I’m afraid I’m a bit under the weather tonight, and won’t be offering much of interest. I had a session today with my periodontist — Dr. Louis Franzetti, a good man, whom I like very much — that lasted from 10 a.m. until almost 5 o’clock. He addressed the left side, upper and lower: peeled away my gums, scraped and blasted the exposed bone, did some rather extensive bone-grafting, drilled a titanium implant into my lower jaw, and sutured my gums back on. He is a kind man, and a master of his art, but let me tell you, the experience was not entirely pleasant, and were it not for the blessings of organic chemistry I would be contemplating an untimely exit from this world right about now.
We’ll be back on the air again soon, perhaps even tomorrow.
5 Comments
Dr. V recently wrote about gettin’ it in the ass, and now here you are, takin’ it in the mouf. My time is coming, too: I think I have another cavity forming on one of my upper right molars. Only last year, I had a wisdom tooth removed — my first dental procedure in almost 15 years.
You and my brother David would make a pair: almost ten years ago, David had to have extensive jaw surgery to realign his teeth. This was something he’d been wanting to do for years. The doctors essentially cut his upper jaw free, manipulated that horsehoe of bone until everything fit right, then stapled his jaw back in place.
The end result of all that cutting and rooting around was that David looked as if he’d been in a terrible fight. His face was swollen and unrecognizable. Because of the extensive bleeding, he had to have a suction tube snaked into his stomach to collect and expel the blood pooling in there. Ultimately, David turned out fine, but those first few weeks were hard. If I recall correctly, he also had his jaw wired shut and was forced to take food through a straw.
I hope you recuperate quickly. Your procedure gives new meaning to the idea of “a million-dollar smile.”
Kevin
Malcolm…In so much as your cell phone is turned off and I do not have your home # handy, I thought this might be a good way to check up on your post op.
And for the record: “your gums were not peeled away from your teeth” but rather, a gentle reflection of full thickness mucoperiosteal flaps….
As for “scraping and blasting exposed bone”, how about the careful and meticulous debridement of the root : bone interface allowing irradication of the periodontitis infection
Re: “Bone grafting”, why not Bone Regeneration
Re:”Drilling a titanium implant into my jaw”, how about the precise preparation of a site in your lower jaw allowing the atraumatic placement of a titanium dental implant fixture
Re: “Suturing your gums back on”…firstly they were never off, but why not the careful repositioning of the soft tissue flaps achieving optimal primary closure for patient comfort… gee, doesn’t that sound better?
The procedures went very well and lasted as long as they did since Malcolm and I both love to chat about topics as diverse as the “Penfield Pain Map” to Derek Trucks carrying on the spirit of Duane Allman. Also, I can confirm that Malcolm is an excellent patient especially when coaxed with therapeutic levels of nitrous oxide.
So Malcolm, this is a very unorthodox post op check in, and quite frankly my first in “blog format”.
Please call me on my cell #, which I left on your mobile voice mail.
Thanks Louis
Hi Louis,
Well, this is rather a first for me also!
Many thanks — first, for stopping by to visit my modest website, second, for clarifying the medical record (my view of things was admittedly rather victim-centric), third, for the splendidly restorative medicament that you offered postoperatively. But most of all, thank you for working so assiduously, and with such great skill and care, to rid me of this foul affliction.
I’m very glad to have the worst of this behind me, and will see you soon.
Hi Kevin,
Not to worry — compared to what your brother endured, this is nothing. I’ll be fine in just a few days.
Thanks for the good wishes, though!
I think “Yikes!” may be good here. Hope your recovery is a swift one!
– M