Out of the blue tonight my mouth got this horrible metallic taste. I have had a lump on my inner gums behind my back molars for many months, do not know if this is related. The lump was never there before. Anyway, now the metallic taste and my tooth in that area hurts. I can taste the metallic taste on the tooth and the lump. I have never experienced this before. If anyone has any ideas or has experienced this, please add your input!

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 05:14 am:

Kim, can you get to the dentist. It is possible you have an abscess. BTDT, and it is absolutely no fun. If it were me I'd try really hard to get in to the dentist right away.

By Marg on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 06:33 am:

I agree with Ginny, sounds like it's infected.

I had one so bad one time they placed me on antibiotics before they could even start to treat me.

Not trying to scare you.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 07:09 am:

Well, with respect to Marg, I am trying to scare you enough to get to the dentist. An untreated abscess or other gum infection has potential for serious problems affecting your entire blood system, and should not be taken lightly. I know, dentists are no fun, and are expensive, and I suspect you don't have dental insurance. But there must be some sort of clinic setup near you, if you have to. But I really, really would not let this go very long. I wound up in the ER at 2 a.m. one terrible morning with awful pain and an abscessed, infected, impacted wisdom tooth. It had been aching mildly for a long time but I just pushed it off, until the ER visit.

By Kim on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 07:25 am:

Thanks for your input guys. Now this morning the taste isn't that bad. I will call the dentist and ask anyway though.

By Debbie on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 09:02 am:

Kim, you need to get to the dentist. My neighbor had a abscessed tooth that he didn't treat and he ended up in the hospital. He ended up with bacteria in his blood stream and he was a mess. The lump makes me think abscess. Hopefully, it is nothing, but better to have it looked at.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 02:59 pm:

DITTO! and yes - I know I am shouting!

By Kim on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 03:11 pm:

My dentist has seen the lump the last two times I went for my check-up. He doesn't know what it is but said it wasn't bothering my teeth and it never did before. I can't tell what is metallic tasting, seems like a tooth right by the lump. Make sense? He wanted me to go to a periodontist (sp?) and I am wondering if I should call him or the PD?

By Kate on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 03:52 pm:

Call your dentist and ask him if he wants to see you of if he just wants you to go straight to the other guy. If he wants to see you and it's abscessed, he'll refer you to the other doc immediately, as in today.