Hi,
I recently had my wisdom teeth out (all 4 at once). While it seemed as though the surgery went well, I discovered i had a chipped tooth that I am positive was chipped during the surgery. I could tell that the oral surgeon wasn't too thrilled that I was claiming that he chipped my tooth, but the chip was in the front of my mouth and besides being physically noticable, I could feel it on my toungue immediately. Anyway, 10 days after my surgery, I bit down on a soft piece of bread and heard and felt a horrible crack. I thought I had chipped my tooth, but after investigating my mouth, I couldn't find the problem. I could not chew at all after hearing the crack. The next morning, I called the oral surgeon who suggested I come in for an x-ray the next day as he believed that I had broken my jaw. When I went in, the break was not visible on the x-ray, but he said he was certain that was what happened after hearing my symtoms. He is giving me the benefit of the doubt by not wiring my jaw shut if I can stay on a liquid diet for 6 weeks and be very careful. It's been a little over a week and I am paranoid that I am making the break worse. It is still very sore, which I would imagine is to be expected, but sometimes it feels as though I am "pulling" the break apart once it starts to heal a little. It's hard to explain the sound and pain that I feel when I move my jaw the wrong way or accidently bite down.
I guess my question is, how rare is this? The oral surgeon admitted that this is a freak complication of having my wisdom teeth out. I have had a hard time finding out any information on the internet about other cases similar to mine. Could this be negligence on his part? I am not a litigous person and am not looking to sue him; however, if I have to have my jaw wired shut, I will have to go on disability and will face a large loss of income for the time off. I just want to know what my options are and whether this could have been prevented. I am now miserable and wishing that I would have never had my teeth pulled at all.
Please help! Thanks!!