In which I’ve had a BONE GRAFT!

Friday I went to the endodontist and had a bone graft. Local only, no sedation. I’ve had four (wisdom) teeth extracted and two root canals, and I’m not dental procedure-averse, but this surgery was pretty rough.

He numbed me thoroughly, so nothing hurt, but one is still aware of what’s being done. It’s stressful knowing the doctor’s taking a scalpel to your gums! And having a tooth root cleaned under the gumline with a sonic is dismal. Don’t even get me started on the sutures, ye GODS.

I got three prescriptions: an antibiotic, some generic Vicodin, and a twice-daily rinse.

Apparently my wisdom tooth extraction left a pocket of bacteria that have destroyed some of my jaw bone, so this procedure cleared out the area, removed calculus from the tooth’s root, and added cadaver bone as a sort of scaffold for my own bone cells to use.

The first 48 hours post-surgery were a little rough because of swelling, but not particularly painful. I made a batch of gruel of brown rice and chora dal (it came out really good!) and drank a lot of cool water. Ice pack on the face for 20 minutes each hour. Slept on the opposite side. Napped.

Today’s day five, and it feels fine. I made the mistake of looking in there, though, and it looks gross and the suture ends are sort of wound around my teeth in a weird but ultimately probably very clever way.

I go in next Tuesday to get my stitches out!

If, God forfend, I ever have to do this shit again, I’m getting sedation. Root canals are fine, but having my gums sliced and flapped over while fully awake is a bit too much for me.