I have swollen gums near the extraction site. Please help.

Question

Hello doctor,

Four days ago, I had surgery to remove four impacted wisdom teeth and one molar extraction. Yesterday, I began to develop swelling of the gums near the bottom right incision. Today, it has grown into a bubble covering the top of my back molar. The swollen gum covers one-quarter of the molar. It is bubble-shaped and deep red or white. Most of my pain has subsided, but this localized area hurts severely and has gotten progressively worse. I have continued with salt water rinses and the medicated rinse the dentist gave me. All of the other sites seem to be healing just fine. Should I be concerned about infection? It feels like my molar is cutting into this piece of gum, and it is a sharp, burning pain that is radiating. No fever is helped by pain medication, but pain resumes immediately when the medication wears off.

Please help.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I checked your reports (attachments removed to protect patient's identity).

Clinically, it is a sign of mild gum infection. Now you can do the following steps to overcome this problem:

1. Take Metronidazole (antibiotic) 400 mg twice daily, Augmentin (antibiotic) 625 mg twice daily for three days, and Ibuprofen (painkiller) 600 mg twice daily to arrest the infection.

2. Keep doing saline water mouth rinses at least six to eight times daily. Take a sterile syringe, pinch the bubbles, and let it bleed fresh. (If possible, do it by yourself for three days once a day; if not possible, go to the dentist; he will do it for you) and then wash it with saline water. You can pass this area with pressure with a syringe. Take saline in a syringe and clean this area with full pressure several times; food may be stuck at the back, which may cause this infection, and syringe pressure may wash it through.

Hopefully, this will get better after doing these steps in a week. Keep doing rinses five to seven times a day for the next two weeks. Do give me a follow-up after three days.

Hope it helps.

Take care.

Thanks.