Teeth

Yesterday morning was spent having some rather interesting dental surgery carried out. I was due to have a bone graft in preparation for a couple of implants in 6 months time when the graft should have integrated properly. The graft was going to make use of a titanium mesh to form a surface on which the graft could take hold and give it shape/structure. The procedure was going to be so interesting that my normal dentist and nurse had come along to assist the consultant actually doing the work, and cleared his appointments!

But unfortunately for them it turned out that I'd had some good healthy bone growth in the site. So much so that it meant that I didn't need the mesh, but that the implants could be inserted as well as. This has knocked off 6 months from the whole process, and also means that I don't need an additional surgery.

The grafting process was fascinating. They started off by almost taking bone from my chin, but ended up using bone scrapings from the implant preparations, with the bone caught in a trap on the surgical suction. There was also a bit of cow bone used, but much of the graft was my own bone.

The temporaries I've got covering the site aren't fantastic, and basically let me smile and talk. No apples for me. They are also so temporary that I'm half expecting them to fall out at any minute. But so much better than the denture I've had for 3 months.

I hope to eventually get a full photo record of this procedure, and all the previous work carried out...