12 Day Update: Gum Graft

After poking around my blog I realized it had been far too long since I'd posted a TMI update photo of my gum graft. Thus, in the interest of documenting the healing process, I present to you more zombie/Frankenstein gums:

Raaaaaawwwwwwrrrrr!

As you can see, the palate tissue (light pink) is kind of a funny shape but seems to have remained successfully attached to my gums. It's completely invisible unless I pull my lip down so I think we can call it a success. My periodontist has offered to use microdermabrasion to sand down the graft in the future, but I can't imagine that would be particularly pleasant so I think I'm gonna pass. I don't think it's included in the original price either so it would probably be expensive.

My next appointment is on the 18th so I have a bit more time before I can call it healed. The donor site on the roof of my mouth is improving, I can't feel the edges anymore and the area feels smooth, but it's still a little tender and sore. It looks about the same even though it feels much better. Chewing anything on that side of my mouth is usually a bad idea but I've been okay to eat crunchy stuff as long as I'm careful.

Interestingly, I haven't received my bill yet. Don't worry, I had no doubt that they would NEVER forget to bill me lol. I know they submitted the report to my (old) dental insurance company but I haven't received any information on what they're willing to pay and what my portion will be. I've got my fingers crossed that it's not too much but I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least the price of a new macbook air. That sucks in all sorts of different ways because E actually needs a new laptop since his broke and I would much rather spend the money on that. Bleh.

5 Day Update: Gum Graft

Today was the 5th day of healing from my exciting gum graft, and I got to have an impromptu visit with my periodontist!

Two days ago I was chugging along, dealing with the annoyance of the non-dissolvable stitches ripping the crap out of my lip when...

Whoops! There goes a chunk of tissue.

Huh. Was that a piece of the graft?

It looks like a piece of the graft...

Crap.

I promptly emailed my doc the following zombie photo:

Behold! The zombie gums. Grrrrrrr...nrrrrgg....raaaawwwrrrr!

I'll pause here for a moment to say yes, my doctor gave me not only his personal email, but also his cell number. He said to call/email/text/carrier pigeon him anytime I had a question and he meant it. How awesome is that? He even complimented me on my iphone-gum-o-graph skillz. He's awesome.

So, he says everything looks normal and healthy (reeeaaallly??) but I should come in for him to check it out anyway. He fits me in that same afternoon and after circling for parking and paying $2 dollars in quarters for an hour at a meter, I'm finally in his office. Parking is definitely the one big downside of this particular office, if you can't find a spot in the 2 hours free shopping lot you're stuck with a 1 hour meter.

Now I'm sitting in his chair and I explain about the creepy chunk of tissue I spit out. He looks at the graft and says yep, that's normal. Apparently, the outer layer of the graft is supposed to come off but he didn't mention it before since it usually comes off in such tiny pieces that most people don't notice it. He was also set up to take my stitches out, but since they're not quite ready it looks like I have to wait until Friday. He did at least trim up the ends that were poking and cutting my lip which should help since they were really driving me nuts. You can actually see the cuts they made in my poor lip in the above zombie photo. Owie.

His assistant was also nice enough to make me two new palate protectors (at no cost!) which I really appreciate. They seem to get pretty gross quickly and it's great to be able to dump the old one. What's weird is that she kept mentioning that the palate protector can be used as a bleaching tray. I wasn't sure if their usual Beverly Hills clientele are naturally obsessed with bleaching and whitening their teeth, or if my teeth are looking gross and yellow enough for her to say something O_O

Insure-Me-Woes

Like most people my age, 26 brings with it not just another year, but also the loss of... dun dun dun! Insurance! Health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, they're all goooooone! And just for me, my student loans and car insurance also happen to come due this month, because when it rains it pours people.

Putting aside the major suck that is going to be forking over the contents of my bank account for insurance every month, losing coverage also means I have to cram all the fun and scintillating medical procedures I don't really want to have into the next two weeks.

Since continuing my current coverage through cobra isn't an option, unless I want to pay triple individual rates, it looks like I will not be buying a separate dental or vision plan. That makes vision and dental stuff top priority to get done before I lose my coverage.

Thus far, my to do list is:

• An eye exam - No changes, all good
• Order backup glasses - Still need to do, and quickly!
• Dental cleaning - Check!
• Oral surgery consultation - Done!
• Gum graft surgery - Ugh. Next week.
• Apply for Health Insurance - Don't have any words for this one. I still haven't done it yet although I've done all the pre-work. 

 

Genetically, people on my sperm donor's side of the family have crappy mouths.  They have genetically sucky gums in the front, genetically missing teeth and a whole host of other weird dental stuff. Luckily, I've escaped almost everything. I've never had a cavity and my teeth are great, but it's become apparent that the bastard gave me his shitty gums in One tiny spot. Literally just one teensy spot while the rest are perfect. I have to have a little graft to fix it and it looks like I'll be squeezing it in just under the wire, literally days before my coverage ends. Even with the coverage I'm sure I'll still be out at least a grand, but it's better than owing the whole bill.

Now I just need to decide which insurance plan I want. It's all unnecessarily complicated - Co-payments? Deductibles? Out of Pocket Max? Do I want an HMO? A PPO? Ugh. It's all so much more expensive than it should be, and it seems that no matter how I slice it, I'll end up paying either upfront, ie month to month, or in the end, with a deductible. I've got to get a better handle on what each plan means.