Day 3: bone chips

This morning, a tiny piece of bone finally broke through my gum from the first tooth extraction site. It was the third time this has happened and I knew it was on its way as I could feel it under the skin on the inside of my jaw with my tongue.

This is, apparently, quite a common event after tooth extractions, particularly if there was any trauma involved. In my case, the tooth - being relatively healthy and with quite a long root - wasn't too keen on being extracted, so quite a lot of wiggling back and forth wen on before it came out. I expect the movement broke a bit of the jaw bone.
As the broken bone chip is effectively dead and now considered by the body to be a foreign object, it gets ejected, eventually working its way to the surface. I prized this bit it out with my nail once it was visible with virtually no discomfort. I dare say that for any larger chips a visit to the dentist would be in order.