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Science Forum Index » Medicine - Dentistry Forum » Getting a sinus lift with osteotomes - a patient's perspecti
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| Author |
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| JimSocal |
 Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:09 pm |
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Guest
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I was having implants for teeth #3 and #4, upper right jaw.
We had done a ct scan and found that I needed a sinus lift for these 2
implants.
I was not told I would need any bone grafting, so I was surprised when
he gave me the anaesthetic shots way back in the roof of my mouth and
I said, "I never had any shots way back there" and he said "That's
because I have to take some bone from back there". I'm not sure
exactly where "back there" is, but it seems like it is at the upper
right part of my jaw, that's where it felt like the scraping was
occuring.
(I was under the influence of valium, plus I generally feel
traumatized in having any dental work done, so my perceptions are not
real sharp as to where exactly the procedure was occuring in my mouth,
and I dare not put my finger in there to feel it, I don't want to risk
causing any infection.)
So anyway, the first part of the implant procedure was the scraping,
at least this was the first part that was particularly traumatic.
Seemed like he was scraping bone for hours, though I guess it was
probably about 15-20 minutes. Scraping, scraping, scraping. It didn't
hurt, so much, but felt traumatic, and I knew it was going to probably
hurt like hell afterwards.
Then came the pounding with a hammer on my sinuses, forcing them
upwards, I guess, and placing the bone they scraped to somehow raise
the sinuses. I don't know exactly how all this works, and I was
covered with a paper apron except for my mouth, so I could not see any
of the instruments or what they were doing. I could only feel the
scraping and pounding.
The pounding, while it did not "hurt" per se, was very jarring on my
head and began to give me a headache.
The drilling for the implants was nothing compared to the sinus lift.
The drilling and placing the 2 implants was the easy part.
The whole thing only took from about 1:15pm until 4:30pm, but part of
that was waiting for the anaesthetic to take effect, and part was
waiting to get a panoramic xray afterwards. I was probably in the
chair getting worked on for about an hour and a half or 2 hours,
including the suturing. Felt like an eternity, though.
The worst part was afterwards. My whole head hurt, both my jaw where
the scraping had occurred and the implants placed, and my head, where
I had a tremendous headache. I felt like my throat hurt, but later
realized it isn't so much my throat but rather my jaw, when I swallow.
Reminded me of a "sore throat" like when you get a cold and it hurts
to swallow. The 3 (100mg?) ibuprofens they gave me afterwards - at my
request - helped a little, but not a lot.
I got home and took a tylenol+codeine and went to bed. I slept about
3-4 hours and then got up to go to the drugstore to get the
antibiotics (amoxicillin) and mouthwash (chlorhexadine gluconate) he
prescribed for me to take.
I went to bed relatively early after eating some warm, not hot, soup
and some peas, and drinking some warm (not hot) herbal tea.
Slept okay but had a pretty bad headache and my mouth still hurts
pretty bad, especially when I swallow. For some reason my eyes hurt
too, hard to explain, they seem to be overly sensitive to light -
maybe it's a side effect of the tylenol+codeine or antibiotics?? All I
know is, I just feel crappy and it's unpleasant just to be awake and
doing things. I wish I could have just slept from the moment the
procedure was done until the pain is completely gone... which I am
hoping will be by tomorrow, as I have to go into work tomorrow
afternoon.
When he was done with the implants, then he had to do the suturing of
my gums over the implants, and this is one of the worst parts, believe
it or not, especially because by then I was really sick and tired of
having my mouth open, being covered in paper, sitting in the chair,
being scraped, poked, pounded, etc... AND the anaesthetic was wearing
off by then, so the suturing also hurt. (Last time, the suturing hurt
really bad because the 4 lower implants I had placed took longer than
the 2 implants and sinus lift, so therefore the anaesthetic had worn
off more, and the suturing hurt like hell.)
So that's about it.
Another good reason one should take good care of one's teeth. Not only
is this very painful, but it costs a LOT of money, too.
I just hope that I don't have any complications with the implants nor
the sinus lift. If all works out, well, then it will have been worth
it, even the pain. But it certainly is no picnic and would be best to
just have one's own natural teeth, take good care of them, and not
need implant surgery nor sinus lift surgery.
[In my defense, I will say that some quack dentist (that's an
assumption based on having been told that there was probably no good
justification for it) pulled 8 or so of my teeth out, all at once,
when I was 15 or 16 years old, and my parents did nothing about
getting me bridge work or a partial plate or anything. I lived with
having few teeth to chew with, and got used to it and when I went out
on my own, I was never in a financial position to get bridgework or
etc. what with the high cost of dental work. So I lived with it until
I finally lost my one good molar, #30 last year, and then I decided I
would have to borrow the money to get implants.
My parents do not remember why I had the teeth pulled, and do not
recall the dentist ever saying that I should get bridge work or etc...
I certainly do not remember anything about it, either. So my parents
nor I remember why I lost the 8 or 9 teeth at that time...] |
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