Apicoectomy today

[heatherm]

Hello, I’m new here. I had a root canal that was finished in mid-March. A week later, I had a fistula drained. It came back so I was recommended for an apicoectomy. When I had my root canal, I had oral sedation (I can’t remember the medication but I took some at home and then he crushed some under my tongue). My extreme anxiety is because it takes so much to get me numb and because it’s a front top tooth. My dentist and endodontist both recommended IV sedation for the apicoectomy. I even said I’d try oral sedation but they said it was so important to be precise that he was concerned with where it was that I’d move or jerk. He has a dental anesthesiologist that comes in and I had to wait over a month so I don’t think it was something he did for monetary reasons or anything. I had it done today. It took about an hour and a half. They did some bone grafting and took a biopsy. The anesthesiologist said it does take me a lot of anesthesia as well and that I came out of it very quickly. I have some questions.
1. I have 12 stitches. Everything I read online says it takes a few. Is 12 a lot?
2. Does the endodontist’s feeling that it should be successful mean anything? I have anxiety anyway but the thought of having my front top tooth pulled is terrifying. I don’t know how I could emotionally handle it.
3. My follow up isn’t for almost 2 weeks. Should that mean my stitches are dissolvable? I’m not supposed to look at them by pulling out my lip.
4. It hurts pretty bad. The anesthesiologist gave me ibuprofen in my IV and I could tell when it wore off. I’ve since taken more. I also have 10 hydrocodones. I took one with another 2 hours later after the first and 600 mg of ibuprofen didn’t seem to touch it. Is this normal?
THANK YOU FOR ANY ANSWERS YOU CAN GIVE.

 

[Gordon]

1) Not really. Depends on the operator, if they use very small sutures and finer threads.
2) Yes. They'll have seen the surgical site and post op x-rays.
3) Yes, most probably. You could always phone up and ask them?
4) Pain afterwards seems to vary a lot from patient to patient, some are fine some not so fine. There doesn't appear to be any way to predict in advance which is which. I've seen some folks who I was sure would be suffering later who just didn't and vice versa.

 

[MountainMama]

I had an apicoectomy on my front upper tooth as well. I know I had quite a few stitches but I am not sure how many. It was more than “a few”. Did they tell you it was 12?
My endodontist told me that the top front teeth are the easiest and have the best recovery rate. If your endodontist feels like they got the infection, and the procedure was successful, most likely it will be fine.
You most likely have dissolvable stitches, or they would have told you you would be getting the stitches out. I am not sure how long they usually leave them in for, but mine started coming out after about four days and some stayed in for almost a week.
I am not going to lie. My apico hurt pretty badly for almost two weeks, gradually getting better over that time. I was taking Tylenol and tramadol. Hydrocodone makes me pass out so I can’t take it. I needed the tramadol for at least three days, then I was taking it only at night. I couldn’t take ibuprofen due to an ulcer so I was given a steroid to reduce swelling. It was a slow recovery.
I did end up losing my front tooth, although mine was an unusual case. My tooth had died over many years without me knowing it, from a childhood injury. It had abscessed in a way that the endodontist couldn’t get all the infection. If you do lose your tooth (which probably will NOT happen) it will be okay. I was devastated and thought it would be the worst thing to ever happen. It ended up being a good thing as it got rid of the infection and I felt better. I had a flipper for several months and got an implant put in.
Let me know if you have any questions about the apico.