scoobynutta555

**** it. i had one massive tooth ache last night from a wisdom tooth I think, first time ever. Thought this was a relatively young person thing, Im 32. Was told its worse when you drink alcohol, this true?

Not liking the above quotes on surgery either!

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Steve

Yep, the stitching can look a "bit of a mess" as you say. It's often due to the need to "evert" the edges of the wound with the stitches !!

As the skin of the cheek is quite thin you just can't stitch the edges together. What you do is take big "bite" of gum either side and when you pull the edges together the edges of the gum are pulled up into a ridge with several milimeters of the underneath layer of gum pressed together. This gives more contact for quicker healing and also as scars shrink the raised ridge of skin ends up flatter.

Also the stitch needles are often not round but are triangular in cross section with cutting edges, these can make quite a hole but this is much better than dragging the thread through a small hole and stretching the skin.

As mentiond I would advise seeking an earlier appontment just to check but it sounds OK to me.

errr Scoobychick..... the pain from a dry socket scores about 9 out of ten on hospital pain scales !!!!! Ouch !!!

Shaun

*Sonic*

Cheers Midlife

The back ones now are starting to feel very loose, so I guess they are dissolving away now, the needle from what I saw (along with pliers, drills & screwdriver type devices ) looked like your standard fish hook style needle

I could be really wrong but in the past a huge mouthful of whisky helped with the pain,

Im 37 in a few months, and my wisdom teeth have never bothered me, but intense pain in my neck, head, ear, swollen gland, cheek, bleeding gum, made me think something wasnt quite right, so I went the docs first to get painkillers & antibiotics, then off to the dentist for an xray, who told me I had an abcess in the tooth next to my wisdom tooth, and my wisdom tooth was impacted, so both had to come out

The surgery itself wasnt that bad as such, lots of discomfort, having your face stretched like Jim Carrey, and only felt the drill twice on one of the roots

Steve

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

Another Dry Socket syndrome sufferer over here. Every tooth I've had removed has caused the same problems. Not fun.