Gum graft for 10 year old?

[pantherlj]

Anyone have a child that had to get a gum graft? My almost 10 year old needs a gum graft for her 2 front lower teeth. The periodontist explained it briefly yesterday at her evaluation appointment. Her dentist sent me with a general "he might suggest something, he might not so I wasn't sure what to expect so didn't do research before hand so didn't know what questions to ask. After he briefly explained pain meds, stitches, etc, he said they would see her again soon like it was no big deal.

Can anyone provide some insight if they have had a child go through it? Are they awake for it? How much did it cost in your area? What was recovery like - he doesn't have an opening until after school starts, I was hoping to do it while she was on summer break. I can visually see that she needs it but should I spend another $100 for an evaluation appointment on a 2nd opinion?

Any input appreciated!

 

[emksmama]

Did he say WHY she needs the gum graft? Have they receded to the point that her roots are exposed?

I had one done along two molars on my lower jaw, but I was 28 years old. It was from years of brushing too hard, and I was experiencing major sensitivity and pain in that area. I was out of work for two days, on a liquid/soft food diet for about a week, and discovered a major allergy to Vicodin the day after my graft. I didn't take any the day of, but the next day after the numbness was gone I took the Vicodin they had prescribed and was horribly ill for hours afterwards.

This was 12 years ago so I don't remember how much it cost, IIRC my insurance at the time completely covered the procedure. I was awake the whole time, and the dental surgeon wore a mirror on his forehead so I actually watched him cut away some tissue from the roof of my mouth, which was pretty cool. It was uncomfortable holding my mouth so far open for an extended time, but once everything healed, it was soooo worth it.

As for a second opinion, I would consider it. That's a pretty serious dental surgery for a child. I got mine as a result of a second opinion...the first dentist who looked at my teeth told me I needed a root canal! I went to my childhood dentist to get another opinion, and she referred me for the graft instead.

 

[clm10308]

My DD had that done when she was around 12-13. It was required before she could braces. she did not have enough gum tissue for moving her teeth.
We took her to an oral surgeon.

The procedure was no big deal for her, and she is a very sensitive girl. ( meaning she complains a lot about very minor pains like mosquito bites. Otherwise it would have been a local only Nike for other dental procedures.

We did pay extra to have general anesthea which our insurance did not cover, but I knew she would be too anxious otherwise.

She had it done on a Friday morning. Getting prepped and the anesthea took longer than the procedure. It was done in the oral surgeons office. She was back home in a couple of hours. She was very groggy for the rest of the day. She only took pain meds one time (and she is a big whimp)

We followed the post op instructions which I don't even remember and had no problems at all.

The roof of her mouth, where the graft came from, was a bit tender for a few days. The site were the graft was placed had no discomfort at all.

Oh, the reason mt DD was a bit older was because she lost her baby teeth very late and teeth wise she is behind by several years.

 

[ceecee]

Is this to expose more of her tooth structure? I've been in the dental field for a while and at 10 yrs that would be the only thing I could think of, maybe for orthodontics (which she could probably wait on if she's only 10). Very unusual, get a second opinion. I think general would be a lot , maybe they could give her a relaxing type med or Nitrous.

 

[pantherlj]

As for the "why" - with one tooth, the gum is so thin you can almost see the roots. If it isn't given extra gum there, the root will become exposed. For the other tooth - the gum is so low that it needs more structure there or the tooth will fall out - he feels this would happen within 1-2 years.

I am asking a few friends to see if they have any recommendations for a good periodontist.

 

[DOREEN1779]

I have thin gums, big teeth, and a small jawline. I had that area done before as well as surrounding. Pain wise, not bad, more of a nuisance in the weeks to follow. The patch and cleaning around the patch. You have to be really careful of what you eat during healing because the rinse they give you will stain teeth quickly and you need to keep those surrounding teeth clean without disturbing the patch. The worst part she will feel is the needle to the roof of the mouth. Usually that is where they collect the soft tissue to create the gum craft. She will not feel anything but pressure when that tissue is removed but it can be a bit unsettling. There will be stitches in that area and it will feel like burnt the roof of your mouth for a day or so. When putting in the graph, she will again feel pressure, this time from the stitches being put in. Overall it takes from start to finish, including care instructions about two hours. That particular area is really important to fix, the earlier the better. To compare, a root canal may be quicker but a soft tissue graft is far less painful. Good luck !

 

[sonia Duyts]

Hi, My 13 year old daughter need to get a free gingival graft on her lower 2 front teeth. I went to see 2 perodontist. The 1st one want to take the graft from where the wisdom teeth will come out when she gets older. He said that for her age, it is not as painfull as taking the graft from the roof of the mouth.
The 2nd does not want to take it there. She wants to take it from the roof of the mouth. I asked her why and said that she does not want to disturb the wisdom teeth area. If she was older and had her wisdom teeth out, then yes she could have taken the graft from there.
I don't know what to think and what to do and need to make a decision.
Anyone with experience?

 

[MichelleB]

My son (13 at the time) just had this done last year to his bottom 2 front teeth also. He didn't have much tissue in the front and also needs braces. Without the tissue, he'd lose his front teeth when the braces go on since the braces will move the teeth and they need the gum structure to do that. He had the tissue graft to the roof of his mouth. It took about an hour and he had a mild anesthetic so was awake but out of it and doesn't remember anything about it at all. He wore a retainer on the top to protect the graft site for a couple weeks. We expected him to be miserable but honestly other than the first night, he was fine. He had it done on a Friday and by Saturday he was up playing video games but we did restrict what he did beyond that. He had to watch what he ate for about 2 months but that was the main inconvenience for him because he didn't like to cut all his food up and wanted to be able to bite into things like a burger (he'd cut it into pieces so he could still eat it). He plays the trombone and we had to get him a pass to not participate in band class for 2 months but we managed to incorporate the Christmas break into his recovery so he really didn't miss too much. We unfortunately don't have dental insurance (not available at my husband's work) and had to pay for the procedure. We are in Cincinnati, Ohio and the cost was $2250 and boy did that hurt!

 

[runsandjumps]

I had this done as a child. It was an easy procedure.
When I thought about it later as a became older I realized it was due to nail biting. The dentist probably thought my gums were receding, but in reality it was due to me biting my nails in the car and then hitting a bump, causing my nail to push it down. I mention this only in case your child in a nail biter.

 

[sonia Duyts]

My son (13 at the time) just had this done last year to his bottom 2 front teeth also. He didn't have much tissue in the front and also needs braces. Without the tissue, he'd lose his front teeth when the braces go on since the braces will move the teeth and they need the gum structure to do that. He had the tissue graft to the roof of his mouth. It took about an hour and he had a mild anesthetic so was awake but out of it and doesn't remember anything about it at all. He wore a retainer on the top to protect the graft site for a couple weeks. We expected him to be miserable but honestly other than the first night, he was fine. He had it done on a Friday and by Saturday he was up playing video games but we did restrict what he did beyond that. He had to watch what he ate for about 2 months but that was the main inconvenience for him because he didn't like to cut all his food up and wanted to be able to bite into things like a burger (he'd cut it into pieces so he could still eat it). He plays the trombone and we had to get him a pass to not participate in band class for 2 months but we managed to incorporate the Christmas break into his recovery so he really didn't miss too much. We unfortunately don't have dental insurance (not available at my husband's work) and had to pay for the procedure. We are in Cincinnati, Ohio and the cost was $2250 and boy did that hurt!

Thank you Michelle soooo much for your reply. Do you have a picture of how it looked a week and a month later? Did he had the graft done before braces? If now, how long did he have to wait before getting his braces? What kind of anesthetic did he get? They are planning on doing the local shots on my daughter and giving her laughing gas. The 2nd perio was only going to do the local shots.
How long did he wear the retainer for? Please give me more details on what he ate the 1st coupld of weeks. How it looked.
My daughter is having hers done 2 days before Thanksgiving break. Like that she will have 1 week and 1/2 before going back to school. How did your son do at school? When did he go back after the surgery? What did he eat at the school?
Thanks

 

[cattywampus]

I actually had this done at that age(11). I too was getting braces and also had several back teeth removed as part of the prep (contrary to what others might say, I actually have a small mouth). I am 51 and graft is still in good shape.

I was very uncomfortable the day of the procedure and fairly uncomfortable the next couple of days, mostly from the graft site (roof of my mouth). It felt and tasted raw for awhile. I can still imagine the taste.

Mine was done under local anesthetic and the shots were tough, but do-able. I would probably plan for several days of discomfort and rest. She will deserve a lot of TLC.

Make sure you have soft foods that she likes and she eats prior to any oral pain meds. Vomiting after that process would be hard. Use the meds and don't let pain get out of control. I too have trouble taking Vicodin (vomiting and do better with Percocet or, less effective, Tylenol with codeine.

I think 2nd opinions are worthwhile. Good luck!

 

[Pooh2]

My son had it done for the lower front two teeth when he was 8. He was awake for the surgery. They asked me to sit in a chair in the door way to offer moral support. I was the one who got queasy and almost passed out! He did great. Just need to keep a little one quiet for a week or so while everything heals. Good luck!

 

[magchavez]

My dd had it done last year at the age of 11. Her dentist recommended the best periodontist ever. She was amazing with dd. She got to listen to the Frozen soundtrack while the work was being done. I was able to sit by her feet and see everything (don't want to have to do that again anytime soon). After the first night, she was fine. She ate soft foods for about a week. The worst part was that she couldn't brush her teeth for a week or so. I was expecting it to be much worse than it was. Good luck.

 

[sonia Duyts]

Hi,
Thanks for the info. Did they take the graft from the roof of her mouth? Did she wear a stent? Was she able to go back to school after a week?

 

[sonia Duyts]

My son (13 at the time) just had this done last year to his bottom 2 front teeth also. He didn't have much tissue in the front and also needs braces. Without the tissue, he'd lose his front teeth when the braces go on since the braces will move the teeth and they need the gum structure to do that. He had the tissue graft to the roof of his mouth. It took about an hour and he had a mild anesthetic so was awake but out of it and doesn't remember anything about it at all. He wore a retainer on the top to protect the graft site for a couple weeks. We expected him to be miserable but honestly other than the first night, he was fine. He had it done on a Friday and by Saturday he was up playing video games but we did restrict what he did beyond that. He had to watch what he ate for about 2 months but that was the main inconvenience for him because he didn't like to cut all his food up and wanted to be able to bite into things like a burger (he'd cut it into pieces so he could still eat it). He plays the trombone and we had to get him a pass to not participate in band class for 2 months but we managed to incorporate the Christmas break into his recovery so he really didn't miss too much. We unfortunately don't have dental insurance (not available at my husband's work) and had to pay for the procedure. We are in Cincinnati, Ohio and the cost was $2250 and boy did that hurt!

Michelle,
Please let me know how long he had to wait after the gum graft before getting braces. I hear 6 weeks and others 6 months.

 

[sonia Duyts]

My daughter got her free gingival graft done Monday. She was in the surgical room for a total of 1 hour. As soon as she left, I fell in tears. Everything went fine. They took the graft from the roof of her mouth, kind of near the back of her teeth, in the back of her mouth. They did not put any sutures. They gave her a plastic stent/retainer. She only complained of feeling pressure. I gave her Advil every 5 hours the 1st day. The 2nd day, I gave her some in the morning at before bed. She wasn't complaining of pain. Today (2 days after the surgery), she decided to keep her stent out and ate mashed potato without it. She was fine. They did put a putty dressing on her graft but the next day it was gone and she did not feel any discomfort. she speaks but can't move her lips much. So far, she is doing great. I can't see the graft since I'm scared to pull her lip even just a little. Was bothers me the most is that she can't clean her teeth well and there are some areas where she can't brush.

 

[thornton0511]

I had this procedure done before getting my first round of braces at age 9. I just remember the big needle on the roof of my mouth and having to wear the "roof retainer" for a bit. And eating was no fun at all. Lots and lots of baby food.