opera^gal's story

[opera^gal]

One week until the bone graft/implant day! I'm being teased relentlessly about having a cadaver graft, and how I'll be craving 'brains' like any ol' zombie on the block. I'm pretty sure I saw an order form for a brain-shaped jello mould, a chocolate brain, and gummy baby brain candies..i.e. my fella has a seriously sick sense of humour!!! Gawd, I hope I don't develop a raging case of pink eye as well <for all you South Park fans out there, you know what I mean!>.

[opera^gal]

Couple of sleeps until the implant appt..a little nervous about it I suppose..read up on some old posts on here about implants and surprising lack of discomfort..hoping that's my case as well . Will be glad when it's done and I'm on to the healing stages.

[MarciLouWho]

Thank you so much for continuing your saga - I am having orthodontic treatment for the eventual placement of two (count 'em!) implants in my lower arch. I eagerly await your next post!

[opera^gal]

MarciLou..I'm glad I can 'help' by continuing my story here. You might take a look at a braces story by 'catfish'...she also had implant info and pics. I know her story eased some of my anxious feelings...well...for a day or so

Tomorrow afternoon is 'zombie time' . Let's get this show on the road, people...saddle up and move 'em out!
'

[opera^gal]

Implant/bone graft day, the saga!
Got to the office and after paying for half the cost, was taken back to the surgical suite, got a surgical cap and sterile drapes put over me. Doc's assistant came in to go over what was going to happen, how there might be a chance that they couldn't do the implant if the grafting was more severe, blahblah. I asked a couple of questions, and in came the doc, injections and some waiting. Had to use an oral rinse for a bit, spit and back came the doc with a couple more injections, and off to the races we went. I had no sedation other than the injections, so I was wide awake for everything. My gum where the tooth used to be, was opened first horizontally and then vertically one tooth over on each side. I did notice my pretty bright red blood on his gloves as he was using lots of instruments and doo dads. A couple different drills, an xray with a 'fake' implant to test placement, more drilling and then he put in the implant. If you can imagine a miniature socket wrench dealio, that is what was used to ratchet the implant into the bone good and tight. Some more messing about with testing how well it was holding, and then the grafting. Looked like bone paste, which he put in a few times, then placed a barrier film thingamabob over it, before several sutures to close up the flap of gum, and I was done. Doc went with a bovine graft, rather than cadaver, so he joked about checking for a tail in a few days. I was given an ice pack and told to keep ice on 15, off 15mins, until bedtime. A bonus: the doc called me at home 4hrs later, to check on me and see how I was doing. Nice gesture. I can say it is throbbing like a mofo at the moment, as they only said to take ibuprofen..HA! I'll move up to something stronger before bed. I know this is the worst of it, and it's all downhill from here...but whoa..owOwOW!!!

[lilone]

Oh my goodness....I can't believe you were awake for all of that! Didn't it freak you right out? I think I would have flipped out part way through. I'm wondering how I'll even get through TAD placement and you've just been through a whole surgery awake...and managed to pay attention to the details!

A BIG congratulations, opera^gal! How do you feel about the tooth itself?

[opera^gal]

Hey lilone...this was just the 'under the gum in the bone' part of the implant. I won't see a tooth for at least 4 months, while my body builds the new bone and integrates the titanium post. I've heard about the kind of implant where you get a tooth the same day, but I didn't get that type. From some of the stories I've seen, my 'toothless' sentence is pretty short overall.
The overnight pain was pretty intense, like a little demon was banging his pickaxe into my gum in rhythm with my pulse . Hoping for less intensity today! I keep telling myself that the worst is over and with some luck, I'll be correct.

[opera^gal]

Yesterday, the swelling was overwhelming..felt like a huge wad of gauze was jammed between my gum and lip..no pain relief at all. Could not sleep during the night, just lots of 5 min catnaps between throbbing bouts. Yet this morning, amidst the pouring rain and high winds, much less pain and swelling is down by half . Quite the difference, so I am hopeful that more major improvements are ahead .

[anxiousgirl]

Interesting reading your posts!
I am thinking of having an implant done after my braces (mind you i only got them on monday haha)

[iBorg]

OPG:
Kudos for following through with your story. I think many think that just getting braces may be all they need for their perfect smile. I know I need restoration from where I chipped my teeth but other things are sucking that money away. Originally I thought I'd need implants but the surgeon went a different route. One thing I learned from all of this is that implants are a somewhat daunting task.

I hope your swelling is gone know and you're on your way to a good weekend.

Mike

[opera^gal]

Hey Mike, thanks for your well wishes. I wish the swelling was gone, but alas, it is about the same as yesterday, and the throbby meter is a steady 5 out of 10. Ups and downs, as with all things. I was glad to see I can *almost* get my lower hawley back in..couple more days and it should work. Not wearing it for all these days has me a little worried about shifting, but when I tried it today, it wasn't overly tight on the teeth, just on the swollen bits. The ends of the sutures are driving me nuts, as they are stiff and poking everywhere...grr

[Plumcore]

My dad is going to go through a similar procedure as you, to be able to get implants. His situation is a bit more complicated..BUT at least through your story i can get some info one what he is going to experience.

I hope your swelling and pain go down soon. Keep us updated!

[opera^gal]

Plumcore: glad my story can be of some help. I know other stories I read here helped me many times, so I'm happy to return the favor and pay it forward.

[opera^gal]

7 days post implant/bone graft surgery...hmmm..what to report? The sutures are changing color as they begin to soften and dissolve/absorb, though I'm pretty sure there will be something to remove when I go in for my next appt a week from Sat. I tried to pop in my hawley retainer but things are still swollen so it's a no go for now. From what I can surmise, it appears the doc pulled up some tissue from My inner lip area, to cover the surgical site, and then sutured it in place. That is what it looks like to me, sort of draped up and tacked in place, as the edges don't look or feel like surgical edges. Will find out when I go back. Figure I'll need to see the ortho after the remaining sutures are removed, to get new retainers <hawley and clear w/fake tooth like before> to wear during the osseointegration time of 4-5 months. Once I get the abutment/crown/permanenttooththingamajig, will likely need yet another new hawley. Feels like my mouth has turned into a money pit . Oh well, such is the life of all us orthodontites!

[drgnchsr36]

Just curious, do you have to pay for each new retainer?