Ask The Dentist

I'm a 31 year old healthy male and I had 4 wisdom teeth extracted 8 hours ago. 3 of the sites have small blood clots over the socket. The 4th tooth (upper left) has a large hanging blood clot about 1 1/2 inches. Can I wipe away this large clot? Or will that disrupt the healing process that has al...

I had 3 fillings on the bottom left side and 2 days later my jaw is swollen and its hard to chew. I had 5 shots to numb my mouth during the procedure and now its hard to open my mouth without being very painful. What should I do to get ride of the pain & for the swelling to go down? EDS Denti...

I have this sharp pain on only the right side of my mouth, it feels as if someone pulled all of my teeth out, and it happened every time I eat or drink and will last for about an hour or two after I do eat or drink. Again, its mostly tooth pain, maybe slight gum pain, but does not feel like gum p...

My problem is I have a gum abscess at the internal part of my teeth but the abscess is not acute, it is chronic approximately 3 years ago. It is not painful but the abscess has increased especially at night and reduced in small amounts during the day time. The abscess has gradually spread to my o...

I'm having major pain in my back molars because my wisdom teeth are coming in. I have no insurance at the moment so I can't get to a dentist for a few days. I'm in excruciating pain, I feel like I've tried everything. What should I do? Dr. James Williams's Response I am sorry to hear about your p...

If a side effect of medicine is dry month that causes major tooth decay, should I get my teeth pulled and replaced with implants or dentures? I will need to continue taking the medication so I'm sure there will be more issues in the future Dr. Puckett's Response A lot of medicines have dry mouth ...

Hello, I inherited bad teeth from my parents and I have a ton of fillings on most of my teeth. I brush and floss as recommended however, I read that fillings need to be replaced every so often. I'm afraid that because I have so many fillings, the dentist will not be able to keep repairing my teet...

Injuries can happen at any given time of the day and most of the time you will not have the ability to prepare for them. If you have a broken tooth, chipped tooth, fractured tooth, or a tooth gets knocked out, it’s important to know the first step to take after the injury. The most importan...

I recently had a root canal performed on tooth #19. I had a temporary crown made for it which went well. I had a permanent crown placed on it which was too wide and surpassed the margin of my gums. The dentist took new molds and prepared a second permanent crown. 3 weeks ago I had the permanent c...

There are several reasons that can lead to your tooth being extracted which include: tooth infection, tooth decay, not visiting a dentist on a regular basis, making room for permanent teeth, to prepare for braces, and to remove broken or badly damaged teeth. Once a dentist determines that a tooth...