Q: Ten years back while doing some electric work, a copper wire got inserted in my gum. I immediately went to the doctor who examined it but did not take an X-ray and said there is nothing. I have been to different doctors and told them the entire episode but nobody believed me and said that if there was a wire in the gum there had to be some swelling and infection in the gum but since there was nothing, they told me not to worry. Recently, a month back I went to another doctor and he took two X-ray but he did not find anything in my gum. He operated on my gum and saw through a high resolution camera. My tongue feels that something is inside the gum. The doctor says that it may be a soft tissue that gets inflated, I also feel that it is a very soft thing and gets hard automatically and my tongue is able to scroll it. It irritates me and sometimes I feel some fluid is coming out. If it was not a metal wire, then what is it?

A:Your letter clearly indicates that you are suffering from a minor problem of your salivary gland duct. I am surprised to know that none of the dentists could diagnose the problem. The injury in the gum has in fact punctured that minor salivary gland duct, which is actually meant for transportation of saliva from the gland to the oral cavity. Now because of the puncture the saliva leaks out in the mucosa and gets hardened due to pressure. When the pressure increases a certain limit or you try to press it, the mucosa gets teared off and the saliva is released. Since the healing in oral mucosa is quick. The tear is repaired within hours and the same procedure is repeated. The remedy for this problem is removal of the gland. You can go to any oral and maxillofacial surgeon for this minor operation.