I completely agree with this post. I'm on day 4 of recovery. Conscious sedation is the way to go. I was completely relaxed during the procedure and only a little out of it for a couple hours after. It's uncomfortable. I've been taking Ibuprofen to control the inflammation, but haven't needed the Hydrocodone they prescribed. Moist heat after the first 24 hours and soft foods seem to help too. The stitches on the roof of my mouth started to annoy me today, but everyday I feel a little less discomfort.
I had the procedure 6 days ago and it wasn't that bad. Most difficult part is figuring out what to eat and remembering to be careful when brushing. I would much rather go through this again than end up losing my teeth, which is what would happen eventually if the gums recede too much.
I totally agree with you on the variables of gum grafting. I too felt ok the day of surgery and into the day after. Then it went downhill, swelling, bruising and pain at the recipient site, even with all the icing. I too had to take 3 days off of work, and plan to work from home for another. Not an easy recovery for me and for others, however the outcome should out way losing your teeth.
Post who your doc was and where you live. I need more done but won't go back to the guy who did my three areas a week ago, I'm suffering.
I had this surgery four days ago for the gums on my lower front four teeth. My doctor didn't even use tissue from the roof of my mouth but instead used a synthetic gum tissue called "Alloderm." The only pain felt during the procedure was the six or so novacaine shots used to numb the area. During the procedure the most sensation I felt was a little bit of pressure but no pain at all. I got two sets of stitches and a protective putty-like substance put over both the front and back of my teeth where the surgery occurred.
After the surgery I was prescribed Amoxicillin (anti-biotic) and Tylenol 3 (pain killer). I take the Amoxicillin every six hours, and have yet to need the pain meds as I've had no pain post operative. Any post operative bleeding I had stopped after a day or so, and I can even chew food, granted I have to use my molars and it has to be relatively soft food.
If you have to get this surgery, ask about "Alloderm," as that negates the need for taking tissue from the roof of one's mouth, and this taking of tissue from there seems to be where most complications arise based on other people's experiences. Very painless procedure, no complications. Not bad at all. Oh, and one last tip: if you're squeamish, keep your eyes closed during the procedure. You don't want to watch that, trust me.
After the surgery I was prescribed Amoxicillin (anti-biotic) and Tylenol 3 (pain killer). I take the Amoxicillin every six hours, and have yet to need the pain meds as I've had no pain post operative. Any post operative bleeding I had stopped after a day or so, and I can even chew food, granted I have to use my molars and it has to be relatively soft food.
If you have to get this surgery, ask about "Alloderm," as that negates the need for taking tissue from the roof of one's mouth, and this taking of tissue from there seems to be where most complications arise based on other people's experiences. Very painless procedure, no complications. Not bad at all. Oh, and one last tip: if you're squeamish, keep your eyes closed during the procedure. You don't want to watch that, trust me.
Not the guy you were talking to but I live in the DC area and went to Dr. Tom Stanton in Rockville, MD. Highly recommend him.
Thank you, a very helpful post.
I'm now living through the same experience. Like you, I have a high pain tolerance. This is hell. I wish I'd done more research before agreeing to go through this. Thanks for your post. It makes me feel less alone.
My surgery went super! No issues
Believe me I was in another world of pain after my surgery just under 2 months ago (August 3rd) in which i had a bone graft done but also had to have a gum graft done on the fly to replace some gum tissue lost during the bone graft procedure. 2 months post op and i still have pain on the roof of my mouth. that's on top of the pain from the bone graft : swelling , cant smile/laugh without straining hard and causing more pain. i feel like im in a nightmare and cant wake up but my doctor said it will get better. starting to doubt
So question. I just had this done earlier today about 5 hours ago. I have a graph put on my lower two front teeth. It was not taken out of the room of my mouth just slid over and stitched back. I haven't had no pain and no bleeding. However when I went to take my pain med and my anti biotic with a frosty that I used a spoon to it and just let it fall into my mouth. The area where I have stitches began to sting horrible as if maybe I shouldn't have been eating the frosty. But I mean it's same as ice cream. I know for a fact the spoon didn't even get close to my mouth I let the frosty slide off with the medicine inside it and continued eating it so the meds wouldn't make me sick but half way through like I said the stitched area was throbbing and hurting pretty bad. I felt like I tasted blood at that point but not 100% sure.
Not sure where you are from. I had mine done in Buford Georgia at DentFirst mall of Georgia. Doctor is Dr.West. Great guy military doctor. I've had 2 graphs done now. Both that went very well. And I had one fail and he didn't charge me to go back and redo it. So he's a good doctor to work with you and I felt 0 pain during the surgery. I didn't get the IV drip. I had laughing gas. So I was conscious he let me listen to my music. He applied this cooling gel to the area walked away for a while. When he came back he gave me a lidocaine shot in the roof of my mouth which my body reacted to but I never felt no pain. Then from there I was numb and it took him around 45-60 minute for the whole surgery. Went to work right after the surgery. Just follow directions don't try to be a hero.
I had a gum graft yesterday morning. The procedure consisted of taking gum from the left side of the roof of my mouth and placing it onto the front of my lower set of gums. The surgery itself did not hurt apart from the injection I was given so I was numb...everything was fine. However towards the end of the surgery my doctor could see that I was bleeding from roof of my mouth (where I had the gum taken from) and she had put a small gauze on it, the gauze stayed there for a few hours and worked perfectly fine until I had eaten something and the gauze came off. I started to bleed immediately and intensely, the bleeding was absolutely terrible. I have never seen so much blood in real life and it made me feel sick. As I kept putting gauzes on it would just fill up and I would have to use another, the bleeding would not stop so we called a help line that I was given after the surgery and I was told to rinse my mouth with salt water and I did that for ten minutes as a result the bleeding stopped a little and I put a gauze on. Not an hour later the bleeding started again it wasn't that bad but I put another gauze on and after I had done this I fell asleep for a while and woke up with blood on my blanket and on my hand and in my mouth, we decided to go to A and E and when we did we waited for a couple of hours and I was seen by a doctor. He put a gauze in and saw exactly what happened to me when I had been putting gauzes in my self. He numbed the area and put some silver nitrate there to stop the bleeding it had worked. He put a gauze on the area and told me to keep it there for at least two days. It was a small gauze and I was instructed to put pressure on it with another big gauze and so I did the bleeding has stopped a little and I had slept fine. I'm currently trying to keep the gauze in my mouth but I am very hungry and thirsty and struggling a lot. At least the bleeding has stopped now
I had an oral maxillofacial surgeon do mine. I elected to be put completely out for it, thank goodness. I had 4 upper teeth done using tissue from the roof of my mouth. I think one thing that made a difference on the pain was that he took skin from the outer edges of the roof of my mouth, not the top. He also used a long acting novocaine that lasted a day. For pain I took oxycodone 4x a day plus 3 Advil 4 x a day. The swelling did not start until day 3. It subsided after about 3 days. I kept ice packs on my face every 20 min too. As far as food, applesauce, oatmeal, grits, protein shakes, and soup. I did not try soft food like macaroni or a quiche until a week out. It's now been 2 weeks and things are healing nicely for the most part. There is one tooth that has the white gooey looking "skin" above it. I am not sure what to think of that though. I don't know if there is blood flow or if there is any graft under it. So, I may see if the dr will see me this week to check.
Thank you. I'm having this done to 4 teeth next week. I'll definitely remember your advice about taking care of yourself.