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

Well, they did it on Thursday. Thanks to a lot of great people in this website I was prepared. As much as you can get ready.

My wife is going up to get an MRI for a lump in her breast. Both her mom and grandmother died of breast cancer, so today is a stressful day for us. She is stressed over leaving me home alone because I might quit breathing and not start up again. But my Service Dog reminded us she can be counted on again. When I started snoring she came over to me and wagged her tail over my face. A Portuguese Water Dog's tale swishing over your is like a Cat. I Hurricane. Then she licked my face, so I should be ok.

I like to kid around, but when I stop to realize the procedures some of you are going through, I don't feel like I have the right to complain too much. I am a pretty lucky guy. God Bless all of you for taking the time to help us....Dave

This posting is not intended to "gross anyone out". If you are not contemplating oral surgery where they slice the roof of your mouth off and sew/glue it to your gums, you don't need to read it. I am disappointed with the procedure so far. I have more operations scheduled, but may cancel them with this doctor.

It has been 5 days since they did my oral surgery. I hurt as much or more today as I did then. I find that odd.

I have one can of Chicken Noodle Soup a day and give the solid part to my 4 legged kid. I drink protein drinks and something else. No V-8. I am taking my meds like I always do, but I added some class II to help with the additional pain.

They will tell you the roof of your mouth will feel like it does when you scrape it with a spoon or knife. That is almost true. If you were to scrape the roof of your mouth with a dozen knives it might be close to the same.

My surgery has caused some side effects I did not expect. I have a toothache on the left lower side 24/7. It makes me wonder if they did it right to begin with. My left ear seems to have an "ear ache" about half the times. The roof of my mouth is uncomfortable 24/7. I have second hand smoke damage to my lungs, and the damage causes sputum to be expelled 24/7. If you try to "pull" it outward, if you use ... what is the polite word for this...if you use "vacuum" to pull the sputum up to where you can remove it politely from your mouth, the vacuum feels like you are pulling the roof of your mouth off. I have read that sentence again and I stand by it. When they cut the roof of your mouth off, they have to protect it, so they glue a protective cover over the area removed. Any vacuum applied to that area feels like you are pulling the skin off the roof of your mouth. That is accurate.

I get my stitches out the 17th. One week after the surgery. I am NOT looking forward to it.

There has to be a better way to do this. I have enough Class II's to put myself in a stupor for 3 weeks, but that is dangerous too. See what I mean?

My biggest surprise was how long it continues to hurt. I guess I am asking too much of the industry, no one in that office told me I would have toothaches/earaches, etc. If they had I would have asked for a second opinion.

If anyone has had oral surgery with minimal pain, please let me know how they did it. We may try gas next time. Thanks...