Bone graft tomorrow - stomach in knots

[kemmie777]

So it about 24 hours from now in will be at the dentist getting a bone graph in preparation for an inplant. I am very nervous about the whole thing. The dentist explained the basics of the procedure and I have read up on it on some other websites and now how too much information I think. The way it's described it seems pretty straightforward but they have the appointment blocked for 2 hours. So I am a little nervous about that. I don't fear any pain during the procedure but I am concerned about what happens afterwards. My neighbor had a bone graft for the same tooth last year and said it was the worse pain she's felt. And she has a high pain tolerance. She also swelled quite a bit. Others say I will be sore a bit and there might be some swelling but nothing worse then what I had from the extraction. The dentist made it seem since it's so soon after the extraction the work will be easier as they wont have to remove any granulation etc. my neighbor by the way waited about 10 years to replace the missing tooth. Anyone have any experiences they can share of their comfort levels afterwards? I have had such a rough time with my teeth in the last few years that I have become more and more anxious and fearful of any procedure. I dread it all. I still force myself to go try as much as I can to keep a good attitude about the whole thing but I feel like by breaking point is around the corner.

 

[takingflight]

Hi Kemmie,

I'm afraid I'm never able to provide details of procedures as most of them are done with sedation but because you want to know how others fared with the recovery process I can actually try to answer that. I had to have two bone graft procedures as the first one did not take well enough to have the implant and neither were anything I'd call overly painful. There was a bit of swelling and what I'd describe as throbbing discomfort and with the first one, I did think I'd need stronger pain meds immediately afterwards. My husband called the dentist and asked for prescription pain meds after I'd taken some Advil and taken a nap. By the time he came back from picking them up and I woke from my nap the Advil had done the trick and I never ended up needing them. The key was to start taking something immediately and to make sure I took the next dose within 4 or so hours so the pain never got a chance to become unmanageable. I consider myself to be a low pain tolerance kind of person and if I'd needed the prescription pain medication I would have taken it in a heartbeat but I was fine with over the counter medication. The swelling only lasted a couple of days and I did have a little tingling but the dentist told me it would calm down and he was right, it ended up being nothing to worry about.

I'm sure you are going to be just fine and want to wish you the best with your procedure. I hope that you also find the after-effects to be manageable and have a quick recovery!

Takingflight

 

[kemmie777]

So just got back from the dentist and the grafting went well. I didn't feel anything during other than a little pressure near the end because the novicaine was starting to wear off. She topped my off before I left and made me take some pain meds as well. The needles didn't even hurt that much. I have had flu shots that hurt more. Now I am armed with some prescription drugs and a pain management plan for the next few days and her cell phone just in case. So we will see what will happen in the next few hours and days. I hope for the best but have a plan jus let in case which makes me feel better in general. Next week is a follow up to check on the healing and then in about 3 months an X-ray to help plan the mapping of the implant placement itself. I am toying the the idea of actually being asleep or medicated for the implant placement but that's probably something I don't have to worry about until sometime early next year or December at the earliest if i heal exceptionally well. My mouth tends to heal well and fast. Well it did when I was younger when I had minor oral surgery in my teens. Fingers crossed.