My Experience

My dentist recommended this because some of my teeth were getting loose. She referred me to a periodontist. He explained that they would do quadrants of my mouth, recovering for 6-8 weeks in between procedures. He never actually said they were removing the gum from my teeth, but that’s what they do.

The periodontist welcomed my questions, and worked with an assistant who looked out for any discomfort I might have. They rubbed on the numbing gel, and then injected Novocain. The only uncomfortable part was an injection at the roof of my mouth at my palate. It lasted for about a minute. There is only a thin layer of skin before they hit the palate bone, so the Novocain made a bit of a bubble. It was not unbearable, but very uncomfortable, but it dissipated.

The periodontist has a way of working with tools so you never actually see the tools. But what he did was cut along the gums, then scrape at the gums. It was supposed to take an hour, but this periodontist was very fast and was done in about 40 minutes. Then they sutured, or sewed, me up at the gums. They gave me instructions to use mouthwash twice a day. I had an opiate-based medication to help with pain. The gums didn’t hurt so much, but the Novocain injection sites were bothersome. The sutures dissolve on their own, though they get irritating after awhile before they dissolve.

I had this procedure done all four quadrants. I had marked improvement in my mouth, my teeth weren’t loose, and there was no more bleeding. Everything was tightened up. It was absolutely worth it.