A couple of days ago, my son had four wisdom teeth removed. Since then, I’ve noticed extreme swelling in his face, especially around his left side near his eye. I’m worried he could end up having nerve damage to his jaw and his eyesight could be affected. Is it possible he might need additional surgery? Or, will time, penicillin, anti-inflammatory medication and washing with salt water help decrease the swelling? What should I do?
– Anne in Louisiana
Anne,
You mentioned your son’s surgery was two days ago and when a person has this type of surgery, this is the worst day for the swelling and then it dissipates after this. It does not appear your son has nerve damage from the information you provided.
The swelling occurs from the surgery and always happens when impacted wisdom teeth are removed. If it was a challenge to remove the upper left wisdom tooth and bone had to be removed, this will cause swelling as it’s near the eye area.
Since I’m not able to examine him, I am determining my diagnosis by what you are telling me. This means that swelling may occur under normal circumstances from this type of surgery.
I recommend you follow the instructions given by the dentist who removed the wisdom teeth. There should be steady improvement over the next few days. If at any time, your son’s situation gets worse – the pain and swelling increases instead of decreasing, you should inform your dentist and seek additional help right away.
If you are still concerned, be sure to mention your son’s situation to the dentist who did the surgery. Dentists always try to brace patients for the best and worst case scenarios and focus on a realistic outcome which may be a bit negative to hear. If the post-surgery situation was not at all what you were told, you may need to inform your dentist so they can be more realistic with future patients.
This blog brought to you by Dr. Ryan P. Perry, Baton Rouge Family Dentist.