Hi Bryanna,

I went to the oral surgeon and we talked about a top denture and he mentioned doing alveoloplasty, with the other four teeth I need extracted. Then after we agreed that would be the way to go he dropped doing the 3 tooth extraction for today, my new appt is November 6th. I'll be going under general anesthesia. Kinda scary, but I will be fine I think. It's just that I want to know, this usually involves taking away tissue right? They aren't going to try to involve the hard pallette at the top of my mouth are they? I meant to ask, but it slipped my mind.

Is alveoloplasty something that will help my dentures fit better? Medicaid only covers one set for my lifetime, and I am thinking of getting care credit to cover the second ones sometime later. I was told Medicare and Medicaid will cover this surgery. I know there's going to be a lot of healing involved. but Is this probably the best way to go about this? I am going to have to travel to get impressions made for the denture. Is it preferable in terms of suffering vs good done from it, that this is all done at once? I was totally ready to lose three teeth today....But when we went to talk about my future, with dentures, this was brought up as was being under to extract the seven remaining teeth and shave the bone down.

Thanks for your advice on this Bryanna, I really appreciate it.

Hi Pamster,

The alveoplasty procedure is commonly done in patients who have had extractions done at different times in the same arch. This procedure will reshape and contour the bumpy areas along the bony ridge of jawbone and remove the uneven gum tissue that resulted from previous extractions. The hard palate is not involved. This procedure provides a stable bony ridge which aids in the fit of the complete denture.

In order to have an immediate denture inserted right after the surgery, you would have impressions made of both arches and one or more fittings before the fabrication of the denture. If you preferred to wait on the denture.... you would have to wait until the surgical sites were healed well enough to proceed with the impressions. This time frame varies from person to person.

Most of the time, it is advantageous to have the denture made prior and then inserted immediately after the surgery. The denture acts like a template as the surgerized areas heal to the shape of the denture. It also acts like a banade over these areas. You would need several adjustments for the first 2-3 weeks after the insertion of the denture. Most people doing really well with this treatment plan.

The IV sedation used in the oral surgeons office is called twilight sedation. It will put you to sleep for the procedure and then you will awake fairly easy afterwards and you will be very numb for several hours from the local anesthetic. So it's not the same thing that is used in the hospital OR for surgery.

Hope this helps....
Bryanna

Thank you for the information Bryanna, I really think I'll be fine, better off this way then I would have been going the other route of having the remaining 7 teeth extracted in two more appointments. How long does it typically take for the bleeding to stop after 7 extractions and the aveoloplasty? I know everyone is different, and I don't take any aspirin or blood thinners, so I am just wanting to know if I have the work done at 11-ish, under twillight sedation, if I'll be able to eat something, like tomato soup (room temp) or a milk shake? I am also wondering about healing time on this surgery. Will it be that the swelling will be down by 3 or 4 months? I really would like to get a top denture made in that time frame.

Thanks Bryanna for the valuable insight, we can always count on your input.

Hi Pamster,

So you are not going to go with the immediate denture? Just the extractions and a denture later on?

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna,

Unfortunately that's how it has to go, the extractions and aveoloplasty and then healing on a soft diet until February or even march, then I will get a denture made. I have to go OUT of our county to get it done even. This won't be easy, but at least the pain will stop. All 7 teeth hurt me.

Pamster,

Okay. I understand. I wish you could manage the immediate denture though because it would help with the healing so much.

I'm going to tell you the honest truth because you are asking to be prepared ahead of time. Hopefully you will be able to manage okay.

You need to understand that the surgical wounds will be closed as tightly as possible. Generally, the dentist will get what we call primary closure which is placing enough sutures to close as much tissue together as possible. However, there could be areas that this may not be possible. All of the surgical areas will heal in time.

The immediate denture would have acted like a bandage and protected the surgical sites. Without that denture, the healing will be slower. For one thing you will not be able to bite against the wounds with your bottom teeth. so chewing is out of the question until they have closed over. Even without actually chewing, debris from anything you eat or drink will accumulate on the wounds making bacteria a concern until the surgical sites have completely healed closed. You will need to see your dentist a few times or so for the first few weeks of healing. You will also need to be very careful about your soft food diet and diligent with salt water rinses 3-4 times a day.

Given the information that I have, you can understand how the healing can take several months without wearing an immediate denture. The initial inflammation can be significant because there is no tourniquet (the denture) preventing the wounds from swelling up. But the swelling does vary a lot from one person to another so this is not predictable. Some bleeding may occur for several days because there is no protection. So you may get bleeding after you eat or drink. Again, this is not predictable as to how long it will last.

Depending on how well and quick you heal will determine when the dentist can take impressions to fabricate the denture. I have known countless people who have taken this approach and healed really well within 6 weeks... others have taken a few months. It just all depends on the individual.

If your surgery is around 11 am and you are having twilight sedation.... you will need to eat within an hour of getting home. You will be given pain meds which will require something in your stomach to avoid unpleasantness later on. A nutritious milk shake or smoothie is a good option for the first meal. If you are able to juice vegetables and drink it .... that is even better and can be taken for the first few meals. The veggies give you instant nutrients which will speed the healing process.

Drink plenty of water throughout the day for several days. This helps to keep you hydrated, gets rid of toxins from the surgery and anesthesia and it also helps to keep the wounds clean.

I hope this is helpful to you...
You will be okay... I know you will

Bryanna