On Weds night my daughter said her gums were hurting really bad… I looked at the spot and there was a tiny bump that almost looked like it had a clearish head on it along with a lot of redness… it is at the top of her gums almost where the cheek meets the gum on the upper teeth above the fang teeth (bicuspid maybe???)… I freaked out thinking it was an abscess and that it would spread or something. So I called the dentist on the after-hours line and she said that looking at her X-rays she had no evidence of any kind of decay starting in that area when she was last seen 5 months ago so she doubts it is an abscess but to bring her in Friday morning (today) so they can look at it. In the mean time I had her rinse the area with warm salt water and I put an oragel canker sore gel on it a couple of times yesterday. As of last night and again this morning she is saying it no longer hurts at all and now I can barely see the bump, redness is still there a bit but almost gone as well. Would you still pull her out of school to go to the dentist? She has a huge report presentation today and the appointment they had was right when they are doing the presentations…but I hate that it is Friday in case it is something more serious… Is it possible that it could have been a canker sore even on the gum right there? I thought those were just on the cheeks… she has been eating a ton of those cutie oranges for the last week (like 2-3 a day). I don't ever know if I am being too cautious or not cautious enough.
Thanks everyone… I decided to let her finish out her school day and then see how it looked… it is progressively getting smaller and less red so I think it was in fact a canker sore… still no pain so I think we are good (hopefully)
Canker sores can happen anywhere in the mouth, not just the cheeks (so gums, lip, tongue). It sounds like that's what it was. I wouldn't bother with the appointment. Citrus fruits can trigger the sores in some people.
Pretty sure I've had those and if it's about gone and doesn't hurt, I wouldn't take her in... They never amounted to anything for me.
I would take her, because a small, pimple-like bump is exactly what my dentist told me to watch for as a sign of abscess.
If it was an abscess because of previous trauma to the tooth, it wouldn't go away.
It's probably fine.
If it was me, I'd cancel the appt, & keep an eye on it.
As much as it was probably just a canker sore caused by eating citrus, it *is* Friday, and if you have even a small suspicion that this could rear its ugly head over the weekend, take her in today. Nothing like paying emergency rates to have the dentist open his office on a Saturday... :(
Glad it worked out.
BTW. Our dentist told us not to use orajel on canker sores, that it can actually make them worse. We should just use warm salt water.
I recently had an abscess that seems just like what you described. It really hurt at first, then went away, then came back with no pain, then went away, then came back with no pain, then went away, then ... you get the idea.
I did have to have a root canal.
It could be a canker sore. But I would tell her to let you know if the bump comes back. Just in case.
