So, you’ve had one or more teeth extracted, and now there is a hard lump on the gum.
While this is not a typical post-tooth extraction occurrence, it is not a “run to the emergency” type of situation.
Sometimes, whenever a tooth is pulled there are small complications associated with tiny hard fragments. These usually are limited to spurs, chips, splinters, and shards of the tooth, bone or root that have made their way up to the surface.
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Three Possible Scenarios for a Hard Lump on Your Gum
In any case, you should visit your dental office and have the bump inspected. You should do this regardless of the tooth extraction procedure (wisdom teeth or primary teeth). Better safe than sorry!
Bony prominence is the most common of the three possibilities and it represents a prominent edge of bone that is left at the rim of the socket after tooth extraction. It is important to note that even though, over time the gum will eventually heal and cover the edge, the gum tissue can still be injured. Since gum tissue is very delicate, a simple pinch or external pressure can cause some pain and discomfort.
You should not wait and see if the problem persists for weeks. It is recommended that you seek your dentist as soon as possible. If the bony lumps do not begin to round off and heal by themselves, you might need a formal alveolectomy procedure.
Bony sequestrum refers to a piece of dead bone tissue. Whenever a small piece of bone manages to detach itself from its moorings, it becomes what is known as devitalized.
Let’s not forget that any bone is a living tissue. During the tooth extraction phase, the bone can suffer trauma and die. Resulting in small fragments called sequestrum or sequestra (plural).
Tiny pieces of tooth or bone often do come out of extraction sites, this is not considered a dental irregularity. Quite the opposite, in most teeth removal procedures this process needs to occur.
- Your body does not recognize any dead tissue, so it needs to get rid of it as a healing process.
- Pieces of tooth and lumps of dead bone cannot be assimilated into the healing process. In fact, they might delay it since they have absolutely no beneficial value to your body.
In any case, your dentist might need to remove the piece of tooth or dead bone particle.
Root fragment is the third possible option that may have caused a hard lump on the gum in a post-tooth extraction scenario. Also known as root tips, these are fractures that remain in the extraction site. In a matter of fact, root fracture is by far the most widespread intraoperative complication. Research shows that it occurs in 10 to 21% of cases.
In some cases, root tips do not surface for months. Interestingly enough, there are some cases in which leaving the shards in place poses less risk to the patient.
- If the fragment is not totally infected, leaving it behind will have no consequences.
Whenever the root tip migrates to the surface of the bone, it can usually be removed with ease. In either way, x-ray monitoring is a must.
What Should You Do
Your first step should be to remove the guessing out of the equation. In other words, visit your dentist and get an X-ray. This will determine the cause of the hard bump and you can begin discussing healing options with your orthodontist.
Author: Peter Mayhew
Peter is a dental hygienist in the city of Chicago, IL. In his free time he likes to write blogs and product reviews on anything dental health related.
Very tender lump on gum below where tooth was extracted
Its on the right side of the last bottom double tooth on the left of my mouth where the last tooth was pulled out
I had my 2 front teeth extraction and was left with a little lump now the lump is now the size of the top of my thumb can it be removed
Very normal, use Advil, Motrin, etc is best, and ice it, if it doesn’t resolve within 24 hrs call your dentist
No its a very tender hard lump on the inner side of the gum facing towards my other teeth.
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Inside is less common but use Ibuprofen ect… ice cream, popsicles are great just be sure to rinse with salt water (1 table spoon to 8oz) or use baby syringe to clear hole, no waterpics, also another is a warm tea bag has soothing and coagulation effect, call dentist if it persist for 24 hrs
The dentist has givin me anti biotics, but its still very sore
I had my wisdom teeth pulled 3 weeks ago. All healed fine until 4 days ago I could feel a shard. I went back to see my surgeon yesterday and he filed it down. Today my gums split from the tooth in front of the extraction site all the way through the extraction site. I can feel bone through it all. Is this a shard? I’ve had my gums recede to my jaw with an extraction before and I’m worried it’s happening again.
I have a bony prominence at an erupted wisdom tooth and adjacent molar extraction site that is driving me crazy. I found it once I started a bit of soft chewing on the affected side, a week after the surgical extraction. I then felt it with my “very clean” finger and it feels like a small Pike’s Peak erupting. The bone is fixed, not moveable, not like a bone splinter that I’ve experienced before. My dentist office doesn’t seem eager to see it and the pain is excruciating unless I rub it with Anbesol. I don’t take anything stronger than Ibuprofen and doubt anything would touch this pain, and I’ve gone through a couple of all natural childbirths without whining.
One more chew and it may appear through the gum. If it does, I’m going to shave it off myself with a sterilized fingernail file. Otherwise, I have no pain from the double extraction. This is a commentary on how little aftercare can be found at a typical dentist. You take antibiotics, get a necessary extraction, then voila you are on your own.
I have been using a touch of clove oil seems to help a little while but it was weird it felt to my tongue like i had a small hangnail sticking up out of the side of the ridge of the socket the bad root canaled tooth was extracted from..it finally did come out and it even felt like a thin brittle nail
Now it hurts worse
I feel small particles through the inside of the molar socket where my molar was extracted. I did this in Mexico due to no insurance. Now they won’t answer me back. It’s like they don’t care. Omg what can i do? How is yours doing now?
Are you a nurse? What was the out come?
Not all dentists are bad, I had a wisdom extraction a month ago, which followed with an infection. The dentist cleaned the infection and is monitoring with fortnightly visits. After the infection clean out, a bone shard did work it’s way out.
I have a lump on the side of my gum after I had my teeth pulled will it fall out after awhile or will it protrude out so I can pull it out
I got the most painful dry socket that lasted over a fortnight. I went through hell with the pain. Now I have a hard sore lump on the gum above the extraction. The dentist said it was probably because of food rubbing on it. I don’t feel it’s that and I would just like it to go. It’s been there over a week.
Hi!
I have the exact same thing. What did it end up being and did it ever go away?
Had upper tooth removed 2weeks ago hard lump on gum towards roof of mouth very sore and tender unable to wear my plate
Mine was , is, an Essex following a root procedure!
I had an upper right wisdom tooth extraction back in June . 1 week after I started getting severe headaches which turns out to be an Arachnoid cyst in my lateral ventricle . Well now I have swelling around molar in front of extraction and bone flakes with a huge flat lump in roof of mouth behind extracted tooth. Hurts really bad and I’m not sure if this is from extraction or Arachnoid cyst? I went back to oral surgeon and saw a resident who said it looks fine. he gave me mouthwash that made it worse. my dentist who also is a resident told me to go back to oral surgeon. Is there a way to send pics of it you that I took? Very concerned about this as it hurts really bad.
I had my wisdom tooth extraction 4 days ago and my dentist told me the drug he gave me in other not to feel the pain will subside I. 2hrs time after the operation.. even thou the extraction was very painful after the injection… okay fine.. now I have a thick lips which no one is seeing even my jaw and cheek is very hard and i can’t feel any blood dere plus it hurt badly.. pls i need help.
I had a lower left molar pulled 10 years ago. On the left side of gum line underneath where the tooth was extracted is a hard lump very painful. It’s affecting my lower jaw sore to touch. I remember my dentist had complications removing my tooth. A small tooth fragment broke off during extraction. He tried to removed and he was struggling. He couldn’t get. He said that it wouldn’t hurt anything by staying there. Could that be problem after 10 years?
Hi Colette,
Hard lumps are fairly common postoperative complications and usually occur due to the resurfacing of one or more small hard fragments of tooth or bone in the surgical site.
Having said that, 10 years is a very long time, and your dentist should have monitored the situation periodically with x-rays. Especially, if he knew a small fragment was left over.
The fragment can be a tooth piece, root tip, remnants of the tooth’s dental restoration, bone fragments, spurs, and bony flakes. In any case, an x-ray should be performed.
If a tooth remnant 4mm or less (which is on the order of 1/8th inch) lies in close proximity to a vital structure (e.g. nerve bundle, sinus floor, etc…), the risk vs. reward (see below) of removing it as compared to just leaving it alone should be carefully evaluated. If the fragment is infected, then it can certainly cause pain.
It would be best first to visit your dentist, next to do an x-ray and evaluate the extraction site. Once such hard fragments have surfaced, they can be removed surgically.
Hope that helps.
So i have a crazy story to share. 2 months ago i had both wisdom teeth pulled on the right side. The top one had a large cavity and was cracked. My regular dentist recommended seeing an oral surgeon to have them removed. The extraction went well, and I was out of the office in under an hour. about 4 days later I was in extreme pain and went back. I was told the blood clot had come out and I had “dry socket” He packed it with a medicated ribbon and sent me on my way, telling me to come back in 72 hours to have the packing material removed. I returned as directed only to have the dentist tell me that the packing material was gone. He probed and dug but didn’t find it. Oh well, it must have fallen out during the night or when I was eating and I didn’t notice it. Fast forward 45 days and I notice a red line along my gum line, below where the extraction took place. It was very sore and tender. I babied it for a few days and woke up one morning to find that the red line was now an open wound and it appeared my jaw bone was visible. It was not in the socket, but on the inside of my mouth, below my “tooth line” I immediately called for an appointment went went to see the original surgeon. Upon him coming in he said “What are you doing here, I thought you were all good” I let him know that it looked like my jaw bone had cut through my gums and was causing me extreme pain. He laughed and said “highly unlikely, let me take a look” His face dropped when he looked inside my mouth and he said “We need to fix this right now” He numbed me up and I went to fill the parking meter (NYC) When I came back in I was met by 3 nurses and the doctor and he explained that he would need to open up my gum line, remove the piece of bone that was exposed as it was dead and “remodel” my jaw bone. I didn’t question anything, because, you know, hes the doctor and I’m not… He struggled to get the piece of bone out, using tweezers, and what looked like needle nose pliers. Finally, with a odd sound, the piece came free. He then spent almost an hour with a bone file grinding away at the exposed bone. I went home, very numb, and at about 10pm all hell broke loose. I spiked a 103 fever and was in extreme pain. I alternated Tylenol and Motrin overnight to keep the fever down and thankfully it subsided around noon the next day. The pain was so severe that my wife called in to ask for some pain medicine. He prescribed Oxycontin and, thank god, it took the pain away. I went back a week later and he said all looked OK, and I shouldn’t have to come back and see him again. Here is my greater concern. 6 stitches, fragment removal and remodeling of my jawbone, extreme pain (10 on a scale of 1-10) and misery for 2 months. I got the bill from the surgeon, and it simply stated “Follow Up Visit” for the day he spent almost 2 hours working in my mouth. Does anyone else think he did something wrong, and the fact that he billed it out as just a follow up visit say something? I have a follow up on Thursday with my regular dentist to take a look, but i cant help but have this feeling that he may have done something to cause this… Wondering if I am on the right path?
Holy crap!!
So glad to be reading all of these. Had an upper back molar removed last week, no problems. Keep getting food caught up in it and used a soft tool to gently tease it out and touched something hard!! It didn’t hurt but wasn’t a pleasant feeling! Began to bleed a tiny bit. Scared me a little as I thought it was healing. I’ll be making a visit back to my dentist!
Hello! Hope you are doing good! I just had my wisdom tooth removal surgery on 22-12-2018. Surgery was on lower right side as my wisdom tooth was impacted and was inside the bone. Hence, I had to remove it as there was some TMJ discomfort. My recovery is going fine there is no numbness and I just want to take your suggestion on one thing,I still have a swelling type thing on my right side jaw where surgery happened though my right cheek is fine. I just want to know, in how many weeks my jaw will be fine as there is something that i can feel like swelling/hard lump near to my surgery area. When I do open my mouth there is pressure on my right side jaw. Since, there is no pain and I have done google also, I just want to know like when can I expect my Jaw swelling/Hard lump on the surgery area to be fine? Hope to hear you from soon!
i had a back molar extracted 5 days ago. there was a root that the dentist had a hard time getting out..took about 15 minutes, he drilled it in 2 then extracted it. the wound is healing very well. but theres a big lump on my gum, in front of the ” hole” and its v ery sore…hurts if i do not have pain meds in me. the lump is very red. what do i do? been rinsing with salt water etc.
MY 70 YEAR OLD HUSBAND HAD A VERY INFECTED MOLER REMOVE FEB 2 2019. HOWEVER HE HAS DEVELOPED A SORE HARD BUMP ON THE SIDE OF THE GUM WHERE THE TOOTH WAS REMOVED?
I had surgery to remove a top molar 7 days ago. It had to be removed as I could not afford to go private as NHS dentist started root canal treatment but couldn’t complete as narrow canals. Anyway, I was told of complications that could happen as close to sinus and could leave a hole and I would need stitches. Well, after being sedated, the complication happened and I had quite a few disolveable stitches put in. 48 hours after surgery and it was throbbing and pussy looking with a nasty taste in my mouth and I know it smelt I went back to the dentist who packed it a bit with some medicated stuff, prescribed antibiotics and off I went. I am now on day 7 since the surgery, still no better, stitches have gone but the throbbing is no better. I am on so many pain killers which only take the edge off. The tooth next to the extraction site feels bruised to put any pressure on it and my gum (Outside) which I thought was cut from surgery is now showing a white hard piece of bone or tooth through it, It has been there all along but I did not realise it was hard until I touched it yesterday. Also, on the inside of my gum if I run my tongue along it I can feel something hard and sharp underneath but it has not pierced the skin. The hole from extraction is still looking yellow and pussy like (Is this normal) ?
Anyway, I am going to my normal dentist practice this afternoon praying that they can get whatever it is out of my gum as I am certain that this is the reason I am not healing. Although they have already said that i may have to go back to where I had the surgery done and they can’t see me till Monday, I just want to feel ok again 🙁
Has anyone else had any experience like mine and what happened? I am petrified of dentists as it is 🙁
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Hi i have had constant ulcers lumps and intermittant pain in my top right hard pallett after 1.5 years and five antibiotics and various mouth washes the top back tooth second from back on right extracted
It has healed but now a new tooth like lump is appearing on the side.what is going on .
I have had ulcers infections and lumps in hard palate near back teeth for 1.5 years…five antibiotics and now a tooth extraction which has healed howver a tooth like shatp bony yhing has appeared on the side of gum where tooth was extracted
I have a lump on my gum,my dentist said it’s my anatomical makeup.will it affect having a top partial denture.
Same here, just had an upper molar last one in right upper side removed and now I feel a sharp pointy line tooth or bone coming thru the gum. My dentist saw me he said it’s a bone it will heal so I called my other dentist who took the molar out he said come in here I will look at it and snip it off you will be ok. I am afraid doesn’t that hurt I will go to him as he is more knowledgeable and he said he would look at it again. So waste of time with other dentist he dismissed it as it will be ok it’s healing and left it like that I rather go see the nicer dentist who took it out. He knows more won’t leave me like that.
I had a back lower moler pulled last Friday. I went back to the dentist Tuesday and told her I have one corner swollen and it was concerning me. She looked and said all was good and to massage the gums. I did and the swollen part moved into the socket. So I have a blister type thing putting pressure in the socket and another white looking blister forming on the outside around the gum. Because it’s so swollen it feels like the tooth is there still in pain. Should I go back and tell the dr something still doesn’t feel right?