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Gum Graft: my assessment of it vs other annoying experiences.

Dg6300

Dg6300

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tldr: a gum graft isn't fun, but I would be less afraid of another one.

In the last month I've had a gum graft of one tooth, in-office ingrown toenail surgery, and a terrible cold.

All sucked, caused pain, and were annoying.

But they weren't equally sucky, painful, or annoying:

While I wouldn't look forward to any of them again, the worst has been the ingrown toenail, followed by the bad cold, then the gum graft.

In fact, if given the choice I'd take two gum grafts for every ingrown toenail (maybe even three or four), and 1.5 gum grafts for every bad cold.

A gum graft can be handled, I've found.

I said all that to say this: if you are facing a gum graft, you'll be okay.
 
I really appreciate you sharing that with us, thanks! I also appreciate how calm and logical you are and how your posts are very reassuring.
I probably have a bone graft in my future at some point and I imagine it to be somewhat similar to a gum graft, maybe it isn't? But in any case, I have found a lot of dental procedures that sound horrifying turn out to be not so traumatic in the end, it's just the thought of them.
I am about 10 days away from my iv sedation appointment and have had hardly any anxious thoughts until today when I imagined terrible side effects, really had to have a talk with myself :( because chances are it will be fine.
Have great weekend, and thanks again!
:)
 
Great! I'm glad it was helpful.

It is sort of like falling for the first time when you're learning to ice skate: something to be feared, until it is experienced. Yeah, it sucks, but it is certainly something we can handle. Then, once you know what "the pain" is like, the fear loses its power. It is simply something to experience, and then move on.

Good luck with your procedure in a few days. Keep us posted. You'll do great.
 
You're right, and I always had that rational, logical approach to dental work until I had a few unpleasant experiences and of course now I won't numb up, it's the IV option for me which is pretty scary but hopefully it will be as pleasant an experience as it seems to be for everyone who posts about it here.
Thanks for the support, it really helps!
 
Thanks for your assessment. It's helpful to have a point of reference to compare to. I was recommended a gum graft 10 years ago by a very aggressive periodontist that unfortunately scared me off from the dentist chair until now. I'm still waiting my full treatment plan to find out what is in store but after your assessment and other's I've read, I'm not as afraid anymore. I did not realize how common it is. How long has it been since your graft and how well has it taken?

I'm also sorry you had to go through so much in a month. I hope you have recovered well from it all.
 
Thanks for your encouragement, MissJoy!

I got it done on Jan 5, and just this past week I was eating tortilla chips (firm edges!) absentmindedly, which is my subconscious way of knowing I'm more myself.

Compared to "before" it has been great, and well worth the annoyance (the "pain" I felt from it is hardly worth mentioning). The periodontist said that it took pretty well, but not perfectly. I go in Monday for my hopefully-final checkup. She said that she might have to do a 5-10 minute "procedure", but she didn't make it out to be any big deal. I'll report back with an update then.

In general, this is definitely something we can handle in life.
 
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