Hi Jane,
Congratulations on going through with this all of this... it is a huge undertaking and you did it!!!!
Regarding the medication issue.... I personally would have taken the full prescription of the antibiotic due to the extent of the surgery and the grafting..... and not taken the pain meds (unless absolutely necessary) and definitely not the steroids. There is a possibility that you have some bacterial issue going on but it may be hard to determine that at this point. It is fairly common for patients to have some temporary numbness after extensive oral surgery. It usually goes away completely but the time frame varies from case to case. The laser therapy may be very helpful as it stimulates the blood flow and encourages the immune system to send healing cells. Please mention this therapy to the oral surgeon so he can make note of it in your chart.
I would definitely tell the surgeon about the medication issue so he is aware of it and so he can make note of it in your chart. He may or may not want you to take the antibiotic now. To be honest with you..... when dental patients do not follow through with the prescribed post op protocol we feel like they didn't do their homework and we are then unsure of the outcome. Perhaps more dentists and assistants should emphasize to their patients that the outcome of the best performed surgery depends on the skill of the surgeon, the sterilization practices and the at home follow up care
So please inform the oral surgeon about the meds as this may alter his treatment protocol for you which would only benefit you in the long run.
Keep us posted!!
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by KSMacy
I had all my teeth extracted one month ago. I had written a post here looking for information prior to the surgery and appreciate the help I received from Bryanna. It was very assuring to me as I was using dentists and oral surgeon who I did not know. We had recently moved to this area and didn't know anyone to ask for a referral.
The surgery went very well, better than I anticipated. The OS did bone grafting at the same time and I had stitches on my upper and lower gums which were removed after 2 weeks. I had minimal pain and no infection nor bleeding.
The surgeon wanted me to take antibiotics the day prior to surgery and to continue for 2 weeks after. He also prescribed steroid and pain meds. I did not take any of the meds except for the steroids but only took that for 3 days.
I felt I healed quickly and didn't like the side affects of the antibiotic. The temporary dentures were my biggest problem and still are but that is not the reason for this post.
I have had numbness of my lip and the right side of my chin. Only the right side is affected. My lip has some tingling sensation but my right chin is fairly numb. I also notice some slight drooping of my lip on that side.
I mentioned it to the Oral Surgeon during my follow-up. He had me close my eyes and asked me to point to the direction of his touching my chin with a stick. I did and he said he saw some 'muteness' of the nerve and wanted me to come back in 3 weeks to recheck. He didn't say he was concerned or not so I will see him next week for recheck. I'm worried that I caused this problem by not taking all the medications he prescribed. I didn't tell him but he didn't ask.
The dentist I am using for the dentures said it is very common. She gave me some laser treatments on my chin and said it has been shown to be effective.
Anyway, I'm hoping Byranna reads this and gives me her opinion. I'm sorry for the length of this post. I tried to add the link to my previous post but the website wouldn't allow it.
Thank you,
Jane
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