[splitimage]

Basically due to years of drinking and a general phobia of dentists I neglected my teeth for the better part of a decade. I finally broke down and went in Dec. and had to have 14 fillings done. I also have gum disease and my gums are quite receeded. I actually have a couple of teeth where the root is exposed. My dentist is starting to talk about my needing a gum graft at some point. This sounds like a singularly unpleasant experience. I'm just wondering if anyone has had one, what it was like, how long it took to recover from and approximately what it costs?

So any experiences please?

Thanks.

--splitimage

[sabby]

Ouch on all that work that needs to be done

I never had a gum graft done, but someone I worked with did. It was done over a number of months. She always returned to work after the procedure and never seemed to be in too much discomfort from it. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of what the cost is...sorry.


sabby

[sunrise]

splitimage, I had a gum graft last December. My endodontist did the kind of graft where he sliced into the gum below where I needed the graft, and then folded it upward and stitched it in place. So the graft was never really fully detached from mouth, just sliced and folded upward. An advantage of this is that since the graft comes from the same part of the mouth, there is no difference in color, which can be an issue if you take the graft from elsewhere in the mouth. I had this done on six teeth, 3 on the bottom on each side. Since they were consecutive teeth on either side, this meant only 2 longish grafts.

The cells of the gums are about the fastest growing in the body. Your grafts will heal incredibly quickly. I had to come back in 10 days to get my stitches out, and this was too long to wait, as the grafts had taken so well, that cells had completely overgrown my stitches and they had to cut into my gums again to fish out the stitches. This was actually about the most painful part of the entire experience. The doc said if I ever do this again, to be sure to get my stitches out after only 7 days to avoid this problem.

Overall, this was not a painful procedure. They give you local anesthetic in your mouth. And they give you painkillers for afterwards. I think I took them on the first day only. And I took one day off of work.

As I recall, this procedure was quite expensive, and my endodontist wanted to overcharge my insurance. I had to watch all the bills closely to make sure I didn't have to overpay them. As I recall, the cost was about $2000-$3000. They charged on a per tooth basis, so for me, it was 6 teeth. Insurance covered part of it.

My endodontist seemed really pleased with the results, but it doesn't look that impressive to me. My grafts were not to raise my gum line on the bottom, but just to preserve the existing gumline, which was growing very thin and was in danger of exposing root. So maybe my gums now look thicker in that area, and I guess that was the goal. So they will be much less prone to recession now.

The worst part of this procedure for me, was that my endodontist said I needed a bite adjustment before I had the gum graft. I didn't really question this as he acted like it was standard procedure. If your provider says this, do not take the bite adjustment! Biggest dental mistake of my life. The procedure completely altered my bite and left my teeth unable to rest and meet each other. Now every day I get jaw fatigue because I have no place to rest my teeth. And it has altered the most comfortable resting position on my mouth, which makes me push my jaw out forward and frown. Very unattractive, but I can't help it, that is just what is most comfortable now. If he had told me this would be the result of the bite adjustment, I would have of course declined the procedure. So don't let yourself be talked into this.

Good luck.

[Perna]

I haven't had a gum graft but I had a "tooth lengthening" where I needed a crown but the underlying tooth wasn't "high" enough to allow it to be grabbed hold of. I too went to an endodontist and had a full root canal in that tooth and then the gum was cut and adjusted so when it healed the tooth could be used to build on. The procedure required 3-4 stitches is why I feel it might be similar.

I healed well but think my gums were in good shape to begin with. Took a week or two and I didn't have much pain or anything. I think it all just sounds worse than it is?

[denver smith]

Just got two sections of my Gum Graft yesterday. lower right & left 3 teeth each section. Its pretty painful now. Taking Tylenol 3 which helps. The most annoying part is since I have dressing in my mouth.. i cant eat anything. Just very soft foods and liquids.