Molar extraction - implant, denture, or leave gap?

[MountainMama]

@NervousUSA hey! ☺️ Thanks for letting me know about this. I wasn't aware of it as I thought that normal cleaning will be sufficient. But I do have a waterpik. Will definitely check with my dentist about it on next Wednesday. I've been wondering am I allowed to wear my retainer after the surgery? Will I be able to brush my teeth (except to avoid the surgical area) after the surgery?

My main concern is actually the bleeding. I'm really afraid of blood. I'm afraid that the blood won't clot.

Anyway, congratulations for having the crown put on! I'm so happy for you that you've came such a long way since we first spoken about it 🥹🥹 you're really brave and I'm really really proud of you. Do invest in a waterpik as it really change my world. I've really bad gums in the past prior to braces. My gum started became healtier after using waterpik before flossing and brushing.

I have had implants on four teeth for going on three years now and have never cleaned them any differently than my other teeth. I do floss differently since there is not a ligament but my dentists have all said my implants and gums are very healthy.

 

[AngelCatMei]

@NervousUSA hi! Thanks for your reply ☺️ I guess I was just nervous about bleeding as I used to have such traumatise post extraction bleeding before. In the end, I got to head back to the clinic to get the socket filled with a sponge that aid with bleeding. Don't have clear memory of my wisdom tooth surgery but I do remembered soaking through three gauze with bleeding and continue having blood taste in my mouth throughout the night.

About my 25th Jan appointment, I went to get my oral scanning done, CBCT, OPG and images taken. My dentist is gonna send over those to a lab and I'll be heading back for a treatment plan appointment on the 18th Feb. Dentist mentioned thst she won't be doing a keyhole (flapless) surgery as she personally felt that it's more safe to open the flap so she can get a good look at the bone. Was kinda of confuse cos I opted for the guided implant surgery as I thought it'll be a keyhole surgery with minimal bleeding. Started panicking since then till now (constantly looking up dental implant surgery videos to prep myself). Can I check if your surgery is flapless or open flap surgey?

Dentist also mentioned that she usually use SIC brand of implant. Informed her that I prefer Straumann and she told me that we can discuss more about it on the next appointment. Can I check which brand is your implant?

Thank you! 😊 And yes, you won't regret with waterpik. Hope everything is going well for you in life.

@Gordon Have you ever heard of anyone using SIC implant? It's my first time that I heard of this brand. Thanks!

 

[NervousUSA]

@AngelCatMei Yes it is nothing like wisdom tooth surgery with the heavy bleeding, gauze, and clots. The pain is very mild too, almost more of discomfort. Sounds like you are making good progress and moving along, good for you! Your dentist sounds really good and like they did a lot of imaging which is great! I think that sounds like a good sign. I had an open flap surgery. It really wasn't bloody or making me taste or feel blood in my mouth. In the end the result was just like a little slit that was tightly stitched closed with no blood coming out or anything like that. I don't think you need to worry about the open flap surgery, it is actually really mild. The only moment that I noticed a little blood was on the sensor part that goes in your mouth when they took an xray during the surgery. The sensor was white and had a little pinkish look, so you might want to close your eyes at that moment if they do that, when they take it out of your mouth. I'm impressed your dentist told you the brand on her own, I had to ask mine and they thought I was weird for sure. I have a Biohorizons. I have one new tip for you from my experience, though you aren't at this stage yet, be sure to discuss any wishes you have for the color of the crown, I ended up having the color picked for me with no discussion and I am not happy with the color though the function seems fine. I should have proactively discussed my wishes about the color with my dentist when they didn't bring that up. Again great to hear that things are moving along for you and seem to be going well! I have been doing pretty well, using the waterpik has been fine so thanks for your information on that! Please keep updating!

 

[Gordon]

Have you ever heard of anyone using SIC implant? It's my first time that I heard of this brand. Thanks!

No, but I've been retired for nearly 5 years and never did much implant work before then...

 

[AngelCatMei]

@Gordon it's okay, no worries ☺️ Congratulations on the retirement. You deserve a good rest.

 

[Gordon]

Thanks. Actually I apologise for the brief answer.

From what I remember, most of the implant systems are pretty similar, it's down to operator skill & familiarity with their chosen system which gives the best results.

A quick Google suggests SIC are made in Switzerland, so I imagine they are pretty decent quality. Swiss dentistry is usually excellent.

 

[AngelCatMei]

@Gordon Nono, please don't apologise. I'm really glad that you're always here for all of us. Appreciate it a lot 😊

Just a quick update that my dentist decided to use Straumann for me. It's gonna be 10mm in length. I'm scheduled for the surgery on 27th March.

 

[AngelCatMei]

@NervousUSA hi!! Thanks for reassuring me that the open flap surgery isn't that bad 🥺 I really need that reassurance. I'm going in for the surgery in about two weeks. It's scheduled on the 27th March 2023 at 9.30am. It's gonna be about an hour and half long. My dentist told me the same thing too! She said that if I can went through with wisdom tooth surgery, the bleeding for dental implant wouldn't be that bad as the implant will basically stop the blood from flowing out of the hole once it is screwed in.

It's gonna be a 10mm implant. Can't remember if it's 4.3 or 4.5 to 10mm. Have been reading lots of experiences and watching vlog about it, it does help me to prep mentally. I'm mentally going through the procedure so that I won't freak out on the day itself. I just hope that everything will goes smoothly and that I'll be able to return home to my cats. I know I'm been dramatic, but I'm really afraid of any complications that will stop me from heading home 😂 will keep updating once I've the procedure done!

 

[NervousUSA]

@AngelCatMei It really isn't bad. Very mild, long, and boring, with lots of very mild, quiet drilling, that was my main experience of it. It's nice you have a date and it's pretty soon, soon you can get it over with and put it behind you. That's a long implant you are getting, a mm longer than mine, which is good. My dentist told me the bigger the better with implants. They have to be longer than the crown that is going to go on them, too, I have read. Your dentist's description of the implant blocking the hole is very good, it is true, I think it will end up closed up either totally stitched shut, or closed up with a healing cap, either way, it really can't bleed much. I'm sure you will be able to get home, but maybe it would give you peace of mind to line up someone to be your pet sitter just in case? I would have worried about that myself with all my oral surgeries this last year, except I knew my partner would take care of our pets if something happened to me because we live together. Yes please do update and let us know how it goes!

 

[AngelCatMei]

@NervousUSA I'm back from the surgery. After the first dose of injection, dentist checked to see if I'm fully numb, but I still have some sensation so she gave me another dose of injection. The surgical guide is so tight, after putting the guide in, they had a hard time putting the handpiece into my guide as my mouth space is tight. There's a specialist there with my dentist to oversee her doing my surgery. It went well. Didn't bite on the gauze after the surgery too as there's only oozing of bleed. My dentist prescribed me antibiotic, arcoxia and paracetamol. She mentioned that arcoxia and paracetamol can be taken together, is there so? For now I just took the antibiotics and arcoxia. Will take paracetamol if I'm feeling more pain. She also mentioned that I can brush and rinse my mouth today, just not too harsh on the rinsing. I tried rinsing my mouth with the prescribed mouthwash and let the mouthwash flow out from the side of my mouth and after that, there seems to be a little bleeding. Should I just wait till tomorrow morning to brush and rinse instead?

 

[NervousUSA]

Good job, you did it!!! I am so glad everything went well!!! Yes sometimes it happens that you need a couple doses of local anesthetic to get numb. It's nice not to have the gauze, clot, and heavy bleeding with dental implants, so much more pleasant than an extraction. I am no dentist but it looks well done to me, at least a lot like how mine looked once capped, and I think mine went as well as they can. Since yours is capped too, you won't have to have an extra surgery to expose and cap it, like I did, which is nice. I think your dentist is probably right if she told you the medications can be taken together, I had different antibiotic, amoxicillin, I took it with ibuprofen and tylenol, tylenol is the same as paracetamol, so I guess I know you can mix paracetamol with amoxicillin, though I don't know for the specific antibiotics you have. I think the dentist will have told you correctly, though, especially with the specialist there to advise her. I started brushing and rinsing the day of surgery, I just didn't brush the two teeth on each side of the implant, there was a little bleeding for me too, but it didn't seem to cause me any problem. I just didn't spit too hard, like you, letting the water flow out of my mouth. I think you don't need to wait if the dentist told you that you can brush today. Do you now wait three months and then have an x-ray? What is your next stage? Again, good for you getting that surgery done!

 

[AngelCatMei]

@NervousUSA I'm so glad that we both went through it! Thanks for always being there for me throughout this journey 🙏😭

Today is my second day post-op. There's no swelling and the pain is not that strong. It's more of like a nagging ache. I didn't took any arcoxia today as I think I can manage the pain with paracetamol. My antibiotics is amoxicillin as well ☺️

There's like some white stuff around the healing cap and stitches, not sure if I should try and remove it, as I'm not too sure if that's food or some tissues.

I sicked of having just porridge for meals. I tried having some sweet potato and some noodles this noon and it went okay. Wondering should I try to have some rice tonight.

 

[NervousUSA]

@AngelCatMei Same to you! I am very glad we have been able to give each other some support with this, too! It's so nice being able to talk to someone else having a dental implant! I'm really glad you are not in a lot of pain today. I had a lot of white stuff in that location too, with a slightly slimy look, and ended up calling my dentist's office, and was told this was a normal look for healing gums. I had gotten very worried and anxious because I thought my gums were dying near the healing cap, and had been told at the procedure my gums should look pink, but then on the phone they told me healing gums would look white, and it was fine and pinked back up again. I seem to remember the white look lasting quite a while, maybe a couple weeks. If this is what is going on with you, it's harmless, just gums healing, and you probably shouldn't try to remove it. I think I would have been able to eat rice on the second day as long as it wasn't that hard rice from the bottom of a rice cooker, I would say go for it if you feel like you can! I was able to eat quite a lot of pretty firm stuff pretty quickly by keeping the food on the other side of my mouth from the implant, I think I remember eating bread, pasta, seedless grapes, and cheese this way. It really sounds like things are going well for you so far, which is so great!

 

[AngelCatMei]

@NervousUSA the white stuffs is more sticking to my stitches. I guess it's probably food 😂 I tried removing it with a small brush and flushing it with a syringe filled with saline water but it just doesn't get as clean as day 1 stitches. It kinda of hurt if I try to clean it. I told myself I should just leave it alone but I'm afraid thst there'll be infection if I don't keep it clean.

The implant site feels a little itchy too. Not sure if that's because of the gum healing up.

How's your implant doing so far! How's chewing on it feels like?

 

[NervousUSA]

@AngelCatMei I would probably leave it alone if it were me, especially if it hurt to clean that way, and would call the dentist's office and tell them about the white stuff and the itch, I think these things are probably ok, but I think it is always best to be safe. Unfortunately I don't remember if I had an itch. My implant seems pretty good, chewing on it is great! It is a very solid thing. It was really hard to get used to the crown, and I had some issues having it put on, but I am used to it now. Right now I am using bleach trays because the crown is lighter color than my other teeth. I have had some issues with occasional pain from the implant after having the crown put on that I think may be a phantom pain, and the same issue with my lower left wisdom tooth extraction site (same side as implant). I had my wisdom teeth removed within two months after having dental implant surgery, and the tooth I replaced extracted three months before surgery, so this may be nothing to do with the implant, and just to do with having a lot of disturbance to the area. Hope things keep going alright for you, and this white stuff turns out to be no big deal!

 

[AngelCatMei]

@NervousUSA glad to hear that your implant is doing well!

For me, today I woke up with some inflamed gums around the healing cap on the side facing the cheek. I texted the clinic and still pending for them to reply. I think it's because I didn't clean it properly. As I didn't know if I should clean the area with a toothbrush when there's still stitches there. I think if I try to clean the gum now with a soft toothbrush, it'll definitely bleed :/

I really hope that this won't cause any implant failure.

 

[NervousUSA]

Sorry to hear that! Hopefully they respond soon! If it's any use, I wasn't told to brush around the cap and didn't do that, and that worked out OK for me. I think if those caps really needed to be brushed we would have been told to do so. I sprayed mine with some water from a syringe to clean it while it was still stitched up. If you want to, maybe you could post a new thread on this forum with a pic or description of what is going on for the dentists on here to see? They might be able to give you some good information. I really hope everything is OK and will cross my fingers!

 

[NervousUSA]

@AngelCatMei How's it going? Is the cap doing better?

 

[AngelCatMei]

@NervousUSA hi! Thank you for asking 😊 the redness went down after the stitches was removed. I think the waterpik do helps a lot as I can flush any food out. Over the weekend I noticed that there's some puffiness around the gum closer to the second pre-molar and it kinda of have that sensitive pain when I angled my toothbrush towards the premolar when I was brushing it. So I went back to the clinic to have a check, for just in case. Luckily there's nothing serious and dentist said that the gum is healing well. I wish July will come soon so that I can have the tooth on and eat without worrying that I'll damage the healing cap.

 

[NervousUSA]

@AngelCatMei Great to hear dentist says all is OK!