Oral Surgeons and Gum Cysts
Do you have a cyst in your gum? Has a trained dental specialist recommended that you remove the tooth to prevent it from re-occurring? Are you agonizing over such a decision?
I have experienced this situation. It’s important to think very carefully before you make a choice that you’ll regret later in life.
About twenty years ago, my dentist asked me to visit an oral surgeon due to a cyst in my gum. The professional I visited suggested cleaning out the cyst. Not desiring to lose any teeth, I agreed and the procedure was shortly thereafter performed.
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Ten years passed and the cyst returned, Once more I found myself in a dental office. This time I was informed that the tooth should be removed. I disagreed with the recommendation and asked for another opinion. The second dental surgeon supported the first and I wondered whether I should follow their advice. After all, ten years is a long time. If the gum around the tooth is cleaned out every ten years (if that is what is required), then it’s a small price to pay for keeping all of my teeth which are designed to last a lifetime.
It was at this point that I decided to take control of my own dental health. I visited a third oral surgeon and requested that he clean out the gum. He was reticent to say the least. The fellow didn’t like the idea of a patient deciding what was best for his own health and the oral surgeon firmly made the point that it was much cheaper to remove the tooth. As I was the one who had to live with the decision, not him, I stated I would pay the extra cost to save my own teeth. Apparently it seems that procedures that don’t pay the surgeon thousands of dollars are frowned upon and overtly discouraged. The request of the patient is surpassed by the greed of some dental professionals.
Nonetheless, he relented after realizing that my mind was made up. The procedure was performed with one condition placed by him, that if the cyst returned I would not visit ‘him’ again for the procedure to clean it out.
On the day of the actual procedure, the ‘professional’ threw a tantrum in front of his assistants after I was given sedation and said ‘ouch’. Before I fell asleep, he stated “since you said ‘ouch’, I think I shouldn’t perform the procedure. His assistants were shocked. I was in no condition to speak and within a minute or so became unconscious.
When I woke up, the procedure had been performed, and one of his assistants was with me. She agreed that what had occurred was ‘unprofessional’ and had no explanation for his attitude. Several minutes passed before the oral surgeon entered the room. No apology for his poor behavior was offered. Instead, I was given some brief advice, a prescription and sent on my way.
I had been traumatized by this so called ‘professional’ and wrote him a letter to vent my frustrations with his loathsome conduct. I never received a reply. To this day, by using salt water rinsing, the cyst has not returned (about ten years have passed once more).
If you remove any teeth, your entire bite structure will shift as you age resulting in instability and future problems. Of course you might consider implants, which are hugely expensive and require several procedures. The ‘cheapest’ method will result in you suffering the consequences, not the ‘professional’ who is making the recommendations.
I strongly urge anyone who visits a medical or dental professional to keep a tight rein on them. Ultimately, you are the person in charge of your body.
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CJ | Apr 2, 2009 | Reply
I totally agree. I am fed up with doctors, dentist and other medical professionals not listening to the patients. We know our bodies better. The fact we have to get referrals and we can’t just go to specialist if we already know we need to is ridiculous and a waste of time and money. Greedy people…
Charles | Apr 7, 2009 | Reply
Hi, interesting read.. I just wen t today to the dentist due to severe pain coming from a crown where a root canal was done years ago. The dentist showed me the xray and i have a huge huge cyst deep at the end of the root.. it’s so big that it is under 3 teeth now. He told me he can’t do the root canal on it because the Cyst is too big and i need to get surgery on it and have the cyst removed.
There’s definitely some huge risks that are going to come along with this he told me theres a cavity right near that tooth and when the cyst is removed that tooth might die etc etc i’m really worried about losing some teeth already had one pulled a long time ago and didn’t like it.
But the pain from this cyst is way too insane i didn’t even sleep last night and i took 2 vicodins few hrs ago and still am in tons of pain! I don’t see any other way to get this cyst out then to have the oral surgery..wondering if you have any thoughts?
Goldfinger | Apr 23, 2009 | Reply
Hi Charles,
My thoughts would be to have the cyst removed and the cavity fixed while you are sedated. Your teeth can be saved and if a tooth needs a root canal, you can have that performed if and when it’s required. The problem you describe with your crown does not surprise me. I know some people who have crowns and they have had problems as well. Attend to your cyst ASAP. Tell the surgeon you want to save your teeth. You don’t need to suffer.
Best Wishes.
Jenny | Jul 1, 2009 | Reply
I just had surgery to remove a cyst from my gums. To close the gums completely he graphed some skin from my palate. I got stitches in the front and in the back. I am concerned because color of the gums near two of my teeth is bluish. Is this normal? I am very scared to say the least. I called the dentist office but have not received a call back.
Goldfinger | Jul 12, 2009 | Reply
Jenny, in order to know if what you’re seeing is normal, contact the office of the person who did the procedure and ask. If they don’t call back then try several times and ask for someone else. Otherwise contact your dentist or a different dental office and seek out answers. Don’t wait too long and good luck.
Chris | Jul 18, 2009 | Reply
How long does the procedure take, i am going into hospital on Monday to have 2 cysts removed (my dentist wanted to romove the tooth and i said no and did not even see the other one). Getting nervous about this now and decided to look for info
Goldfinger | Jul 19, 2009 | Reply
Chris, the procedure took about 1 hour in my case however it was several hours before I awoke – when it’s over it’s like nothing happened – just take your tylenols and relax – i actually wanted to drive home but of course they wouldn’t let me – I wish you well – Let me know how it goes.
Liu | Jul 26, 2009 | Reply
How big was your cyst? Is it keratocyst which has a high recurrence rate? My doc told me to remove both front teeth (enucleation = cut the cyst out with extraction of associated teeth) as the cyst (about 1cm) is located in my gum between the root of both front teeth. He said if I dont remove my teeth now (just enucleation), the bad cell might remain on the root after the surgery which lead to recurrence in couple of years. Then, I might need to cut out a bigger gum area and losing 4 front teeth when the cyst recurrence I am really worried of losing my front teeth. any suggestion?
liucmc | Jul 26, 2009 | Reply
How big was your cyst? Is it keratocyst which has a high recurrence rate? My doc told me to remove both front teeth (enucleation = cut the cyst out with extraction of associated teeth) as the cyst (about 1cm) is located in my gum between the root of both front teeth. He said if I dont remove my teeth now (just enucleation), the bad cell might remain on the root after the surgery which lead to recurrence in couple of years. Then, I might need to cut out a bigger gum area and losing 4 front teeth when the cyst recurrence I am really worried of losing my front teeth. any suggestion?
HIGH_BITE_HELL | Sep 16, 2009 | Reply
Hi ,,,
I made a crown for 4 times. The first crown was made becuase of tooth decay by DOCTOR (A) the second crown was made for another decay by DOCTOR (B), then the tooth started gathering food inside that couldnt be removed by flossing, so it got inflamed, so DOCTOR (C) repeated the crown with another bad crown that I had to floss so deep and insert an injection filled with gargling liquid, so I went to DOCTOR (B) and this time it was really bad, he made new high crown, I went to him to make it shorter but he went to vaccation!!!!! I couldnt live so I had to return to DOCTOR (C) who tried to make it shorter but with no result, so he took the crown off and he told me it was wide, not tall !!! so he repeated the crown and i think its still high until today and gum behind it always get inflamed and some times i fee the tooth gets higher …
DO YOU THINK I HAVE A CYST UNDER THIS … I HATE MY HIGH BITE AND I DONT WANT TO VISIT DOCTORS ANY MORE……..
marcia | Oct 7, 2009 | Reply
a year ago my dentist found a cyst in my gum too between 2 teeth. i have not been able to afford any procedures for it and now it is noticeable on the fron t of my gum i suspect that means it has grown. i’m wondering if thats the case or if it has possibly started draining. i keep swishing with peroxide and waarm salt water and i’m not sure if thats helping. it does seem to have gone down some in size.
Goldfinger | Oct 13, 2009 | Reply
Marcia, the cyst may shrink in size however it usually does not go away completely and does need to be cleaned out. I suggest you save up for the procedure and have it done asap. You don’t want it to get out of hand. You should also look around for a dental surgeon or dental training school that can offer you the service at a less expensive rate. Perhaps your place of work has a dental plan that also covers some of the cost.
Goldfinger | Oct 13, 2009 | Reply
Liu, removing teeth in addition to the cyst does not guarantee that the cyst will not return. It still can form again. That’s why you should clean out the entire area where the cyst is and keep your teeth. Some ‘professionals’ use scare tactics to try to get you to follow their advice. The final choice rests with you as it is your body and you will have to live with the decision.
tina | Oct 26, 2009 | Reply
wow i didnt knew somany ppl hav same problem ,i am in 20s n facing same problem cyst above front teeth ,the problem is its so big ,God knows how many docs i hav visited n how many different opinion i hav heard ,my both front tooth r dead from a long time n r really orangy yellow now ,got root canal done few yrs ago ,but not helping cyct which is growing
now even after cyst removal surgery chances r 50 50 for it to come back ,some doc say get rct again n surgery than some say only surgery n than some say just frankly remove tooth but replace it with wat?
as i dun hav teeth’s root there so cant have implant n bridge also have to wait
i am so confused