gum pain

I have a lump on my upper gum for the last month.  I had a crown removed three weeks ago. I've taken pencillian twice already. The pain and the lump is still there.  When I press on it it hurts a lot. I cannot eat on that side. My Dentist took a couple of x-rays back then and gave me pencillian. Nothing has changed. Recently I notice a dark circle on the upper roof of that side. I touched it and it hurts. It has not grown in size..What to do next? Thank you

[trdofbeingtrd]

I recommend you go to a different dentist. I don't know what you have, but it sounds like an abscess and you probably need different anti-biotic. Please get a different dentist.

[Jaybay]

It sounds like you have a pocket of infection called a fistula.  The dentist is trying to treat it with antibiotics first, which is not uncommon.  The problem is that the tooth is probably either dead or in the process of dying which means you'll need a root canal if it hasn't been done already.

Something similar happened to me a few years ago.  In my 20's, one of my upper molars cracked.  Had a crown put on and never thought about it again.  About 15 years later I noticed off-and-on pain when I chewed on that side.  Still didn't think much of it and put it down to minor sensitivity of one of the neighboring teeth.  One day at work, "something" drained into my mouth that about had me barfing in the trash can.  It was obviously coming from the tooth with the crown so off I went to the dentist.  The tooth had apparently died long ago and caused an infection.  It developed a sinus channel through the gum and finally drained on its own.  Had I not had a crown on the tooth, I would have known something was badly wrong almost immediately.  All I needed was a root canal and to have the crown reglued and that was the end of that little episode.  No anesthesia needed for the root canal either since the nerve was long gone.

[Jaybay]

Ooops!  Forgot to add that you probably need to see an endodontist rather than your regular dentist to get this properly treated.  While penicillin is the standard for treating abscesses of this type, three rounds is enough in my opinion.

Also, if you've already had a root canal done on that tooth, it's still possible that you have an addition root in there that went undetected.  It's not all that uncommon to have an extra root, particularly in a molar, and they can be smaller in diameter than a human hair.

[Augie60]

thanks for the information. I went back to my Dentist. After x-rays were done they said it was a small piece of bone that needs to be filed down. I was sent to a oral surgeon within 2 weeks. The Dentist said after the bone is filed down the opening of where the 'crown' was removed will now close.
It was a relieve to hear this, I was already thinking I had cancer of the mouth.
There is no infection on the gums, it has cleared.  Hopefully this is what is causing the pain upon touching it.  After my surgery I will post more information.  I thank you for your comments..Augie60