Gum Surgery

I'm done with the jaw, but turns out my teeth might fall out due to what has been referred to as "paper thin gums" or alternatively, gum recession. So I scheduled a little procedure for 6 of my bottom teeth where a periodontist is going to do a gum graft as a way to ensure my teeth don't fall out. Wouldn't want that to happen after everything that's been done!

On a scale from wisdom teeth to double jaw surgery, it was worse than the former, but less invasive than the jaw surgery.

I was told it would take between 1.5–2 hours, but I was done within an hour and that was with 6 teeth being grafted, soooo maybe my doctor is really good, or more likely I'm just an excellent patient.

paper thin, receding gum line 😐

For the surgery, all they did was numb the roof of my mouth and my bottom lip area and then they did the graft. It was like those scenes you see on TV with doctors operating over the camera – that's the POV.

After the graft was done they put a retainer on the roof of my mouth which is essentially a hard bandaid to keep my tongue from messing with the open wound on my palate. I don't have to wear it, but it helps reduce the bleeding and the swelling. And then the doctor slapped an icepack on my chin, told me I could eat whatever felt comfortable, advised me to drink ice-water to reduce any swelling, gave me my prescriptions (which I recommend getting beforehand) and sent me on my way.

healed gum graft 😁

As far as recovery goes I think I had a very easy time. The interesting thing is that the roof of my mouth and half of my bottom gums/lip are still semi-numb from jaw surgery in 2015 (I'm beginning to think semi-numb is as good as it gets for me) and I just had no feeling at the suture site or the donor site. BUT my tongue has feeling and the top of my mouth just felt raw. It was originally black, but then a week later it was yellow/pink. It's so nasty. The graft is pretty white still, but I've been told everything looks good and it will eventually blend in.

Overall, this was a GROSS surgery and unless you really need it – i.e. multiple dentists tell you that they're concerned that your teeth will fall out – don't do it. It's not worth it unless it is.