fear of periodontal surgery - Dental Health Message Board

helpfulbear · 09-09-2005, 06:28 AM

My periodontist has advised me to have surgery on 3 back teeth although one of my premolars is likely not to respond even to this. Has anyone else had teeth splinted like this in surgery? It will take 1.5 hours and then I have to return to have stitches removed. Also I have to see a hygienist a month later. I'm worried about pain of surgery and the time this surgery will take. What depresses me most is that even after all the surgery (cost £700) I will still lose a front premolar. Has anyone had this problem with such a loose tooth due to gum disease? I've always been to a dentist for regular check-ups and I try to clean well, but I never seem to have cleaned well enough.
Thanks for any reassurance anyone may have.

lateeth · 09-12-2005, 12:38 AM

I have had surgery on all 4 quads of my mouth and my husband had just a few teeth done. several of my teeth were loose and they did tighten up with the surgery but not altogether.
We had different reactions...it bothered my husband more than it bothered me but with numbing, you will not feel anything while they are doing it. AFter the dentist will give you pain killers. the biggest problem i found was holding my mouth open for a long time. It is really not at all bad, much better than you are probably expecting it to be. Anyway, after the surgery the dentist will have been able to clean all the plaque and infection out from under your gums and that will give your gums a chance to heal closer to the tooth and close the pockets you have. This should make your teeth more stable. But you really have to wait a few months before you can really see the results. My dentist does not advise disturbing the area for 6 months while healing is taking place.
good luck, i am sure you will find it not as bad as you expect.

helpfulbear · 09-12-2005, 06:36 AM

Many thanks, lateeth, for your reassuring reply. When your dentist advised not disturbing the area for 6 months, what exactly does that mean. No food on that side? 6 months sounds a long time. Did you have a lot of swelling after? Was having the stitches out painful?

lindiana53 · 09-12-2005, 08:38 AM

I had two quads done about two months ago. I found the surgery annoying and tiring, but I had no real pain at all, even after the anesthesia wore off. A technician removed the stitches, and that was nothing. The post-operative instructions were simple, and I was declared healed and finished in a few weeks. I was frightened before I had this done, but now I'll not be worried about surgery on the other side of my mouth when the time comes.

Janesylvia · 09-12-2005, 02:59 PM

I had flap surgery on the upper right quadrant, costing $1300. It has anaesthesia, so you don't feel any pain during the surgery. The dr. put dressing on after the surgery. After three days, I took the dressing off. The stitches are desolvable, and no need to be taken out. But when I was taking the dressing out, there were some stitches coming out, so I cut it off.

But one thing I did not expect was after the surgery, there appear three interdental black triangles above the gum line. I just asked for less root exposure, but did not expect that.

The periodontist suggest I have the orthodontic treatment first, then after 2 years, come back for the bone graft in one of the teeth (the second molar on the upper right side, costing $1300 for opening the gum + $1000 for bone graft). The orthodontic treatment might make one of the triangles smaller since the tooth is now slanted. I don't know if after the future bone graft, the black triangle would be enlarged again.