gum graft after surgery

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Did anyone get stents covering the roof of your mouth and over the graft sites?

button · Moderator Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 602

Not only have I had them but I have placed them on patients after assisting on gum surgery when I worked as an assistant. And I did this for many years...do you have a question regarding them? Mainly they are just meant to help with sensitivity....Do you have a question regarding it??

To jem: I know how horriable it can look in there specially when you are not used to seeing it...but I assure you most likely its normal it definately doesn't look 'pretty' in there after gum surgery...Are you using the Chlorehexidine mouth wash (did he give an RX for this?) It will still heal even if it is "flapping around" However, it might not grow back perfectly straight if the sutures came out a little early...this isn't a big deal and you wouldn't even notice unless the graft was done in the front of your mouth...if this is the case just ask your doc to reassure you it will heal "straight" -- BUT even if it initially grows back a little "off" it can still fix itself over time...mine did...but mine was in the back and I wouldve never known if i didn't work in the office and wasn't looking in my mouth with an intraoral camera every day...Dental "professionals" are the worst patients...really.

jem83 · Newbie Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 3

Thanks so much; your response is very reassuring. This "flapping around" is normal even 12 days post-surgery? Some sutures definitely came out (my periodontist told me this was not unusual and happened because the skin was so thin up front.) Cosmetically I don't care how it ultimately looks as long as it deals with the recession. It is indeed in the front, but in part of my lower gums that never show. Before reading your response, I was more concerned that the gums would never somehow anchor themselves and settle down over the grafts. I am using the mouth rinse twice daily. I had 8 teeth done at once (which I gather is a lot) and the sides already look almost as though they have healed entirely, so the contrast with the situation up front was even more alarming... Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!

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That cracks me up, laid up for days??? Either I had an outstanding periodontist or someone lied about that procedure, because it was honestly no big deal. Total procedure time was about 1 hour. Half of my face was numb for a few hours after the procedure secondary to the novacaine. It was hilarious calling friends and family afterwards just to hear their reaction to my inability to talk. I took Vicodin once, when I felt the novacaine wearing off, mainly for throbbing vs. excruciating pain. I went to work the next day on Motrin with no pain or issues whatsoever.

The procedure itself was not bad, the most uncomfortable part was the numbing of the palate, which was less painful than I expected. I was advised not to work out for 4 days and not to eat "sharp" foods such as potato chips to improve healing. I was also advised not to look at the graft as pulling the lip out can hurt the graft. I was eating soup and mashed potatoes after the procedure with a normal meal the next day. I plan to go about my daily activities over the weekend and resume running next week. Honestly, this procedure sounds way worse than it was....

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I had gum grafting on four teeth done four days ago and I am still experiencing pretty bad pain. I had this done several years ago on one tooth and it hurt for a day or two, but this time was much worse. Both the donor and recipient site are both constantly throbbing and bled up to today. I am also still swollen and look as if I was hit in the jaw. I am still taking my pain medication because I find it hard to sleep without taking something to relieve this pain. I have an excellent periodontist and a high pain tolerance, so this is hard to understand. I am very frustrated at this point.

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6 teeth done and beleive me it sucks, I'll never do it again, and I have to drink 6 beers a night just to sleep.

KattCorr · Newbie Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

I am 19 (female) and I had a gum graft 5 days ago. My teeth are seriously perfect... white, healthy gums, no fillings, and never had a cavity in my life. Finding out that my gum receded below a tooth 3mm made me so upset. I only have 1mm left of gum. It's because my gums are thin; therefore, if a piece of food hits it the wrong way then adios (goodbye) to my gums.

Okay, so I really didn't know what I was in for when I got the surgery. I was scared and so nervous. To make me feel better I had nitrous gas which made me feel as high as a kite and then my mouth was numbed with novacaine. It was my first time getting novacaine. I thought it was going to be worse, but all I felt was stinging. My periodontist kept telling me, "You shouldn't feel me cutting or pain. Only pressure... only pressure. If you feel any sort of pain, let us know right away so we can give you more novacaine." I only felt a little pain twice... once when they were doing something to my palate (sticthes or cutting- not entirely sure) and when they were stitching the graft to my gum. Right when I felt pain, they gave me more novacaine and I was fine. Honestly, you can't feel anything during the procedure and if you do, you're not suppose to. The only problem I had was the psychological effects of the procedure. Just because I knew what the docs were doing in my mouth made me cringe, and I could hear and feel the pressure of the cutting of my palate. By the end of the surgery I was sweating so bad I felt like I wet my pants (I didn't). It was just so exhausting and naseauting for me. The whole surgery was about an hour or an hour and a half long. They had to add extra sutures because the doc said my gum graft was very delicate. It kind of makes me nervous if the graft will work. I think recovery after the surgery is different for everyone. My palate only bled a little right after the procedure and that was it. I didn't really feel pain until the day after because my novacaine didn't wear off completely until I went to bed at 12 at night which I thought was rather odd. (surgery was at 8 in the morning) My gums were really sore for 3 days after the surgery. Finally today (day 5) the pain is very minimal. I have very minor swelling on the outside of my mouth, but my inside seems fine. Now where the graft was placed is this brown and white looking icky stuff which I'm calling the docs about tomorrow because I'm worried it might mean the graft didn't take and it died. Not sure if I'm just being paranoid or not. I'm just so nervous the graft won't work and I went through all of this for nothing. I have been following all of the after care directions religiously so I will be very disappointed if the graft doesn't take.

SuzieQ192 · Newbie Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 1

I had gum grafting surgery 6days ago, and I cannot believe the pain I'm having! I have had children, abdominal surgery, but this beats all! I am taking vicodin every 4-6 hours, and eating is very painful. Only water feels good. Can this be normal? The pain wasn't too bad the first 2 days, then BOOM! I cannot believe I can be in this much pain! Please tell me what others have experienced (I had 6 grafts). Thanks Confused

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I have had 3 gum graft surgeries done. I have had a hard time with all of them but I also am very nervous about the procedure and I don't think that mental state helps anything.

First time, graft covered bottom left canine & adjacent tooth. I ended up taking 3 days off from work. A little swelling, no bruising.

Second time, graft over top & bottom right canine & adjacent teeth. This time the pain day of - after the novacaine wore off was unbearable. I had tylenol w/codeine and it did nothing. Quite a bit of swelling & bruising.. enough to give me a bit of a black eye. Had to take the whole week off from work because of all the facial bruising.

Third time (hopefully the last please), graft over top left canine & bottom front teeth. This time I had her give me lots of novacaine because i was fearful it would wear off. I was also smart and took pain meds BEFORE the novacaine wore off and this worked really well. None of that stabbing pain, really not too bad day of other then that i couldn't open my mouth. Swelling & some bruising. Took off 2 days after the surgery.

All times, i have not really had problems with bleeding.

I have had packing material over both the donor & recipient sites & dissolving stitches. My packing material has stayed on for a week each time.

This last time I iced religiously 2x/hour for the whole first day and still had swelling and some bruising but I'm sure it helped.

I have not been able to eat very well for at least 3-4 days because I couldn't really open my mouth.. or I guess didn't feel like it was worth it.

They always say that the donor site is what hurts but for me it has been the recipient site. I think this is caused by them pulling & pushing on my face. Pulling lips down and out. Pushing on the adjacent tissue during suturing etc. I believe this is where a lot of my bruising & swelling has come from but I don't think the periodontist is a brute or anything - I have small features and a small mouth so I think that doesn't help anything.. have to crank the mouth open to get access to stuff.

This last time, she took a LOT of tissue off the roof of my mouth and pretty deep and close to the back molars. This has still not filled in 3.5 months later and the back molars are now sensitive where they were not before. She told me if it persists they could do something about it but quite honestly I think I would rather live with it because it's not bad. Hopefully once the tissue totally grows back the nerves in that area will be more protected.

MalteseLover · Newbie Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 1

I had gum graft surgery done by a periodontist 5 days ago. During the surgery I did not feel anything, because I was under IV conscious sedation. When I got home, I was still very groggy from the sedative, so I slept most of the day. At this time, I had gauze on and around my two recipient sites and a plastic stint covering the roof of my mouth. The first day I bled a little bit at the recipient sites, was pretty swollen, and felt a lot of pain at the recipient sites, but none at the donor site. I was given a prescription for Lortab which I ended up taking for the first three days, because I continued to feel pain at the recipient sites. On day four, I began to feel some pain in the roof of my mouth. Fortunately, the stent placed over it has eliminated issues with sensitivity and has really helped with pain. I removed the stent for the first time today in order to clean it and brush my teeth (or at least the few that I could). Removing the stent was very...icky! It didn't hurt to remove it or even brush the teeth around it, but it felt VERY strange (sort of slimy). I am assuming that feeling is caused by the new tissue growth there. Everything looks normal, and I haven't had any bleeding at the donor site. Right now, my recipient sites still look white, but now I don't feel any pain. It is still a bit awkward there because of the new tissue and sutures. Now, on day 5, I feel that I can comfortably eat pretty much any soft or semi-soft foods. Eating is not painful or uncomfortable. I just worry about getting food near the graft areas. My sutures are self-dissolving (there are some that dissolve after one week and some that dissolve after two weeks). I will see my periodontist again at the two week mark. Overall, this is certainly not a pleasant surgery, but it also hasn't been as bad as I was expecting. I have not been laid up for days, and there has not been one single thing that has been unbearable. I think overall, the combination of the different surgical sites and discomfort make it an unpleasant procedure.

gum graft after surgery

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