Gingival Gum Graft Surgery Necessary!

[drgnchsr36]

Good luck, hope everything goes well!!! Save the candy for after recovery

[bbsadmin]

Well, everything seems to have gone well. The Periodontist was able to do all 4 areas, yea!!! So I don't have to go back to get anything else done...just concentrate on healing. I'm crossing my fingers that the grafts will "take" well.

I wound up not being able to get the sedation. Turns out that I should have told them a few days ago (my bad) -- they didn't have the extra staff person on hand to do the monitoring. However, I had my own Lorazapam with me and the doctor told me how much to take. Between that and some guided relaxation I had on my iPod, I got through it OK. They had their own music, etc but I thought that the guided relaxation would calm me down the best, and it did. The time went by pretty quickly and now I'm all stitched up inside my mouth. I was still pretty groggy from all that Lorazapam, so I slept when I got home, had something to eat, and fell back asleep again.

The pain isn't too bad. It's more of a discomfort. It's weird having all these stitches and I know I can't really attempt to chew or open my mouth too wide. Treated myself to some Trader Joe's Coconut Vanilla milk, and some oatmeal, and then some chocolate pudding.

I have some Tylenol 3 with codeine (hydrocodone doesn't agree with me). I'm saving it for tonight to help me sleep. So far I've been OK with just regular Tylenol alternating a few hours later with some Ibuprofen. I'm also taking my bramoline-based RPR supplement. (Made by a company called Theramedix). It contains protease and other enzymes that help the body heal. I figure I'll continue taking it several times per day for a couple of week. And do salt water rinses.

So I plan to take it real easy for the next few days and just try to stay on top of the pain with tylenol or ibuprofen. I can't use my CPAP machine for a while...it will make my throat too dry at night, but that should be OK because my sleep apena is only mild-to-moderate anyway.

So....trick or treat, everyone! The inside of my mouth looks like Frankenstein right now, but I know that in a couple of weeks everything will be fine.

[drgnchsr36]

Sounds like everything went well!! Keep us updated on the healing process....

In a few weeks, you can enjoy the Halloween candy

[BaliGirl]

I'm glad your procedure went well and I hope your recovery also goes well. Sending you healing thoughts!

[bbsadmin]

Thanks, everybody.

I'm making sure to take my Bromelain stuff because I know the people here who have gone through jaw surgery have said that it helps keep the swelling and bruising down.

Starting to feel the effects of all the stitches in my mouth. Apparently they are dissolving stitches. I remember what that felt like when I had my 4 wisdom teeth removed many years ago. The worst is that "pulling feeling" that starts to happen!

Anyway, I find that just a few Ibuprofen or Tylenol really take away most of the pain. I have some Tylenol 3 but haven't found a need to use it yet. I generally shy away from narcotics. Eating lots of eggs, oatmeal, smoothies, etc. Have some Netflix movies I've been meaning to watch and a really nice Vanity Fair magazine with Johnny Depp on the cover (dontcha just love him? can't wait to see his new movie).

My face is definitely a little swollen today. I plan to just stay home for a few days and do some work when I feel up to it. For the past several weeks, I have been feverishly working on the new DentaKit site design, updating all the product pages into the new design framework. It will be really cool, including videos for some products, Facebook and Google +1 integration, easier tab-based descriptive info....I can't wait to launch it.....but it's not finished yet! Hopefully by the end of this week or early next week!

I am SO GLAD that he periodontist was able to do all 4 areas yesterday, so I don't need to go back and get this done again. I really hope it all "takes" well. I know that it's possible I may need to do this again down the road in the future (maybe 10-15 years).

BTW, the periodontist told me that he lectures all the time about periodontics and orthodontics, so I hope perhaps he can write an article for us about it.

[bbsadmin]

OMG I feel like such crap today. I think this is the worst part....where the tissues are healing, the stitches are pulling, etc. My entire lower face feels like I've been in an accident. It's still slightly swollen and really hurts, especially in the front and along my jawline. And my palate hurts. There's some sort of rough "scaffolding" material up there. When I try to eat, food kinda sticks to it which is really annoying. The pain in my palate is making my upper face hurt a little, as well and I have a slight headache. Reminds me a lot of what it felt like after sinus surgery a few years ago. (well, that was much more than a SLIGHT headache...sheesh, that was 10 days of sheer hellish nonstop pain...I wound up needing to take Prednisone to get me through it...)

You guys who have serious jaw surgery -- hats off to you, I don't know how you do it!

Of course right now I'm speaking as a person whose pain meds have left her body from sleeping overnight. I just ate a little something and took 4 Ibuprofen. Can't wait for them to kick in! In the mean time, I'm still using an ice pack on and off. Not sure if it will actually help with the swelling anymore, but the cold feels good.

I have Tylenol 3 but haven't used it, although at the moment I'm thinking about it (not for now, but later). I'm hesitant to take a narcotic. Last time I did (after sinus surgery) I practically had a panic attack...it didn't agree with me. So while getting knocked out is tempting, I worry that it could backfire on me and make me feel worse.

The only really good thing about this is....I look at the 4 teeth where the gum was grafted and wow, the gum level is up to where it used to be before I got braces! I know that it will probably shrink back over time, but seeing it so high makes me really happy.

Uugh, I can't wait for this to be OVER!!!! I really hate being in pain!!!! I really hope that I don't have to go through this again!

[klobird]

Hey Lynne--

I sincerely hope you get well soon! You have helped so many people by creating this site--I just wish there was something we could do for you!! I will try to send you good vibes!!

You must be so happy that it is overwith and you are now on the mend--you will have paved the way for those of us who still have to go through it-- I would love to be able to look at my gums and see them up high where they should be!

Get lots of rest and keep on top of the discomfort with Ibuprofen or Tylenol. Baby yourself for a while--it's on us!!!

[bbsadmin]

Thanks, Klo!

After those 4 Ibuoprofen kicked in, I fell back asleep for several more hours. Woke up feeling much better. For the next few days I think I'm going to increase my Ibuprofen to 3 or 4 each time to keep the pain level way down. Hopefully by Monday I won't need to be taking as much.

Definitely going to watch some movies today and kick back.

-Lynn

[drgnchsr36]

How are you feeling today?? Hopefully it's much much better!!

Just curious, how did you pay for this? Was it covered by insurance? Flexible spending account? Just wondering. I'm probably going to have to do this sometime down the road.. and was curious what the cost was like. Thanks

[bbsadmin]

Doing a little better today. Yesterday I took more Ibuprofen (alternating with Tylenol every few hours). That really helped. Later in the day I was feeling good enough to work (I work from home), so I was able to finish all the changes to the new DentaKit site and launch the changes, which is a huge relief....I've been working on it for weeks and was very eager to finish.

In general, this is pretty darned uncomfortable. Between the rough material at the top of my palate and the pain at the bottom of my jaw, uugh not fun. I can speak fine but I try not to speak too much because it gets painful after a while.

Eating isn't as difficult as it was when I first got braces. I can chew just fine. But because of all the stitches in my lower mouth (in the front and on each side) I don't want to open my mouth too wide and don't want to eat food that is too difficult to manipulate inside my mouth. For instance, if some food got stuck between my bottom gums and teeth it would probably be a bit painful and difficult to remove. And my upper palate is rather sensitive. So that's why I'm sticking to soft food. Not because I can't chew, but because I need to be really careful or it just hurts.

Yesterday my husband got me some meatloaf mix from the local supermarket, and some very soft wheat bread. The meatloaf mix is all ready to pop into the oven. I quickly made it into meatballs, threw it into a pot with some pasta sauce, and in a half hour had really delicious meatballs. I've been craving meat and am tired of eggs, quiche, and tuna salad! I smashed the meatballs on a plate and ate them with small pieces of the soft wheat bread. It was exactly what I needed! Finished with some chocolate pudding (something I love but rarely treat myself to). My family has been very understanding and has been fending for themselves for dinner, ordering in or whatever. Which is great because I really don't feel like cooking at all. Rolling meatballs and throwing them in a pot was about as ambitious as I felt like getting!

I would say that the worst part of this is the pain inside my chin area, where those two lower front teeth were done. If I even stretch my lower lip out a little bit my entire chin area really hurts a lot, even if I'm pumped with Ibuprofen. Putting some ice on the outside of it helps. I am trying not to bother that area too much.

Today even though the swelling is noticeably going down I still feel like I've been punched in the face in several places!

You ask how I'm paying for this. Totally out of pocket. You know, only big companies offer really nice dental plans and neither me nor my husband work for a big company. My entire family has pretty healthy teeth and we rarely have any problems, so it doesn't make sense to buy dental insurance.....the premiums would cost more than the a-la-carte procedures, such as regular cleanings and x-rays. Of course we have medical insurance but it doesn't cover dental. This gum grafting of 4 teeth is costing me about $3,600 in total, broken out into 3 monthly payments. Sheesh, that's almost as much as my braces cost!! The periodontist offered only 3 payments, no payment plan longer than that. So it's pretty steep to pay all of that in just a few months, unlike braces which is stretched out over a year or two.

If I'd have had some sort of dental insurance before this, it may have cost a little bit less. But many of the plans have a long list of exclusions and a long waiting period for any sort of procedure like this. I have known for 10 years that I would eventually need this done, but didn't know when it might happen. So if I'd have had dental insurance, I probably would have paid more in premiums than the cost of the surgery. For years my gums looked totally stable, and only in the past few months has the recession suddenly progressed, for some strange reason. So the thing really snuck up on me with no time to plan for it.

If you could actually plan for this a year in advance it might make sense to get dental insurance, but you'd have to do the math to see whether you'd really save any money that way.

I'm just so glad that I did it and hope that this will be the last time I have to endure something like this. I have been through a lot, with my back problems and stuff. Suffered a major painful foot problem a few months ago. So I'm looking forward to some happier more pain-free times ahead!!!!!

[bbsadmin]

Well, aside from a headache that seems to come and go, I'm doing pretty well. Still eating a relatively soft diet. Mainly smashed meatballs, quiche, oatmeal, eggs, soft bread and that incredible Trader Joe's Belgian chocolate pudding (OMG it is AMAZING!!!!)

I spoke to the periodontist's office yesterday. I learned a few things:

* The hard crystalline stuff in front of my new gums is apparently surgical adhesive. Which is why it reminds me of dried Krazy Glue! Because it sorta IS Krazy Glue!

* The rough stuff at the top of my palate is a surgical dressing which will dissolve. And I can tell that it's already happening. I feel less rough area every day, and starting today I noticed a lot of very sensitive new tissue up there.

* The sutures should loosen and dissolve. But unfortunately while they are loosening, they are not really dissolving!

Which leads me to a really annoying after-effect of this surgery: I now have two spots on either side of my top palate with suture thread hanging down. This became apparent Thursday afternoon. It is not dissolving. It gets tangled up in the food that I eat and tugs on my palate, which really hurts. It is the most annoying thing, but there's nothing I can do about it. I have actually reached in with scissors and shortened the thread, but when I examine my palate with a flashlight and a mouth mirror, I see that there are some pretty complicated looking stitches and knots up there which I am frankly afraid to mess with. My periodontist isn't open on Friday or over the weekend. I have a scheduled follow-up appointment first thing Monday, where I understand any remaining sutures or dressings will be removed. Seriously I cannot wait. The sutures which are hanging are actually really irritating.

All of the swelling is gone and most of the pain is much better. The area at my lower front teeth is very sensitive, so I try not to disturb it.

The instructions I received after surgery say to carefully brush the tops of my teeth with a very soft toothbrush. The first couple of days I didn't do anything...I just couldn't!! But as each day has passed, I have brushed a little more. Today I was even able to floss my top teeth, but of course wouldn't attempt to floss my bottom teeth where the surgery was done.

Overall, in retrospect, I would say that if my experience is typical, then the first 4 days are the worst. After that, if things are healing properly, it isn't so bad.

I'll write again on Monday after my follow-up appointment. I hope that when the periodontist looks at the new gum area, he says that things are looking good! I see one little area by one of the front teeth that seems to have some white poking through. Hard to tell whether it's tooth or thread or what. Makes me a little nervous that perhaps that little part of new gum isn't "taking."

[bbsadmin]

I went for my checkup today. The results were good. My periodontist is very pleased with the way the gum has turned out, but we won't know for weeks, or maybe even months, whether the gum line on those teeth will stay up where it is now. He said that in some cases the gum shrinks down, but it usually stays higher than it was pre-surgery.

Over the weekend, all of the suture string worked its way out of my palate. It kept falling down, I kept clipping it with scissors where I could (not easy) and finally after a day or two it was totally gone. Leaving indentations in my palate where the string was!!!

My palate is extremely sensitive. I can eat crunchy food but I need to be extremely careful or it gets REALLY painful! For example, when taking my big Centrum multivitamin, I need to make sure I gulp it down quickly. Because if it bumps the roof of my mouth, OUCH!

So I'm still sticking to foods that are easier to eat for the sake of my sensitive palate. I don't think I could deal with a big mouthful of sandwich that is difficult to chew, for example. Even the idea of biting into a hamburger makes me wince right now. Sushi? Forget it! So I'm sticking with what worked when I had braces: eating almost everything with a knife and fork, in small bites. Chewing mainly with my side teeth (to keep the food away from the roof of my mouth). And I'm not going to eat any spicy food for a few more weeks, either. Another thing: I'm being extremely careful not to eat food that is too hot. Because the last thing I need is to burn the roof of my mouth, or my tongue!!!

The periodontist said that it could take months for the palate to feel normal again. It could even take a year. But he promised me that eventually it WILL feel normal again. I can feel that every day it seems a little bit tougher.

The area way at the bottom of my front gumline still hurts and I can see there are stitches down there. The periodontist said that he actually did a Frenectomy, and the discomfort I feel is from the incision and stitches. He said it should start feeling better within the next week. He did the Frenectomy so that the lip wouldn't pull down on the newly place gum at the two bottom front teeth.

An interesting bit of trivia: I learned that musician Neil Young (who lives in my area) goes to this periodontist. Long may you chew, Neil....long may you chew....

[drgnchsr36]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with this, seriously!! I really appreciate it about everything. I'm not looking forward to this and I'm pretty scared, but I don't think it's as bad as I thought it'd be (from reading this post).

I have a friend who stated that he's getting this surgery a few times and that it'll take time to harvest his palette -- but from this experience, I'm wondering how long that would take.. maybe a year before you'd want to go through with this again?

[bbsadmin]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with this, seriously!! I really appreciate it about everything. I'm not looking forward to this and I'm pretty scared, but I don't think it's as bad as I thought it'd be (from reading this post).

I have a friend who stated that he's getting this surgery a few times and that it'll take time to harvest his palette -- but from this experience, I'm wondering how long that would take.. maybe a year before you'd want to go through with this again?

Well, I certainly would want my palate tissue to totally heal and be healed for a while before considering doing this again. A year is probably a good estimate.

Before I had this done, I thought it would feel like a really bad burn to the roof of the mouth. No, it's not like that. Actually the swelling and stitches were the worst part. After that resolved itself in a few days, and the palate was free of all oral bandages and stitches, it just felt more like a sensitivity than a burn. When I feel my palate with my tongue, it feels very smooth and new. He took tissue from two spots on either side of the palate (not the middle). It doesn't hurt or burn. It's just sensitive to hard foods. I can actually manage to eat chips if I eat them in small pieces and bite them with the sides of my mouth to keep them away from the roof of my mouth.

Don't be scared of this procedure. As long as you have a good experienced periodontist, it will be OK. I would say that worst is the first 4 or 5 days. Today it is a little over a week since having the surgery and I feel perfectly capable of doing all of my regular chores/work/exercise, etc. There are just two things still not healed: my palate is very sensitive, and the stitches/healing of the area where the frenectomy was done at the bottom of my lower front gums still hurts a little. I can eat just fine....I just need to be careful of anything too hard or too difficult to work around inside my mouth at this point.

I will be doing another post that anyone can use as a guide to get through this surgery, and I will probably re-work that post and eventually place it as an article on the main ArchWired page, as well.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday.....the periodontist gave me some Peridex (Cholorhexidine solution) to put on my new gums after I brush my teeth. This week he wants me to dab it on with a Q-tip. He also gave me a tufted brush and told me that next week I should dip the tufted brush in the Peridex and brush the bottoms of the teeth/gumline a little more aggressively using the Peridex. After that, I think I can be less gentle with the gums.

I see him again in two weeks. He said that he offers no guarantees because everyone's gums turn out differently over time. All I can say is that right now, my gums look like they did before braces (but with straight teeth!)

My lower gums started to recede early into ortho treatment (mainly just the two front lower teeth). But the situation remained stable for almost 10 years. Only recently has the recession gotten worse for some reason. I found out in August that I was deficient in B-12, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it (my level of B-12 has since been restored through oral supplementation). I researched everything I could think of to see what might have caused the sudden increase in recession this year but my research was inconclusive. Maybe it's just my age (just turned 51). The periodontist said that genetics plays a big role in this sort of thing.

Although this surgery was no picnic, I'm grateful that it exists. I would rather have gone through this than risk losing those teeth in another 20 years or sooner! I intend to do everything I can to keep my natural teeth my entire life. My mother and my mother-in-law both have full dentures, so I have seen the other side of the picture and there is no way I want to go there if I can help it!!!

My mother lost her teeth to a selfish greedy dentist when she was a young woman. She didn't know better and believed him when he told her that all her teeth needed to come out because there were some periodontal problems on ONE tooth (he said all the teeth would get infected, so better to pull them out). I've heard her story my entire life about not trusting doctors and always getting second opinions!! My mother was a beautiful woman before losing her teeth. After that, her face got all sunken in and it really aged her. It was such a shame. She turns 90 in February.

My mother-in-law had really bad gingivitis, but honestly I don't think she took very good care of her teeth. I think her problem was half bad genetics and half poor hygiene. At one point she got implants, but then years later most of the implants failed and had to come out. Quite a mess. She now wears full dentures.

[bbsadmin]

OK, it has been almost two weeks since I had the surgery done. As far as my gums are concerned, they continue to look terrific. I haven't noticed any shrinkage or recession yet. The gums have gone from looking a bit red to now looking pink just like the rest of my mouth. You'd never know that anything new has gone on there, which I think is incredibly amazing! It's as if the past 10 years of recession never happened! I am so happy every time I look in the mirror and see the nice high gum line on the two bottom front teeth! It's like a miracle! I really hope it all "holds" and doesn't recess much in the coming months! Only time will tell.

I'm back to using my Sonicare toothbrush, but I use it extremely carefully on the lower teeth, not touching the gums much. I am flossing all of my teeth, but am very careful on the bottom where the grafts were done. After I brush, I dip a little single-tufted toothbrush into Peridex and work it around the gum line, like the periodontist showed me. One of the new gum areas of one of the side teeth is a little "meaty," but I guess it wlll shrink with time. The periodontist said he wanted to build up the thickness of gum in that spot.

The discomfort from the Frenectomy is getting better each day. Now it doesn't hurt, it just feels like it's pulling a little. Hopefully in time, that will stop, as well.

The only thing that remains an issue is my top palate. During certain times, the two spots where he harvested the tissue are strangely sensitive -- almost feeling sort of numb. It is especially noticeable when I eat or drink something really cold, like a drink with ice in it, or ice cream (which is actually rather uncomfortable to eat!) Today I chewed gum for the first time since the surgery -- an icy mint flavor. It made my palate feel weird and numb. I assume that this has to do with the tissue regenerating and nerve endings healing or regenerating. I also assume that after a while, this sensation will go away. Most of the time, when I'm not eating or drinking, I don't notice it at all.

Much to my surprise, I have no trouble eating crunchy foods now. I can eat anything that I want now. Even spicy food isn't a problem (although I haven't tried truly spicy Thai or Indian yet, but I will this coming week).

I'm still being very careful not to eat food that is too hot (temperature-wise), because I don't want to burn the roof of my mouth or my tongue!