wisdom tooth extraction and cysts

cc9

hi all

i am due to have a couple of wisdom teeth taken out in two weeks, the only draw back being that i have a failry large cyst underlying one of the wisdom teeth and the nerve is running in the middle of it. as well as that i was informed that the cyst seems to be eating the bone away somehow.
basically i am wondering if this can be true, i am also wondering if any1 might know how long after extraction you have to wait to plal sports...eg rugby.

i would really appreciate any info

regards

Big_G

Yes this can be true, unfortunately. There is one main type of cyst that is associated with impacted wisdom teeth and that is called a dentigerous cyst. This cyst envelops the crown of the wisdom tooth and is attached all the way around the sides of the tooth to form a balloon like structure. Pressure within this balloon is what causes loss of bone on all sides. This type of cyst is easily cured (generally speaking). It may take six to eight weeks for bone to fill in the space left by removal of the cyst, and this type of bone is of a poor to moderate quality. The quality of this bone then increases over time as it remodels.

The other types of cyst that may be associated with a wisdom tooth are odontogenic keratocysts and radicular cysts (which may have the appearance and symptoms of a dentigerous cyst but are caused by something different and may be related to an entirely different tooth). Keratocysts are difficult to remove surgically because of their growth pattern and have a relatively high rate of recurrence, particularly if they are multilocular (many lobes, kind of like a bunch of bubbles stuck together). There are other, rarer types of jaw cyst also.

I am not sure which type of cyst you have based on what you have said, nor would I even hazard a guess even with more info. However, I can tell you that your surgery is going to be more delicate than normal because of the suspected location of the nerve in relation to the cyst. This may require more removal of bone.

There is always an increased risk of pathological fracture of the jaw following removal of anything (bone, tooth, cyst) from it, because of compromise of the structural integrity of the bone. The bigger the cyst, the bigger the risk. I am not sure of specific figures, but you really should ask your oral surgeon about this. What will happen after surgery and healing have taken place is you will have another x-ray to assess bony healing. At this point, I imagine the surgeon will be able to tell you when you can go back to playing rugby.

I haven't seen your case, but most cases that I have seen of post-op bony healing from cysts has been 100% after variable periods of time. The exception is in cases of recurrence or systemic bony metabolism problems.

Again, I encourage you to ask your surgeon for more details. And search the internet. There is quite a bit of information about cysts around.

cc9

thanks very much Big G.. thats more than enough info for me, unfortunately i cannot differentiate between the cysts and i dont think that the oral surgeon could either from from just looking at an x-ray. hopefully it will turn out to be the least serious.
thanks again

cc9

well...nearly a year later and i have an appointment to get my wisdom teeth/cyst? removed.
just one or two questions--

i havent had pain since in over a year in my jaw, does that mean that the antibiotics actually worked in clearing the infection away, or is the infection just staying dormant??

any help would be great as i am not too keen on this surgery because of the potential risks etc, also i am in my final year of physiotherapy so dont want to ruin that either!!

thanks