Posted By: cy Need help - 12-03-2006 06:10 PM
First off let me tell you my history. I am 29 years old and have smoked for around 9 years. Which I have now quit after going through all of this. I have had several issues over the past 2 months so I start from the beginning. It all started a little over a month and a half ago. I woke up with my jaw hurting. Through out the day it progressivly got worse to the point that it was painfull to chew or swollow food. I went to a GP and the said it was a swollen lymph node and gave me an anitbiotic. I took it and the pain quickly went away in about a day. Well after a couple of days I started looking around my mouth and I noticed a white bump on the left side of my tongue, and a hard lump on the back of my tongue, it is in the skin or flap where my tongue and back of my mouth meet. I then went to another doctor who recommended me to see a dentist. The destist took some x-rays of my mouth and found that I had an impacted wisdom tooth. And taht the swelling of my lymph node and the lump where due to the infection from my widsom tooth. I then a few days later went to an oral surgion that removed my widsom teeth. Prior to the surgery I told him my concerns about mouth cancer and the areas I was concerned about. He said that if he saw anything that he would go ahead and biopsy it. After the surgery he said that I was find and didn't have cancer. It has now been almost 3 weeks since my surgery. I still have a swollen lymph node and still have the lump on the side of my tongue. I am going to see a ENT specialist hopefully this week. My question is, can you really have sweeling of the lymph node and a hard lump from infecion? The oral surgion said it was badly infected.
Posted By: Stoj Re: Need help - 12-03-2006 06:54 PM
Cy,

I'm not sure either if you it would be a hard lump or not from infection. But you are doing the right thing by having an ENT check it out. Given how long it's been there and the fact that you've already had antibiotics, the ENT should do a needle biopsy, at least that's how my case went.

I hope it all turns out negative for you, lt us know.
Posted By: Brian Hill Re: Need help - 12-03-2006 08:57 PM
You certainly could have a persistant infection. The oral surgeon should have put you on antibiotics for a couple of weeks after the surgery to make sure things cleared up. One of the questions would be is the lymph node sore or not. Is it fixated in place or movable? Some of these things are indicators, but a FNB will tell the tale for very little discomfort.
Posted By: cy Re: Need help - 12-03-2006 09:51 PM
The lymph node seems moveable becuae I can move it to the side of my jaw. It seems to be hard and it dosen't really hurt right now. It did when it initially swelled up but after the first run of antibiotics it stopped hurting. When I really think about it, I have had some discomfort from that area for probably over a year now. I only noticed it before occasionally when I was eating something sour. I'm more concerned about the hard lump that I described on the skin that connects my mouth and tongue. I'm guessing that is part of the lingual tonsil. Is that right? Anyway I have been to a total of 3 doctors, a dentist and an oral surgeon that has 20 year of expereince and he told me that I didn't have cancer. By the way my wisdom tooth has been infected for quite a while. It would break through the skin every few months. So the I'm thinking it could have been swollen the whole time because of my wisdom tooth. The only thing I don't get is the hard place as described above, they are telling me it was from teh infected/impacted wisdom tooth.
Posted By: cy Re: Need help - 12-03-2006 09:53 PM
Oh I forgot one thing. The surgeon did put me on clendimison or something like that for a week. I called him back and told him that my lymph node was still swollen and he put me on another does. Which dosen't seem to have any effect at this point.

By the way what is an FNB?
Posted By: wilckdds Re: Need help - 12-03-2006 11:26 PM
CY,

FNB is a fine needle biopsy.

You are doing the right thing by going to an ENT to check you out. Try to get an apppointment as soon as possible so that if it is nothing serious, you can get this off your mind.

You mentioned a white area on your tongue and a hard lump where your tongue is attached. Be sure to point out both of these things. If the ENT is suspicious of these areas he or she may decide to do a FNB or a regular biopsy to have the tissue checked under a microscope. This is a fairly easy procedure with little or no discomfort afterwards.

By the way the antibiotic you were put on is clindamycin. This is most commonly used for people that are allergic to penicillin.

Good luck and please let us know how you make out.

Jerry
Posted By: Brian Hill Re: Need help - 12-04-2006 05:38 PM
cy - what you are describing is a pretty common dental situation called pericoronitis. This is a chronic inflamation and later infection that develops when 3rd molars do not fully erupt into the oral cavity. Many times they cannot because of thier angulation, and a partial eruption takes place. Bacteria enter around this spot and eventually you have an infection. When it gets bad, the lymph nodes of the neck can become involved. Once the molars are removed, and the infection is treated with antibiotics (pre and post surgery) that should wrap things up. The fact that the pain went away on the antibiotics was a good sign, sounds like the regiment of antibiotic treatment didn't last long enough, or you needed stronger/other types. No harm in having the ENT check things out that are still bothering you for peace of mind.
Posted By: cy Re: Need help - 12-04-2006 09:56 PM
Thats for all of your post. I saw an ENT doctor today, they got me in. He said essential the same that you did Brian. That I had mutiple infections from the partial errupted wisdom tooth along the years. He said keep an eye on but he looked all around my mouth felt my neck and said he saw no signs of cancer at all. No spots at all. He even said my lymph node wasn't that swollen at all. Especially becuase the surgery was only a 3 week ago. I feel much better now smile . And again I really appriciate all the reply from everybody on this thread. It is rare to find a place where people are so quick to respond and be of comfort.
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