Heel Turn

I never post in this forum, but since the topic has turned to gum recession, I feel the need to reply.

Quick background, I'm 22 years old, white, male, in good health...and I've had insane amounts of work done on my mouth. Braces, fillings, caps, sealents, extractions (last count, 12 teeth extracted - 4 baby teeth, 4 adult molars, all 4 wisdom teeth), palatte expansion, bridges, you name it, I've had it done, and nothing, nothing was more unpleasant to have done than a gum graft for gum recession.

I was 16, and my braces had just come off, but as a result of having the braces, I experienced some gum recession on my bottom four eye teeth. "No problem," says my orthodontist. "We'll just get you a gum graft to take care of that." The way he said it, I figured it wasn't any huge deal.

I was wrong.

Quick warning, if you're eating, or going to eat after reading this, stop reading now. What they do is, after about a dozen shots of novocaine (this is if they don't use nitrous or conscious sedation on you), they use a scalpel, yes, a scalpel, to cut away gum tissue on the affected area, and then they again use a scalpel to slice away strips of gum tissue from the roof of your mouth, and proceed to sew it on to the affected area, and then pray to god it takes hold. This is, basically, the closest thing to medieval torture that a human being in North America will ever experience, and it SUCKS. The process was so horrific, I actually blocked it out, and I still can't look at the photos of the procedure from my medical chart. The entire thing takes a good hour and a half, and you'll be bleeding like a motherfucker the entire time.

Even worse than the procedure itself is the recovery time. You'll be laid up for AT LEAST a whole week, on prescription pain meds (I got Percosets, but god knows what they use now, maybe Vicodin) waiting to heal. You'll be doped up, woozy, with little appetite. Which is a good thing, because you won't be able to eat anything but yogurt and Jello for a good week, since, if you move your jaw too much, you'll tear the stitches, and everything goes to hell. Oh, and as for drinking? I couldn't move my jaw more than a half an inch, so I had to drink through a freaking turkey baster. My mom would bring me a glass of water (or juice, or whatever), and a turkey baster. Put baster in glass, suck up some fluid, deposit into mouth, gingerly swallow. What's even worse is, you're still waiting for the roof of your mouth to heal up, and you have to wear a protective retainer so you don't disturb the process. And let me tell you, the worst part of recovering from the surgery was getting used to the feel of the healing roof of my mouth. It feels slick, slimy, and just somehow wrong while it's healing, and you get used to that retainer quickly. Trying to wean yourself off of it is a tough psychological thing to overcome. Oh, and I hope you don't have to go anywhere while you're recovering, since your entire jaw is going to swell up while you're getting better. I looked like Jay Leno for about a week due to that. And you'll develop bruising, too, which also isn't fun. To this day, I still have scar tissue on my gums from that operation.

Take it from me, avoid causing gum recession AT ALL COSTS. It's probably the worst thing you can have done for your mouth, and to this day, I'd gleefully take half a dozen root canals over a single gum surgery. Unless you want someone going to work on your mouth with a scalpel, be very careful about your gums. If you notice recession occurring, consult a dentist IMMEDIATELY so you can figure out how to stop it. You will be insanely glad that you did.