Next Thursday I will have oral surgery where they cut/scrape the skin off the roof of my mouth, then sew it on to my gums. Then they pack my gums in a substance (like clay?) and put the "clay" on the roof of my mouth.

I drank drano when I was 3, had false teeth around 4-5 years old. My permanent teeth came in, but I have had trouble with them all of my life. I have been told this was coming for years.

I asked how long I would have the "clay" in my mouth and they said they didn't know. No brushing, no flossing, rinse my mouth with Chlorhexidine Gluconate Oral Rinse. The nicest thing the bottle says is that it stains our teeth.

Have any of you had this done? I have 3 areas that need the work. So after 3 weeks I go back in for .... sorry, can't remember, I think to get the stitches out. Then, as soon as the skin grows back enough, we do it again.

Have any of you had this surgery?

Oh my goodness Dllfo! You drank Drano??? Aaaaccckkkk!!!

You have to go thru all this, then do it all over again??? Holy cow!

Man, that's awful!!! So sorry for you. I hope you are able to endure all this in the hopes of a brighter (okay, maybe a little stained) smile. Like this:

Sending up a prayer for you. Keep us posted, K?

Twinkletoes,

Thanks for the kind words ... my teeth are hurting bad enough I am taking oxycodone a couple times a day before the surgery, so I don't really have any choice. I just hope the skin graft "takes".
The other good news is I may need to do this again before I die.
Yuk!!

Hi dllfo,

The procedure you have described is called free gingival grafting. I believe we wrote about this in a previoud thread.

The tissue on the palate (roof of the mouth) is very thick, not at all like the thinner gum tissue around your teeth. During a free gingival graft procedure, a small rectangular, thin layer is shaved or gently cut from the palate. This piece of tissue is them sutured over the area of the tooth that is missing gum tissue. The "clay" that you speak of is not actually packed into anything. This is a thin piece of "clay like" material that looks similar to silly putty and it is placed over the surgical areas as a bandade. Most of the time it falls off of the palate within a day or two which is usually ok but it stays on the newly grafted site for about a week.

You should brush and floss all of your teeth (except the surgical sites) twice a day to keep the plaque level down. The chlorhexadine has a tendency to temporarily stain your teeth but it will come off when you have your teeth cleaned.

You mentioned going back and having it done again?? I assume you mean you will have 2-3 visits to complete all 3 areas with each site being done at each visit. The palate need to heal in between visits so it is imperative to have excellent oral hygiene during the healing process. A clean mouth will also help the grafts integrate with the gum tissue. If the mouth is not clean and plaque accumulates, the grafts may become infected and not take.

Let us know how things are going!!

Bryanna

Thanks again, keeping my mouth clean is not a problem. I typically brush my teeth about 3 times a day and floss as high as 4 or 5, depending on whether I just ate an apple or a sandwich, etc. It will be hard not to flush the bottom teeth when I am eating.

I will take my wife with me when I go. She is the designated driver, although I figure I could drive home later in the day. Her memory is much better than mine. As I like to say, "She provides adult supervision".

She watches ER and things like that and I won't watch them give a shot on TV. When I had the implant put in my heart last summer I told the surgeon I really didn't want to know the procedure. Please knock me out and wake me up afterward. He smiled and did just that. Same with this procedure.

Hi Dave,

I assume that you told the oral surgeon about your recent heart surgery and the implantation of a valve or stent?? Sometimes people who have had certain surgical procedures involving the heart or other major organ are prescribed an antibiotic prior to dental surgery.

If you are prescribed an antibiotic, then it is a good idea to supplement with a probiotic which will help to replenish the good bacteria in the gut that the antibiotic kills off. One that we suggest in our office is called Culturelle. It can be bought online a their site or in a large drug store. It should not be taken at the same time as the antibiotic but rather one hour before or after. Generally you would take one or two capsules a day while on the antibiotic and then one per day for about a month or longer afterwards. For optimal health, many integrative physicians suggest a daily dosage of a probiotic for life!

Let us know how things go!

Bryanna



QUOTE=dllfo;253998]Thanks again, keeping my mouth clean is not a problem. I typically brush my teeth about 3 times a day and floss as high as 4 or 5, depending on whether I just ate an apple or a sandwich, etc. It will be hard not to flush the bottom teeth when I am eating.

I will take my wife with me when I go. She is the designated driver, although I figure I could drive home later in the day. Her memory is much better than mine. As I like to say, "She provides adult supervision".

She watches ER and things like that and I won't watch them give a shot on TV. When I had the implant put in my heart last summer I told the surgeon I really didn't want to know the procedure. Please knock me out and wake me up afterward. He smiled and did just that. Same with this procedure.[/QUOTE]

Bryanna,
I told the doctor about the heart implant. I will be taking Ciprofloxacin 250mg twice a day. I am allergic to a couple of other anti-biotics. Culturelle? Dr. Mom says she has not heard of it,but knows we can buy Probiotics. We will look for it. We got yogurt for me. I have taken 500mg Cipro before, without side effects. But this is a new ball game.

How do we know which website is honest? Which one is putting the correct ingredients in the pill/capsule? And dosage. I am not sure how much to take. With 250mg x 2 a day. Thanks for the heads up, I have more than enough problems, I don't need any more.

You are a real blessing for us....Dave

Hi Dave,

Did you have the graft done yesterday??

You can purchase Culturelle at www.culturelle.com or at www.vitacost.com, just two places of many on the web that sell the pure product. As for the dosage, one pill a day is recommended for daily usage. While on an any type of antibiotic, 2 pills a day, one in the am and another before you go to bed at night would be very beneficial. Just do not take it at the same time as the antibiotic because they are contraindicated of one another.

Natural unsweetened yogurt without any added sugar or preservatives is good to eat but it does not have the potency of the good bacteria like probiotics in pill form do. So you are getting a better dose in the form of the pill.

Hope you are doing well..... please check in with us!

Bryanna