Throughout your surgery, you can expect to feel no pain whatsoever, as the anesthesia will ensure you are thoroughly numb. However, once you are home and the effects have worn off, it is not uncommon to experience some soreness and discomfort. Fortunately, there are ways to manage the pain and avoid complications.
The level of pain you experience will also vary depending upon what type of gum graft you have performed. If no tissue is removed from your palate, you will likely not experience much discomfort at all; however, if tissue is removed, you should plan on some mild to moderate discomfort following the procedure.
The list below includes important information that every dental patient needs to know about the recovery process after undergoing a gum grafting procedure. The average amount of time it takes to heal after a gum grafting procedure is somewhere between 10 and 14 days.
Gum graft surgery is usually performed under local anesthesia, so you will be awake during the procedure but should not feel any pain. Your dentist or oral surgeon will make small incisions in your gums and insert donor tissue or synthetic material into the affected area.
Is gum graft surgery worth it? Gum grafting boasts high success rates of over 90%. This procedure gives you the best chance of treating gum recession and improving your overall oral health. Left untreated, gum recession can result in cavities, severe gum disease, tooth mobility and even eventual tooth loss.
If you use your own tissue, the most teeth you can typically graft at once would probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-8 teeth. With alloderm, you could graft every single tooth in your mouth in one sitting!
The cost of gum grafting starts at $1200. There are other factors, like the severity, that may increase the cost. Remember, we have payment options available to suit your budget. Remember, your gums may recede over time so it's important to keep regular dental appointments so your dentist can keep track of this.
Many patients will say it's about a 6-7 out of 10 on a 1-10 pain scale. The reason it's more painful is that they harvest the donor tissue from the surface of the roof of the mouth. This leaves the underlying gum tissues completely exposed and therefore in pain.
In some cases, it may be too late for gum grafting to save the gums. If your gums are severely damaged, receding so far back that they expose the tooth's root, or if there is significant bone loss from advanced gum disease, gum grafting may not be able to restore them to their healthy state.
A gum graft not only makes a smile more proportionate, but it also looks completely natural. Once you fully recover from this restorative and cosmetic procedure, onlookers will not be able to tell that you have had some work done. Long-lasting results.
Talking causes your mouth's muscles to stretch, which, in turn, can loosen up the gauze and increase the chances of bleeding. Refraining from speaking is hard, but try to remain silent as much as possible for the first two to three days after gum grafting surgery.
While a gum graft procedure isn't considered major surgery, it does require some recovery time and short-term modifications to your diet. The procedure typically takes tissue from the roof of the mouth, also known as the palate. The healthy tissue is attached to the location where dead and diseased tissue was removed.
With a gum graft, you can expect it to remain in place for a lifetime, but you will need to take care of your oral health on a daily basis. This means brushing with a soft-bristled toothbrush and being mindful of how much pressure you're using while brushing.
Gum grafts fail (often) because poor conditions weren't detected in advance of treatment. This may be a lack of sufficient supporting bone tissue. This may be because of abnormal tooth position that doesn't favour graft success.
In addition, patients will frequently complain of a bad smell and indicate their graft is “dead.” Because plasmatic circulation is important to graft survival, pooling of blood — sufficient to form a clot at the interface between host and graft tissues — will be detrimental to success.
As most surgical procedures, gum grafting surgery implicates risk of infection, bleeding, and reaction to anesthesia. Besides, severe pain, bone rejection, inflammation, swelling, nerve injury, bacterial exposure of wounds, loose sutures, uneven healing, and more…
There is nothing scary about gum grafting
There is no need to be scared of getting a gum graft. An anesthetic is usually administered at the start of the treatment, so there is no pain involved. Most patients only deal with mild soreness and discomfort afterward.
It is not uncommon to experience nausea following periodontal surgery. The cause of the irritation is usually either the pain medication or the blood that was swallowed during the procedure. Nausea as a result of blood should be of short duration.
About 15-20% of the patients ages 20-35 have some sort of gum recession and may require grafting. About 75% of people older than 50 will require some form of gum grafting due to age and normal chewing.
Gum grafting is a dental procedure performed by a periodontist (a gum specialist). It's the recommended course of treatment for receding gums to avoid exposing the teeth' root surface that leads to decay and sensitivity.
The base cost of a gum graft can be between $600 and $1200 per tooth. A periodontist is a specialist so is likely to have a higher fee. Donor tissue is more expensive than tissue that is harvested from the roof of your mouth.
Pinhole Surgical Technique
Next, your periodontist uses special instruments to loosen your gums and move them back to the appropriate position. This procedure has gained popularity due to it being far less invasive than traditional gum grafting, which in turn makes the recovery time significantly faster.
Gum veneers are used to cover unsightly gaps between teeth that have been subject to gingival and periodontal disease. Gum veneers are removable devices made of acrylic. The process can take a period of a few weeks to create.
Sutures (stitches) will usually have to be removed approximately 10 days to 2 weeks following your surgery. Do not disturb the sutures with your tongue, toothbrush or any other device. Displacement of sutures will impair healing and affect the success of your procedure.