swollen palate

[daufoi]

Hello, I have been wearing traditional braces for the past 6 months. About a month ago, I noticed that my palate was getting swollen right behind my two top incisors. It looks like this (), red and puffed out. At first, I thought because they were tilting together, they were causing that area to swell. When I saw my orthodontist today, she said that wouldn't cause it and poked around in there to look for anything that might be lodged in. She pulled some small things out but she still seemed to be concerned, as if she wasn't sure why it was. I think maybe she was expecting something bigger to be lodged in there. Has anyone had an experience like this?

[MCOMarkhamOrthodontist]

Often times, this can be seen if there is a foreign body lodged in the area. Proper oral hygiene including flossing is important. Even small amounts of bacteria or food can cause inflammation over a long period of time.

This could be any number of things. You may need to see your general dentist to take some periapical x-rays for the complete picture.

Good luck!

[Sunny]

Daufoi my first experience with something like this, was a young client who'd been eating popcorn and the ortho found a husk under the front area of his gum. Popcorn is on the 'no no' list for our younger patients, but as his oral hygiene was usually very good, he was just given a gentle reminder about the risks of damaging his gums and we gave him the opportunity to practise his flossing skills again in front of us. His gum looked very sore and red, and I'm sure it would have taken a few days (maybe even a week), for the swelling to go down, after the ortho had been required to poke around and then remove the husk.

One other thing that can be done to check if there's any infection in that area, is to put peroxide on the area with a cotton bud to see if it bubbles. If it does bubble, then there is infection present and you need to get that attended to immediately.

If your gums don't improve quickly, I suggest you give your ortho a call and ask for further advice.

Good luck!

[daufoi]

My swollen palate is still there (about 4 months after I first noticed it). My teeth are no longer tilting and now we started closing the spacing for my upper teeth (as of yesterday). I can see my right incisor is already moving toward the left and my swollen palate is a little more sore than before. This could be just from the movement (as all my teeth are sore) but I am wondering if the swollen palate will get worse as the teeth start to close.

As I said, it has been several months since this developed. My ortho looked at it, poked around in it and did an x-ray and couldn't find anything (ie food). A periodontist looked at it and said it will probably take care of itself. I'm just looking for any other ideas/experiences from this forum. I was thinking if it gets really sore and doesn't go away I might get a gingivectomy.

[Sunny]

Daufoi since you've consulted with two experts, hopefully this swelling is related to your treatment and will disappear soon!

Good luck with your progress!