gum graft after surgery

I had a graft done on two front upper teeth to correct the problem that resulted from a damaged front tooth when I was a child that forced my adult teeth to come in above normal level, then corrected by braces, so not a cosmetic decision but an attempt to keep my teeth as I age (now 50).

I went in 1-2 weeks in advance to have a mold done to prepare stint.


The peridontist offered gas, which I declined, then gave me more shots than I have ever had for a filling. She did some cleaning (had my teeth cleaned a couple of weeks ago) first, then started on the removal of donor tissue and lots of sewing. Stitched the palate shut.Took 2 hours. The numbing was extensive and made me feel like I couldn't breath because it numbed my nose, but I was OK. Put the putty/liquid bandage set by laser across front teeth, put in stent and sent me home.

Prescription for heavy duty anti-inflamatory and preventative antibiotic. If I wasn't driving, they would have put an ice pack on my lip immediately. Same instructions as most everyone else--leave stint in for 24 hrs then as needed,rest, use ice pack, don't bend over, eat soft foods, sip cool tea, rinse with salt water, no air travel or smoking or alcohol or straws or biting into food for varying lengths of time. Also, sleep as upright as possible (they suggested a recliner) the first night to avoid swelling.

I was surprised how tired I was that day. I was OK around the house, but had trouble concentrating on work. I did get swelling of upper lip/cheeks that lasted for 4-5 days (I slept with 3 pillows). I had seeping blood from one graft first evening. Tea helped but it continued to seep in the night and I had a big blood clot behind/over the bandage next morning. I could tell when time to take another pain pill every day for 3 days from some throbbing. When I removed the stint it hurt to talk because of tongue hitting the roof. I used the ice pack all the second day as directed.

Because of holiday, I returned to have stitches from roof of mouth and bandage from teeth removed after 4 instead of 7 days. After that I left the stint out almost all the time to start the healing of the roof of my mouth. Now 10 days after the surgery I am comfortable, but have to watch out for sharp edges on food and toothbrush too close else starts light bleeding. The blood clot did fall off the graft, but that one looks white while the other one looks like normal gum. She used two different procedures--vertical incisions on the one that looks good and barrel? on the one that looks white and had the clot. Once the swelling went down I felt all the stitches and had to get used to the feelings like popcorn caught under gum line or floss stuck between teeth.

I go back to get the graft stitches out in another 10 days. Not much to do about the white gum except wait and see.

I am glad I had this done on a Friday. I would suggest a 2 or 3-day weekend if you are getting front top teeth done.

Beware, this is a long, tedious process. I had it done almost 2 weeks ago, and the roof of my mouth is still painful and healing. I've lost alot of weight because I can't eat a decent meal. Four days after the procedure, some of the stitches from the roof of my mouth broke open and it set me back a few days. That was absolutely miserable.
Just be prepared for a long healing process; had I know the recovery was so long I would not have done it. Never again will I have any other teeth done.

I had this done a week ago. I declined conscious sedation because I thought it was overkill. I opted for laughing gas.

The most painful part of the procedure were the novocaine injections. I've had plenty of these before, but they seemed particularly bad. But, it's over a minute. Other than that, the sounds of cutting into my mouth were unpleasant, and I remember feeling & tasting a lot of blood. I had 3 grafts and the procedure was over in 40 minutes.

It was a bit painful when the freezing was wearing off, but after this it was fine until swelling/pain spiked around the 4th/5th day. Today was the 6th day after and it's already much better.

The only problem I had was the 1st night-- my periodontist said it would be safe to use my nightguard, but it ended up disturbing the stitches and one of the donor sites in my mouth bled A LOT and it took about 1 hr to stop the bleeding. But if you don't have a nightguard, this isn't a problem.

It sounds like a lot of people posting in this thread had no idea what they were getting into... not a lot of previous dental work or surgeries. If you've had previous dental work like braces, wisdom teeth out or even a normal tooth pulled, this is nothing in comparison. I also wonder if people were having connective tissue grafts which takes more "skin." Mine were just free gingival grafts.

I would say the most annoying thing is not being able to eat hard foods. When you get a tooth pulled you eat as soon as you can but there is more of a "fear" of messing this up for a longer time afterwards.

Anyway, I hope I never need this done again, but if I do, it's not the end of the world.

i had a graft done the other morning. I was terrified going in because of all these message boards and reading people's bad experiences. I ahve to say, it was one of the easiest things ever.

I took a valium and vicodin about an hour before the procedure, the worst part was the shot of novicaine to the roof of the mouth but honestly it hardly hurt at all. it felt like the tiniest prick. My dentist used a numbing gel before injecting me which is probably why. I had headphones in during the procedure, which took about 30 minutes. I didn't feel a thing during, nor after. Even when the novicaine wore off, the pain meds completely took care of the pain.

3 hours after the procedure, i was getting a mani/pedi w/ a friend, went to the market, drank some wine that night.

It was easy and now, i dont even need tylenol.

I'm so angry at all the people that post saying it was awful, dont scare people!!!

I was told I need a free gingival graft on my lower teeth, between 4 and 6 teeth. My recession is pretty severe but I don't have major symptoms like sensitivity, loose teeth or anything. You also can't see the recession as it's on my lower teeth...although it is also starting on my upper teeth. I made the mistake of going to the same dental practice for 20 years and the hygienist just gabbed, did no education or anything and the new hygienist is the one who pointed it out. I am very angry and disappointed. i was definitely not brushing the right way, and I can't blame them entirely for that but once I found out I had the recession I changed my brushing technique and can only imagine if I had seen a different dentist 15 years ago, I'd be looking at a different mouth today

The periodontist said I could also consider the connective tissue graft but that results were not as predictable as the free gingival graft. I am going to do more research on this.

It seems the people here who had easy, breezy gum grafts had connective tissue as opposed to free gingival grafts. After reading the stories here, there is no way I am going to put myself through a free gingival graft. I keep seeing the word "barbaric" to describe the procedure. I think it would be helpful for people to note which type of a graft they underwent as the pain and suffering seems to differ dramatically from one to the next.

I had a graft done 8 days ago. I'm miserable. It's the pain on the roof of my mouth that is the worst. the graft's look and feel good - they didn't bother me much. a little bleeding days 1-2. The stent they gave me to protect my palate donor site just caused my teeth to move, which was more pain. I didn't use it that much...not at all after day 2. now im on day 8, i need to take ibprofuen every 4-6 hours still because i'm in such pain. i have lost 7 pounds so far because i can't eat. it's hard to talk. This cost $5,000. I go back in 6 more days to get stitches removed (the ones that havent dissolved).
I've gotten appendix removed, wisdom teeth, and tonsils. This one sucks worse than wisdom teeth, not as bad as tonsils. Although tonsils was a 2 week complete recovery time. This is going to be more i think.
I won't do this surgery again if you ask me now. Ask me in 10 more days, who knows. This sucks. The days aren't moving fast enough - i can't wait to be normal again.

I had a gum graft done on my lower right incisor last week Thursday (5 days ago). It was not that bad! I opted to just have novocaine shots, so I was fully conscious during the operation, but I was extremely numb. My periodontist insisted on making me a plastic retainer-thing to guard the donor site and from what I hear, wear it! I wore it constantly for 3 days afterwards and today I was able to keep it out for a long time. I had no narcotics, just ibuprofen and antibiotics and really the pain wasn't that bad. I would recommend icing the area a lot right away. I did that and I had barely any swelling and only a tiny bit of bruising. I also had VERY little bleeding...just a little oozing from the donor site. I ate a very liquidy-soft diet for the first few days, but I think I'll be able to eat almost anything again in a couple more days because everything's healing extremely well. I was even able to work out two days after the operation!

I think the more teeth you have done, the worse it is. Also, if you have a palate-guard made, it DRASTICALLY reduces the amount of pain/bleeding you'll have.

I had gum grafting on three lowers - about 8 days ago. Can anyone who has had this procedure speak about what the site should look like - the graft looks loose. I still have my stitches - I get these out the day after tomorrow - I'm not pulling my lower lip out - just peeking as I lower my chin. I can just feel the site where the graft is - move..Is this normal?
I'm getting worried - do some grafts not take?
Oh one more thing - I'm able to eat normal foods - should I still be on a soft/liqued diet? Not sure about that either - any help would be appreciated!
Smiles, runner

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Hi,
I am reading thru all of these posts wishing there were more follow-up posts from people a few weeks post-graft.

I had a graft 9 days ago. Yes, it was, and is, painful, but not as much as I anticipated. More annoying than anything. Anything that touches the donor site, including my tongue, hurts. The plastic palette (stent) is a HUGE help to protect that area from irritation....I highly recommend getting one of these made prior to surgery. Today, day 9, was the first time I did not wear it all day. I only put it in while eating to lessen irritation.

Eating, talking, and smiling are the hardest. I think not smiling in 9 days is starting to depress me! As is not eating 'real' food. I've had my fill of yogurt, applesauce, cottage cheese and soup. I can't wait until I can bite into something and chew! It's definitely good if you're looking to drop a few pounds.

My graft area has a solid white spot, so my biggest fear is that the graft did not take. That is what I wish I could find some responses too. I see a lot of people also had a white area, but I'm wondering how things turned out. Did the graft take? I saw a white area and went back to my periodontist to have it checked. He said it looks like the graft pulled back some. But he *thinks* there is still a blood supply to it. It stresses me out to look at it because the last thing I want is to have to repeat this!

My advice is: take an iPod to wear during the surgery to keep your mind relaxed and focused elsewhere. I also had laughing gas. Start taking ibuprofen before your surgery, and continue with it for the first few days. I had an Rx of 600 mg. Ice the area religiously for the first 24-48 hours. I kept up with the ice and ibuprofen and think this really helped to reduce pain and swelling. Day 3 was actually worse than day 1 or 2. Stock up your refrigerator and pantry with as many soft foods as you can think of as your diet will get old real fast!

Wanted to post a message about an issue I couldn't seem to find an answer to -- whether it was a bad sign if there were significant areas of grey/white on the gum.

I had my graft done 11 days ago. Palate healed fine (stent was wonderful--I think that makes all the difference!) but I have been so worried about my graft site as there were several white patches. Just had followup with oral surgeon and he said that it is healing well, those are just like scabs healing on a wound and they will come off and area will "pink up". Whew.

Eat a soft diet, take your meds, keep the stent in for several days, keep the area clean. Just not nearly as big a deal as I expected!

It has been two weeks and my palate is still bleeding excessive - dentist - I used my general dentist which probably was a mistake - has told me to just use tea bags with pressure to stop the bleeding as more attempts to for him to burn the vessals close are likely making it worse rather than better. Hard to eat or work with a tea bag in my mouth - besides already being on a soft diet. A couple of hours 1 to 3 hours of pressure usually teh bleeding with stop - only to start again ahout 12 to 24 hours later. Also have a stint I've been wearing. Very disappointed. Will definitely not go through the same procedure again -- will explore my options and will use a periodontist. I have some upper teeth/gums that also need repair.

Hi guys, I am a 24 yr old male and just had my first graft on two lower teeth/gums. I had the graft on Monday and today is now Thursday. They gave me a plastic retainer for the roof of my mouth to cover the donor area. The donor area is a bloody circle/patch and feels quite disgusting and I cannot go without wearing the retainer because my tongue will touch the area and spread the gross tasting blood around my mouth.. very unpleasant.

Anyways, I am looking at the gums today of where the graft was done and it looks gross and white.. ALSO I notice the area is very stiff and it basically feels like a numb little bump under my lower lip. I find it kind of difficult to just smile or laugh because that area feels numb/dead..

How long does it take for the new skin to return to normal/color/feeling and for this nightmare to end?

thanks

i had skin graph last Friday morning , 5 graphs from the top of my mouth, and my teeth are killing me. and my gums are so sore I can barely eat a bannana without it hurting the top of my mouth. As far as the surgery, I didn't feel anything. The pain in my teeth is awful. I can hardly bear it. Does anyone have any advice for me? Drinking anything except water at normal temperature hurts me too. and today is Wednesday.

its not as painful as people describe it...

actually its not bad at all. i mean come on my periodontics assistant was making jokes while me and my periodontics was laughing during the procedure. literally i was laughing while she was sewing up the roof of my mouth

its REALLY NOT BAD the only pain i felt was from the needles that were suppose to numb me.

after that i just went home and ice packed my face continuously, took the pills and ate liquid foods.

i was talking and cleaning my house after the surgery. no discomfort

barely tasted blood and was feeling pretty awesome exepct the fact that i really wanted to eat real food.

maybe it depends on what kind of periodontics each person gets? she gave me a few needle shots to numb the area of my mouth good.

advice i can give is to bring an ipod, be relaxed and just fall asleep during the procedure.

you'll hear alot of scraping and drilling but it doesnt hurt. it shouldnt....

this is way better than the wisdom teeth surgery. i didnt have any pain at all from the wisdom teeth surgery but i was soooo swollen. the gum graft had very little swelling and no pain