gum grafting recovery

Hi My partner has just had a gum graft and cannot tolerate the guard the docs made for the roof of her mouth. She really wants to remove it has anyone done this or needed to do this.?

does the surgery leave a permanent hole in the roof of your mouth? or does it eventually fill in again? i saw a picture online of a guy who showed where his gum was taken from and there was definitely an area dented in.

I had gum graft surgery on Friday September 10, 2010. It is now Monday September 13. My periodontist prescribed an anti-anxiety pill, which I did take before the procedure. The procedure went fine -- not any worse than having a filling (easier, in some ways, because there isn't any drilling). The worst part was the novacaine shots, but really not that bad.

When the novacaine wore off in the evening, I did feel some pain, so I took a vicodin. But when I woke up on Saturday, I didn't feel any pain. I did some light housework, walked to the grocery store, and watched a movie. I went to work today.

They made a "stent" for the roof of my mouth, to help protect the donor site. I still wear it quite a bit -- otherwise my tongue wants to keep exploring the site, and I just feel better with it protected -- especially when I eat! I'm still just eating soft food. The graft was placed over the back molars on the bottom right side of my mouth. I have some swelling on my face, but no bruising. The swelling is much less today.

Really, the procedure was not that bad, and the recovery is going well. The worst part is not being able to brush all my teeth, but one of the post-medications I have is an oral rinse that does help your mouth feel clean.

I had the surgery with a alloderm (foreign graft) so they didn't cut the roof of my mouth. I bleed a little for about an hour after surgery. Began eating normally in about 2 hours after surgery but on one side of my mouth. It didn't hurt at all so I never used the pain meds they prescribed. It did swell some but I put some ice on it. Wast at work early the next morning and felt bad about taking the rest of the afternoon off after surgery.

I had the surgery last week above my front top tooth where the gum line was receding above my cap. The Dr. totally numbed the area so I barely felt a thing during the procedure. I also had a foreign graft so the impact was just to my front upper gum. The first four morning afterward I woke up with some swelling and soreness that subsided during the day with the help of an anti-inflammatory. The dressing that was placed on my gum feels similar to taking a piece of chewing gum and mashing it between my upper lip and gum. I was careful to eat only things I could cut-up and chew with my back teeth. Biting down on a sandwich or an apple is not an option right now until I visit the Dr. next week. I would equate this to having my wisdom teeth being removed in terms of discomfort and soreness but to a smaller area.

I had the procedure done three days ago. Honestly, for me the worst part about everything so far is the anxiety. The pain was the worst following the procedure once the novacaine wore off, luckily it was at night and a pain killer put me right back to sleep. Three days in the worst thing regarding pain is just a dull ache. I am in a work environment that puts me talking to clients everyday. I did a half day following the procedure do to not being able to talk due to the swelling. Three days in my speach has improved significantly and havent missed any work since the day following surgery. As for the anxiety I mentioned earlier, it is in relation to the fact that you are worried that every little move you make with your mouth is detrimental to do the procedure being successful. As the swelling decreases you start being more aware of the little things inside your mouth that have been done and it freaks you out because you aren't used to it being there. Whether its the way yoru gum feels near the area of the surgery or a sucher being loose. I don't have a protective device covering the roof of my mouth. Each day I worry about something different whether its the donor site or the actual graft. Each day the swelling has decreased.

I had gum surgery for the second time in several months a week ago because there were still a few deep pockets left in my gums. One always forgets severe pain. I now remember how painful the recovery was the first time, and it's pretty much the same this time, except it feels worse...probably because today's pain is always worse. Others have mentioned that their pain didn't really kick in for a few days to a week and that's been the case for me. The first three days I thought nothing much about it. I could live with the stitches and it was kind of fun to be losing weight because I couldn't eat anything solid and didn't want much of anything soft, either. I exercised fully and took my anti-biotics and pain pills as instructed. Then, after a few days, the stitches started to come lose and just about made me ill. I ran back to the periodontist and had them removed, thinking I'd feel a lot better. Of course, it was a relief to have those threads not sticking out of my mouth and tangling with food (ugh) but at that point I started to have real pain in the roof of my mouth and pain pills didn't cut it. So I stopped taking them: MISTAKE! Never, ever stop taking a narcotic cold. Always reduce a little at a time. (The dentist never told me this, and the first time I just used pain pills right to the end of the recovery.) I got light-headed and nauseated and feel very disoriented. It's day 7 and I have bad pain off and on but I know my mouth is healing and it's just a matter of time. I am a little concerned about the effects of the pain killer withdrawal, and am drinking a lot of water to get it out of my system. Gum surgery itself isn't bad, because one is usually sedated, and the first few days your mouth/body is in shock so you won't feel it. But be prepared to grapple with some discomfort and pain for about 10-14 days in all, maybe more for others. In any case, I feel it's worth it to be without periodontal disease.

I had grafting done yesterday on my two lower front teeth. They took a long strip from my roof of the mouth, upper right side along the teeth. My dentist also fit me with a cheap flimsy clear plastic piece that reminds me of teeth bleaching trays with roof coverage. Yesterday evening after surgery, the top tooth/roof guard was bloody inside of it, but my dr said not to remove it or rinse the area & this was normal. I was kinda freaked out because my husband thought something was wrong, but it was normal. The guard helps a lot but it's very strange to have to chew on any of the "recommended" soft noodle soup. (yuck).. My stitches are sort of poking my bottom lip too, I looked at them & they have very long strands at the end. The paperwork I was sent home with says I can "trim" those with sterile scissors but I think I'll let my dentist do it in a couple of days :( The wound on the bottom looks WEIRD! It is mostly white with bloody areas around the graph in between stitches. I was hoping to read about what this should look like when healing properly, since if it doesn't then I may have to repeat this procedure (boo). When I got done with surgery, I took 2 antibiotics prescribed and one more before bed. I didn't want any infection problems. Also, I took half of one hydrocodeine pills prescribed, then another half every 4 hours afterwards through the night. I took 4 advil before the first pain pill kicked in because the pain was bad. I slept horrible. The pain pills made me feel crappy but did stop the soreness. I'm skipping the pain pills today going forward & have only been taking 3 advil every 4 hours plus the regular antibiotics. The pain is minimal, I just feel like I got hit in the chin really hard, but not bone aches type of pain. The food thing is a joke. I've tried to eat the soft foods recommended but chewing with this guard on is gross. Plus pieces get under it & in the graph area. I would recommend only eating/drinking liquid, very smooth kinds. Soup and ice cream that is not purely smooth isnt working for me at all. The mouth wash they sent home with me works, it says use 2x day but I have been using it every 2-3 hours, i'm just holding it in my mouth around the stitches for about 10 minutes since it seems to ease the pain a lot. I hope this helps you guys. This is my experience, I am more curious as to what others graph sights look like? I don't care to do this ever again.

I had gum grafting about 3 wks. ago and the main graft in the front did not take. I feel left out in the cold.

Just had this surgery 12 days ago.Was very aware of what to expect.Did very well for first 9 days.When the patch to the roof of the mouth falls off, the real pain starts.Unable to tolerate even my own saliva.Talking is painful.Thanks God for Orabase and Bendadent to numb the area so I can at least drink protein shakes. Oh,well, I could use the weight loss.I took 3 days off from work and am toughing it out now. Good luck. Some suggestions: cold compresses to the graft site x 48 hrs.Keep up with the anti inflammatory med.Save some pain med for when the donor site graft falls off. Stock up on mashed potatoes, eggs, Slim Fast.Constipation can be a problem due to pain med,decreased intake.Try prune juice and Senakot.

I had the gum graft done last night. When I got to the office I kept telling my dentist "I have a very low pain tolerence" in hopes that he would knock me out for it but he did not. He did the novacaine needles I'm assuming but they did not hurt at all and then once they were done I was completly numb! I would say the worst part about the needles was I tasted some of it which was pretty gross but my dentist let me drink some water and what not. Then he went on to begin my surgery. Let me tell you I was so numb I couldn't even tell he was in my mouth. The graft went great, it was fast, and painless! After he was done he put this thing he called "gum" over the areas where he removed the graft and then again where he added the gum in. He told me these would eventually fall out but the longer they stay in the better. Before I left his office he told me not to eat anything hot for 12 hrs but after that I'd be good to eat anything just be careful where I chew. Unfortunately as soon as I got into the car the pain kicked in, luckily he prescribed me with tylenol with codeine so I told my mom to rush to the pharmacy. At one point I was actually crying because it hurt so bad, it almost felt like I had ripped my stitches out but I know that wasn't the case. As soon as I got home I took one of my pills and grabbed a lemon water ice. Once the medicine kicked in I felt some relief and I would say my pain went down to 4 which was bearable. I used an ice pack and that also helped alot and then just went to sleep for the night. My dentist said I wouldn't miss any school but I woke up this morning and the thought of going to class like this was ridicioulous. The pain wasn't as bad but I had this packing on the front of my mouth and I hadn't brushed my teeth in about 12 hrs so I'm sure I smell great. My mouth also tastes gross. I'm just hoping I can possibly eat some soup or something today, I read that someone had mac and cheese so I may try that!

I had my third gum graft on Friday and today is Sunday. I hope this is my last. Not to scare anyone, because you have to get it, but plan for at least 4-5 days recovery. I'm no wimp, but the pain is intense. I just had novocaine for the actual procedure - was not offered any other sedative unfortunately. Getting the novacaine was worst part. Expect pain to peak after 48 hrs. I had a bad reaction to the antibiotic they put me on - made me puke, so i stopped taking it. Still taking the oxycodone, but this also makes me queasy, so i will try to wean off to advil. Be careful not to become dehydrated, which is easy to do. Good luck!

I had graft surgery on the 10th, and am registered to run a half marathon on the 21st... am wondering if I should sit out, since I obviously can't train this (or maybe even next) week.  I am still taking pain pills and using an ice pack for swelling. (1 week pre-race).  Perhaps I should have asked the doc about running, or postponed the surgery 2 weeks.  hmmm.  Thoughts?

I had a gum graft surgery on my two lower molars two days ago and wondering when the swelling will go away. It is quite painfull even with Advil, although it wasn't that bad actually painwise. I removed the plastic protector the same day because the sight of the  accumulated blood freaked me out, plus it was impossible to eat, or talk, or drink with it at all. Now, my major problem is the swelling, my face looks so weird now and I have to sit at work right in front of everyone (sucks). I wish I had my own office :-(
The pain is somewhat managable, although now that I read all the posts above it looks like I should wait for more to come for some reason. That's not very encouraging. The top of my mouth doesn't hurt although I removed that plastic thing. Does that mean there is a patch or something? I need to ask my dentist about it.
Now please somebody tell me how long did it take for you to normally eat, drink, talk, look, and do some excercise? Btw, I went back to work the next day.

Although the original poster asked this question over a year ago, I will share my experience. The worst part of this is the anticipation and stressing. As soon as the needle for the Novocain went in (worst part) I was numb. When he probed around asking if I could feel anything, I said yes. I was given something two times after the first injection. After that it was just listening (very little talking) and then the dentist would periodically ask the assistant for various tools. This was not a big deal. Pizza or food burns hurt more from the piece of skin they removed from the roof of my mouth on the left side. I only took 2 vicodin total. I had the surgery Tuesday at 2pm and it is now Saturday morning. The only thing that surprises me is I only found one response where someone talked about a funny smell. Mine is minor, but disgusting. Other than that, I am healing freakishly fast. I guess it really does depend on how someone heals. Also, I am on a blood thinner that the dentist said not to stop talking. Don't know if anyone was or is in the same boat as me. I am scheduled to have my stitches taken out on July 9th. That is about 10 days from now. I believe it will need to be sooner. If anyone has any questions or concerns feel free to shoot me an email and I will share any information I experience after this post. Good-luck to people in the future having this done. It was not at all bad. I was surprised at how fast the surgery went. Most say an hour, but mine has about an hour and 45 minutes. jayzookie1@pacbell.net