Absolutely bizarre wisdom tooth problem

Hey everyone,

Just wanting to see if this has happened to anyone else ?? My DH went to the dentist for a checkup, and his wisdom tooth was hurting him. He knew from an xray taken a vew years ago that he has 1 or 2 compounded wisdom teeth, and they would need to be removed... It never really bothered him, a bit of pain on and off but that's it.

Anyway, they cleaned his teeth and the wisdom tooth (they said only 1 needs to come out), and all of a sudden the whole side of his face swelled up. Dentist said she has never seen anything like it. They think he might have a blockage in his saliva gland or a stone or something, as when the saliva could drain again the swelling went down a bit (still puffy and sore on one side). At first they thought maybe an allergic reaction to the fluride treatment, but it is only on one side. It is still puffy today, but not nearly as sore.

He is seeing a dental surgeon next Thursday, but might need this tooth removed urgently as this swelling was quite a worry apparently.

Dentist was very puzzled by it all.

yael upper of lower wisdom tooth?

top right

In February this year DP and I went to America.

Just before we left DP had to get a filling done. He did it the day before we flew out. 4 days later he woke up one morning and said "Is something wrong with my face". I rolled over and freaked out. It was like I'd woken up next to a squirrel! The swelling was only on one side of his face and took 24 hours to go down. It was a bit scary as we were away from home but he wasn't in any pain and by the next day he was back to normal.

We still aren't sure what caused it but we think it had something to do with the dentist. DP was sure that this had happened to him once before, years ago.

This swelling is rather scary but can occur to any tooth following a very deep cleaning. There sometimes is a flap of skin over the wisdom teeth (if they arent fully erupted) called the operculum. When the gum heals over the cleaned site, sometimes some bacteria gets trapped and it multiplies creating pus and pressure/inflammation. Your body tries to fight this with inflammation and swelling. The best treatment is a course of antibiotics, ideally lancing if there is a ball of pus.

Alternatively mouthrinsing with savacol or any chlorhexidine based antiseptic and hot salty water can reduce the swelling, and let blood flow into the area to fight the problem.

DONT PUT ICE ON IT. It only prevents blood flow and often creates a really nasty ball of pussy infection