Tooth shard 2Author: Dave Date: 05.01.26 - 8:57am Ok, so this one is just amazing.. Note: You can right click on any of these images and choose open image to see the full size Last week i started having some pain back left molar (17/18). After a couple days of it getting worse, I took a look and saw some pus erupting as I swabbed the area with chlorhexidine. Great..another fistula! 
I was hoping it was just food impaction or something. I havent had any work done back there since I had my wisdom teeth out some 30 years ago. Got an antibiotic prescription from my doctor, then called around to see who could get me in for imaging and inspection. A very kind perio was able to get me in next day, and you wont even believe what she found. There was something hard and bony exfoliating from my gums at the #17 site! I cant find any explanation other than this a root tip from my wisdom tooth extraction 30 years ago — apical third, sectioned face and all. Some observations from the tooth formerly known as #17. The outer layer is slightly conically tapering with longitudinal striations that look like a growth pattern. The inside face is hollowed out and has a channel that burrows through it and emerges at the tip. It did have a flat face on it that could be a from a sectioning cut. The 400x closeup has the same crystalline glow I saw in the other exfoliated fragment as well as in the known dentin control samples I obtained after polishing and when raising a burr on them with a steel probe.
Shard max dimensions:
Shard measurements were taken with a basic metrology setup using a digital dial indicator, micrometer slide, and an exacto blade suspended above the sample as a fixed knife-edge fiducial under magnification (closing one eye for parallax-free alignment). I do have a calibrated reticle eyepiece to get closer but this should suffice for now. This would represent an apical third of a root and 5x the volume of the previous fragment. Mounting: I am also going to include a little clip on mounting because its interesting. So to get good shots on weird topography you need to hold the sample at weird angles and try different lighting. I painted a small square of cigar box black, then applied double sided tape to it. This gave me a secure mount to hold the piece where i could easily rearrange it safely without orbital launch concerns. This also gave me something finger friendly to hold onto and move around. For some shots like the apical foramen where we are literally looking down the entire length of the specimen, i stuck the corner of the wood block into some blue tack and keep it at this extreme vertical angle. Blue tack is also great as a wedge to slightly elevate the platform to try to cast shadows or peer into crevices. On the metallurgical microscope with an extremely limited depth of field you literally have to hunt and wedge looking for flat surfaces to get the best view. Luckily the met scope has long working distance objectives because i have had to prop at some real angles to get a flat face! Another misc aside, the bebird images..those are from a cheap home otoscope for your ears lol. Its a great little inspection device for general image capture. Overall this exfoliation after 30 years is just amazing actually. Im just sitting here blinking at the screen shaking my head. 30 year migration and then emerges months after the other one which itself was held for 2 years. My body is apparently on an expungement roll. This whole getting old thing is rough..To the younger viewers...just dont do it. Its a bad habit and I guarantee it will kill you. Comments: (1)On 05.14.26 - 3:14pm Olivia Amzallag wrote:
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