Abcess (or something) on Upper Gum

March 12, 2005

My mom's upper left gum is swollen pretty badly. Oddly, the swelling

is protruding from the upper portion of the gum rather than the

portion adjascent to the teeth.

I guess my mom was having shooting pains recently on that side for a

month until it went numb, but still sensitive to touch. Now she just

realized she had this swelling, which hurts a lot of touched. She

also broke a piece off one of the teeth in this region as well.

Some background. My mom has caps on almost all her teeth. Her

childhood dentist was an alcoholic and always had her on Saturdays

after he got terribly sloshed on Friday nights, and he did reckless

damage to her teeth that it cost something like, iirc, $12,000 to fix,

which she sued him for, and won partial damages. (!)

She's gotten root canals a couple years ago in many of the teeth. She

also has a lot of bone loss, which is worst in the area that currently

has the swelling.

She's wondering why the swelling is on the upper portion, which she's

never had before. It seems obvious to me: her damage is so bad that

the infection has embedded itself that far into the bone.

Does anyone have anything to add?

Unfortunately, she's had no dental insurance for a long time, nor any

saved money. Her current job is reluctant about signing her on

full-time and giving her benefits because they aren't sure whether the

newly created position is going to stay or not. I think she may have

to get most of her teeth taken out and laser surgery might be the only

option for saving her teeth, but I have no idea if any insurances will

cover the costs, which I imagine are astronomical.

At the moment, I think she needs to see a dentist who's familiar with

Price's work as immediately as possible, and needs to save up for a

consultation if she isn't getting insurance, so she can at least get

looked at.

But again, if anyone can add anything, it would be appreciated.

Chris

Recommended Posts