Personal Anyone have experience with gum grafts?

[pamperedbecky]

Instead of freaking myself out more by googling "gum grafts" and reading all kinds of crazy stories, I thought I'd ask here if anyone has had to do this. I saw the periodontist today and am a little freaked out. I have to get this done - NOT FUN!

If anyone has had any experience with this I'd love to know how bad it was and what recovery was like: how long it took to recover (eat, talk normally, not be in pain), when you would have felt comfortable doing a show afterwards, would you recommend being sedated for it (I have that option), etc.

For those of you who haven't heard of this, it's just like it sounds....taking skin/tissue from another area (the roof of your mouth) and attaching/suturing it to your gums where it's needed. NASTY! It's basically done in cases like mine to prevent further gum recession so my teeth don't eventually fall out. NICE.

Anyway, any info would be appreciated. :blushing: Thanks!

 

[fikibiff]

We just put $$ in our FSA for next year so my husband can have it done. You're right, it does not sound like fun.

 

[Jessamary]

My dad had it done when I was a kid. I don't want to scare you. You may be better off googling.

 

[pamperedbecky]

We just put $$ in our FSA for next year so my husband can have it done. You're right, it does not sound like fun.

Wow - yeah - that's a whole other issue---it's NOT cheap! I need to find out what my dental coverage might take care of.

 

[kcjodih]

Sorry Becky I'm not of much help. DH is planning on getting it done in the new year. He's well over due but our dental coverage doesn't cover most of it and the whole thought of it kinda freaks him out - just like you! Hopefully someone can post and alleviate both yours and his fears

 

[gingertannery]

I would go for the drugs... A friend had it done many years ago.. but said it was extremely painful. It should be easier to keep you comfortable now. Good news.. after it is over it is well worth it all.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Anything you can do to keep your teeth is worth the effort. Trust me - I know this. While I never went through the grafts, I've been through enough oral surgery to know that it isn't fun. (Well, actually, the surgery itself was kinda fun - I don't know what kind of drugs they had me on, but I was in another orbit and I volunteer to go back for more, anytime, but they keep turning me down.) Seriously though, ask them about hyberbaric oxygen therapy for enhancing your recovery. I know that my oral surgery recovery was incredibly fast with the HBOT and my surgeon was impressed with the speed with which my tissues healed. (I'm a big fan of HBOT, too.)

 

[DebbieJ]

A friend of mine had it done. So sorry Becky.I am probably heading in the same direction, so we can commiserate at some point.

 

[princessmeshelle]

i may be headed that way some day. my fault though. have a stud throu my toung for 6 years. i wasn't the type to play with, but it still affected my gum line on the inner lower front...

 

[chefsteph07]

I had this done 4 years ago...

I was not sedated, I was shot up w/ Novacaine...it took about 45 minutes and they took a nice patch from the roof of my mouth and transplanted it in my gumline. I was in some discomfort for about a week. It healed up really nice though and everything's ok.

If you have ever had braces it probably won't phase you much. I've had the gamut done to my mouth, braces, wisdom teeth, I had numerous dental scalings, so this was just "another thing".(all this, and I've never had one cavity!) If you are only used to having cleanings every 6 months it may affect you a little more.

I don't think you need the sedation, but I guess it depends on how sensitive you think your mouth is.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[pamperedbecky]

Thanks everyone for your feedback!

I've never had braces, but I've had the root scaling/planing/deep cleaning done. ONce I think I had novocaine and once without.

If I end up not having it done until Feb when my actual appt is, I will probably do the sedation thing because by then I will have worked myself up into such a frenzy. If they end up having a cancellation and I get in more quickly without much time to think about it, maybe I won't. We'll see!

And I suppose if I have a show relatively soon after and I still shouldn't be talking too much, this is a perfect time for an interactive show. That'll be my plan.

 

[BethCooks4U]

My son had it done when he was a bout 12 or 13. I don't remember it being a big deal at all so don't worry! Hope you heal fast!

 

[chefsteph07]

Thanks everyone for your feedback!

I've never had braces, but I've had the root scaling/planing/deep cleaning done. ONce I think I had novocaine and once without.

If I end up not having it done until Feb when my actual appt is, I will probably do the sedation thing because by then I will have worked myself up into such a frenzy. If they end up having a cancellation and I get in more quickly without much time to think about it, maybe I won't. We'll see!

And I suppose if I have a show relatively soon after and I still shouldn't be talking too much, this is a perfect time for an interactive show. That'll be my plan.

The talking is no big deal, no problems there. You should be fine. If you can make it through the scaling, this is similar.

Isn't peridontal disease FUN?

 

[jetcitysandy]

My DH and I had one done on the same day. I got mine first and the peridontist told me to go get a milkshake for both DH and myself since it is good to get the cold on the roof of your mouth right away and I think it helped. I might have taken one or two of the pain medicine but Advil took care of most of the pain. I didn't think it was too big of a deal to have it done. It sounds worse than it is and the skin in the roof of your mouth grows back in pretty fast.

Sandy

 

[chefsteph07]

I don't even remember getting pain meds, but I was 4 months pregnant at the time so maybe they didn't rx me any.

 

[get_cooking]

I had this done! They actually took three patches from the roof of my mouth and put them in three spots on my gumline, upper right, lower right, upper left. So I had a fairly large patch out of the top. Have you ever gotten pizza burn on the roof of your mouth? That's what it's like. Not the pain of the actual hot pizza, but the rawness afterwards. Since I had three grafts at once, I really didn't have any good spot to chew food that first week, so I ate a lot of soups and softer things. I think they gave me vicodin for post-surgery pain and I never took any of them. I did go the sedation route, just becuase the thought of what they were doing creeped me out! I had my eyes shut for most of it, but I groggily opened them at one point, only to see a tiny square of my skin passing on forcepts in front of my face. EWWWWW!! Any rate, my aunt who took me for the surgery and I still laugh about how funny I was after. We went for a smoothie and my lips were numb still so I couldn't suck through the straw and had to hold my lips closed with my fingers. We find this hysterical.

Don't be scared! I didn't think it was that bad. After the surgery, they 'packed' my graft sites and the roof of my mouth with this stuff like silly putty. I went home and just kind of slept off the sedative and by the time I woke up, the silly putty had come off the roof of my mouth. No biggie. (And I was glad to get it the heck out of there.) I truly do not remember much pain. More just the irritation with having to be so careful about not eating anything cruncy (that would essentially scratch the remaining skin off the roof of my mouth) and gingerly brushing my teeth, stuff like that. If you're only having one side or one area done, that wouldn't be bad at all.

 

[pamperedbecky]

I had this done! They actually took three patches from the roof of my mouth and put them in three spots on my gumline, upper right, lower right, upper left. So I had a fairly large patch out of the top. Have you ever gotten pizza burn on the roof of your mouth? That's what it's like. Not the pain of the actual hot pizza, but the rawness afterwards. Since I had three grafts at once, I really didn't have any good spot to chew food that first week, so I ate a lot of soups and softer things. I think they gave me vicodin for post-surgery pain and I never took any of them. I did go the sedation route, just becuase the thought of what they were doing creeped me out! I had my eyes shut for most of it, but I groggily opened them at one point, only to see a tiny square of my skin passing on forcepts in front of my face. EWWWWW!! Any rate, my aunt who took me for the surgery and I still laugh about how funny I was after. We went for a smoothie and my lips were numb still so I couldn't suck through the straw and had to hold my lips closed with my fingers. We find this hysterical.

Don't be scared! I didn't think it was that bad. After the surgery, they 'packed' my graft sites and the roof of my mouth with this stuff like silly putty. I went home and just kind of slept off the sedative and by the time I woke up, the silly putty had come off the roof of my mouth. No biggie. (And I was glad to get it the heck out of there.) I truly do not remember much pain. More just the irritation with having to be so careful about not eating anything cruncy (that would essentially scratch the remaining skin off the roof of my mouth) and gingerly brushing my teeth, stuff like that. If you're only having one side or one area done, that wouldn't be bad at all.

Thanks for the input. Yes, I've heard about that pizza burn thing and although that's SO annoying when that happens, it's not the end of the world. I'm just crossing my fingers they have a cancellation before Feb. 3rd so I can get it done with. I'm lucky because all three sites are on the right side of my mouth. He felt the other 3 areas of recession on the left side weren't too bad and he didn't recommend doing anything with those (thank God!). So, at least I'll have one good side to chew on. I think I'll try the sedative too just so I don't drive myself crazy. That's funny about opening your eyes once and seeing the skin (well, not really) but the straw story is even funnier! I hear they say to drink things like shakes and smoothies to help. I'm all for that! I'll have to scope out the closest Oberweis (does anyone have those outside of Chicagoland?? Oh my GOSH those are the best vanilla shakes)

And, hey, this might be a good start to a better eating diet in the new year (well, except for all the shakes)! Crunchy things are my weakness, so that's one way to cut them out of my diet for a little while.

Thanks for the info!

 

[pamperedbecky]

Well, they DID have a cancellation so I'll be going in to have the surgery on Dec. 29th to have it done. I'm glad I can get it out of the way. And I don't have a show until Jan. 4th, so I think that'll give me time to be back to normal.

AND I'm going to do the sedative! I'll take some Ativan the night before they said, then an hour before surgery. Good thing we had no plans for New Years.

 

[chefsteph07]

Good luck Becky!
Let us know how it goes for you!

 

[gailz2]

I had it about 25 years ago and sure, the roof of the mouth is the most uncomfortable part. You could probably do a show the next day if needed, but a few days off is nice. The mouth does heal ever so quickly. I just had the novocaine. Sipping cold drinks seemed to be helpful. It wasn't really a big deal.

 

[ChefJoyJ]

I had this done when I was in 3rd grade. Crazy, I know. I don't remember much about it, other than it wasn't as painful as I was told it should be. I haven't been to the dentist in years (I know, I know...) and am planning on going again in the next month. I am pretty sure they're going to want to do a gum graft again on the teeth beside where my other graft was done. It's the front lower teeth, which will make biting anything less than fun after the procedure. We'll see what they say though...

Good luck and let us know how it goes! I'll definitely be thinking of you!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Well, they DID have a cancellation so I'll be going in to have the surgery on Dec. 29th to have it done. I'm glad I can get it out of the way. And I don't have a show until Jan. 4th, so I think that'll give me time to be back to normal.

AND I'm going to do the sedative! I'll take some Ativan the night before they said, then an hour before surgery. Good thing we had no plans for New Years.

I dunno. Sounds to me like you're going to be having your own New Year's Ever party!

 

[pamperedbecky]

I dunno. Sounds to me like you're going to be having your own New Year's Ever party!

Ha!! Yeah, who knows what kind of pain meds they may supply me with but I've never had anything stronger than Tylenol with Codeine, so it'll be a fun party to see what first the Ativan does and then whatever afterwards.

Good point!!