You know, they kind where they cut out gum tissue from the roof of you mouth, and then graft it onto the front of you lower teeth.
What, you haven't done that? Weird, I figured everyone has at least once...
Yep, I had the first of two gum grafts performed yesterday. Because of the way my mouth is structured, I never really had any true gum tissue in the front of my lower front 8 or so teeth. The tissue that was there was more of the flexible, semi-transperant tissue that covers the inside of your cheeks. Great for being flexible and stretching, but not so great for providing support for teeth. Because of this, the semi-gum tissue has been slowly receding and wearing away (since it wasn't really up for the job in the first place), leaving more and more of those teeth exposed.
Left untreated, eventually the roots would be completely exposed, and without any gum support, they could fall out. Not cool. At this point, they aren't loose, but were getting to the point where the dentist and periodontist were getting more concerned about it. So, yesterday we did the left side. The periodontist cut out tissue from the roof of my mouth (on the left side) and sutured it onto the front of my lower teeth where I was missing gum tissue. After a couple of months we'll do the right side too.
Left untreated, eventually the roots would be completely exposed, and without any gum support, they could fall out. Not cool. At this point, they aren't loose, but were getting to the point where the dentist and periodontist were getting more concerned about it. So, yesterday we did the left side. The periodontist cut out tissue from the roof of my mouth (on the left side) and sutured it onto the front of my lower teeth where I was missing gum tissue. After a couple of months we'll do the right side too.
Have I grossed you out yet?
The actual surgery wasn't too bad, since they loaded me up with novocain. The worst parts:
1. Injecting the novocain. Not really that painful, but a lot of needle pokes and prods considering that they had to inject it into the roof of my mouth, the gums near my lower left and front teeth, and parts of my cheek.
2. Feeling like I something was blocking my airway. When the effects of the novocain reach the front of your throat (because it was injected in the roof of my mouth), it feels like you need to clear your throat, like something is there, but it won't go away. Creepy bad feeling that you just have to get used to, all the while feeling like you're about to choke.
3. Antiseptic solution applied to lower gums where the grafts were placed had a horrible taste the lingered and reached the back of my throat, such that I had to consciously try not to gag. This was the worst part. It didn't just taste bad, it really made me want to gag, and it was like that for about 5-10 minutes straight.
4. Stitches. Lots of them. Upper where they extracted the gum tissue from behind my teeth and lower where they grafted it. Not painful, just a weird feeling when you see the doctor sewing in your mouth. He just kept going, and going, and going...
5. Being awake for the whole thing, but not being able to see what was going on. No, I wasn't creeped out by what they were doing, rather, I wanted to watch. I'm the kind of person that likes to watch them stick the needle in while giving blood, and I wanted to see them working in my mouth. Every once in awhile, when his head angle was just right, I could see my mouth in the reflection on periodontist's glasses. The image was so smal though, that it didn't provide a great viewing experience.
You can't really see much of what they did, since everything is covered with a silly-putty-like dressing to prevent infection. There are basically three big globs of putty: one of the roof of my mouth, one of the front of my lower left and front teeth, and one on the back of my lower left and front teeth.
I have the stitches taken out in 2 weeks, but I'll have to eat on one side of my mouth for an entire month. I'm not even supposed to chew with my front teeth, since the left half of them were involved also. No food restrictions though, which is why I was willing to do this before Christmas. Penicillin to prevent infection and Vicodin (extra strength!) for pain.
Oh, and if you thought I was a slow eater before, wait until you see me now! ;-)
DotD: Wireless Lexmark inkjet printer and wireless 802.11g Buffalo router bundle - $20 - That's right, no USB cable needed for the printer. It's wireless except for the power cable (you can also use USB if you want). Buying the bundle together allows you to use a $50 rebate that drops the total price of both to just $20. Pretty cool! Only catch is that you have to use in-store pickup from Circuit City. They are not available for shipping.
The actual surgery wasn't too bad, since they loaded me up with novocain. The worst parts:
1. Injecting the novocain. Not really that painful, but a lot of needle pokes and prods considering that they had to inject it into the roof of my mouth, the gums near my lower left and front teeth, and parts of my cheek.
2. Feeling like I something was blocking my airway. When the effects of the novocain reach the front of your throat (because it was injected in the roof of my mouth), it feels like you need to clear your throat, like something is there, but it won't go away. Creepy bad feeling that you just have to get used to, all the while feeling like you're about to choke.
3. Antiseptic solution applied to lower gums where the grafts were placed had a horrible taste the lingered and reached the back of my throat, such that I had to consciously try not to gag. This was the worst part. It didn't just taste bad, it really made me want to gag, and it was like that for about 5-10 minutes straight.
4. Stitches. Lots of them. Upper where they extracted the gum tissue from behind my teeth and lower where they grafted it. Not painful, just a weird feeling when you see the doctor sewing in your mouth. He just kept going, and going, and going...
5. Being awake for the whole thing, but not being able to see what was going on. No, I wasn't creeped out by what they were doing, rather, I wanted to watch. I'm the kind of person that likes to watch them stick the needle in while giving blood, and I wanted to see them working in my mouth. Every once in awhile, when his head angle was just right, I could see my mouth in the reflection on periodontist's glasses. The image was so smal though, that it didn't provide a great viewing experience.
You can't really see much of what they did, since everything is covered with a silly-putty-like dressing to prevent infection. There are basically three big globs of putty: one of the roof of my mouth, one of the front of my lower left and front teeth, and one on the back of my lower left and front teeth.
I have the stitches taken out in 2 weeks, but I'll have to eat on one side of my mouth for an entire month. I'm not even supposed to chew with my front teeth, since the left half of them were involved also. No food restrictions though, which is why I was willing to do this before Christmas. Penicillin to prevent infection and Vicodin (extra strength!) for pain.
Oh, and if you thought I was a slow eater before, wait until you see me now! ;-)
DotD: Wireless Lexmark inkjet printer and wireless 802.11g Buffalo router bundle - $20 - That's right, no USB cable needed for the printer. It's wireless except for the power cable (you can also use USB if you want). Buying the bundle together allows you to use a $50 rebate that drops the total price of both to just $20. Pretty cool! Only catch is that you have to use in-store pickup from Circuit City. They are not available for shipping.
5 comments:
Oh dear. That's just crazy.
I've never had surgery, though I did have one set of wisdom teeth removed, but they were pulled right there in the dentist's office. The numbing of the face was still rather quaint.
Ouch man! Glad it turned out alright for ya (so far any way). Hope you get full use of you mouth soon!
(Belated Merry Christmas btw)
I assume your stitches are out and all is OK?
How long till our "Chewing on the left" update?
Still no updates....
tisk tisk...
"I find your lack of blog disturbing."
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