Interior of alveolar ridge exposed, 1 week post extraction.
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Had #19 removed Monday 9/19 via a difficult surgical extraction. Turned in to dry socket which is currently being treated with eugenol clove oil. Wound extends inferiorly and mandible is partially exposed. Some bone was apparently removed or broken away during the surgery and now the interior (spongy bone?) of my alveolar ridge is exposed to the bacteria of my mouth. Is this something that needs to absolutely be dealt with or will it heal over and just be a weak point in my jaw?
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BallisticTurtle
Posted
It looks like I was unclear in my description of the wound. Just for clarification, the wound extends inferoproximally towards the tongue through the alveolar ridge. Picture the extraction site/socket as a cup, and then cut a slice of the side of that cup away like a cake. A slice of my mandible has been broken away in that same sense. Another way to picture it is to picture the mandible as a steel pipe filled with cement. Now magically take a bite out of the side of that steel pipe and cement, exposing the interior of the cement. Thats my current condition.
lily65668 BallisticTurtle
Posted
Did your dentist tell you all this? If he did, I can only assume he's not concerned about it.
It's actually not as bad as it sounds. I had to have quite a lot of infected bone scraped away nearly 20 years ago, following a root canal job that went badly wrong. The stomatologist who did the extraction and curetage told me I had to see my dentist six months later and get it X-rayed, to make sure the surface layer of bone had regrown. My dentist was able to confirm that this was indeed the case.
If you start getting a bad smell or taste from the socket, if the flesh wound doesn't heal over within a couple of weeks, or if you're getting excessive pain, you should go back to your dentist. Even if all goes well, it might still be a good idea to get it X-rayed in 6 months' time. The stomatologist told me it usually takes 4-5 months for the protective layer of bone to grow back.
BallisticTurtle lily65668
Posted
The dentist did not tell me any of that, it was merely my personal observation. The dentist, while she had great bedside manner, wasn't very informative. The tissue has since healed over and the piece of bone that was exposed broke off and came through the gums. I've had multiple fragments work their way through my gumline but that's pretty common so I'm not worried about those. I believe any damage that was done is now beyond repair without further surgery as the hole is closing as it should now. It turned in to dry socket which was treated with a eugenol solution multiple times until it began to heal properly. It's possible however that osteomyelitis won't show for many years if bacteria has taken up in the trabeculum of my jaw so I guess only time will tell now. Thanks for your reply lily.
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