The tooth extraction site is sensitive to warm food

Dr. Hall,
I had an oral surgeon remove a wisdom tooth. About 2 weeks later I shoveled snow in 20 degree temps for about 3 hours. The tooth site felt a bit achey. Now, a week later the site still seems achey and now seems very sensitive to warm-hot food. The extraction site appears very healthy. Is there anything I might need to attend to or check? Thank you so much for your time and attention.
– Tia from Michigan

Tia,
It’s normal for an extraction site to start to ache after physical exertion, if you’ve had a recent extraction, especially for a wisdom tooth. However, the sensitivity to heat is a different matter.

I get these reports of an tooth extraction site being sensitive to cold or air after an extraction and almost always it’s the adjacent tooth, and I suspect that’s what is happening in your case. Sometimes extractions will cause the root of an adjacent tooth to become exposed and that tooth with the exposed root will become sensitive. Sensitivity to cold wouldn’t be much concern especially if it’s mild, but sensitivity to heat could potentially be a serious problem in that tooth. I’d have it checked.

When a tooth becomes irritated, it will often become sensitive to cold. If that irritation persists without getting resolved, the tooth can become sensitive to heat. That happens when the pulp tissue inside the tooth begins to die. In the process of dying, it gives off gasses. Heat causes those gasses to want to expand, but since they’re confined inside the tooth, there is no where to expand and that causes pain.
– Dr. Hall

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