Well, that went better than expected. The periodontal surgeon cleaned out the gum pocket, at one point using a tool which acted as a mini power washer. Once he was satisfied that it was ready, he put a bone graft into the hole.
Now, this bone graft is not what you might expect. Rather than a sliver of bone in the shape of a wedge, as I expected, the dental assistant brought out a little canister similar to the thing hygienists use to hold the paste when they’re cleaning your teeth. Said canister holds powdered bone from a cadaver. Using tweezers or a tiny offset-spatula, some of the bone material is placed within the pocket. Once it’s filled and packed, the surgeon and his assistant wrap a membrane around the pocket and the adjacent tooth and then sew it in place with a bunch of sutures. That was one of the most disturbing parts of all: I swear they started with a foot-long piece of thread when sewing.
Then they give you a list of things you can do and things you can’t. No straws for a week, cold soft foods for the first 24 hours. Use an ice pack for the first 24 hours (20 minutes on, 20 minutes off). Don’t rinse or spit for the first 24 hours. If there’s any bruising it’ll go away within 5 or 10 days. Do not do any strenuous exercise for several days. Don’t brush your teeth until tomorrow. Use the prescribed mouthwash for 30 seconds twice a day, but use it at least 1/2 hour before brushing.
I can hear you now. Does it hurt? It hurt while it was being done, despite the numbing anesthetic, but the pain wasn’t intolerable. It may hurt some more once the stuff wears off, but they gave me some painkillers and a prescription for Percocet, which I’d prefer not to use.
All in all, if it fixes the pain I’ll be content.
I had a bone graft too and it was exactly as you describe and the recovery wasn’t hard at all. The odd thing was that once the cadaver bone took hold – for the first time in my life, I began to like onions…bwahahaha
THAT was thorough! Thanks for the update.
The prescribed mouthwash is important (am having an implant so had cadaver bone and all sorts of the same things) but it will STAIN your teeth which really annoyed me. SO, once you are done and things are back to normal, go get your teeth cleaned and then if necessary use a tooth whitening toothpaste or crest strips or something!! The reason you felt some pain (again from experience) is that if there is inflammation or periodontal issues deep in the cavity, the novacaine will not work the way it should. But you should have no issues now, I did notice a few times a strange feeling deep in my jawbone and I assume it was the bone grafting doing what bone grafting does. But it was real temporary!
Only a foot long piece of thread? I told Joe it was 3′ long and yeah, a little disconcerting!! LOL
I didn’t have to have a graft, but when I had a tooth extracted prior to having an implant I had to go through much the same ordeal. I must concur about the teeth staining properties of the rinse. Once I realized what it was doing, I wasn’t so enthused about using the rinse, but you really should. And do follow Cyn’s instructions on having your teeth cleaned afterwards. Good luck, Steve!
Good to know about the staining mouthwash. I have a cleaning scheduled in October, but if it’s too ugly maybe I’ll try to work it in sooner.
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