Oral Surgery for Weight Loss
***WARNING*** THIS POST MAY MAKE YOU LOSE YOUR APPETITE. (a/k/a You’re Welcome…otherwise skip to the end if you’re squeamish…or wait, maybe not that either)
Hey kids! I just came back from the dentist. No cavities. I did get the lecture about how many “4’s” are currently in my mouth. You know, that thing they do with the tool that looks like a teeny tiny meathook. (I apologize in advance to any dental professionals who are reading this post. I will undoubtedly botch the lingo horrifically). They want you to have “1’s” and “2’s” primarily.
Long story short, even my gums need to lose weight.
But here’s the real good news/bad news. I’ve got hereditary gum recission. I am officially long in the tooth. It has now gotten to the point where I need (in the dentist’s words) more aggressive treatment options.
Surgery. It’s called a gum graft or gingival graft surgery. Near as I can tell, it involves slicing flaps off the roof of my mouth and stitching them over the places where my gums have receded.
I think my periodontist is Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs.
But…anyway…you know what I’m thinking. I think you’d be thinking it too if you were me. Maybe I’ll lose weight while my Frankenstein mouth is healing!!!! So, I’m thinking I’ll schedule it for May. I’ve got a vacation, 2 weddings and a 20 yr. high school reunion between July and October. Win, win!
If there’s anyone out there who’s had this procedure done, please let me know. I can’t handle horror stories yet, but let me know if it worked for weight loss 
Oh…and if you want the Cliff’s Notes version of this post, here you go.
I haven’t had the surgery, but my periodontist thought I would need it. First though, she did quadrant cleaning and scaling–two rounds of it (still not fun but a much better option than surgery). That worked. If your periodontist hasn’t done the quadrant cleaning thing yet, I highly recommend this route first. Good luck!
I did have the surgery and felt it wasn’t a big deal. My periodontist gave me a valium ahead of time, so my usual nervousness about dentists was greatly reduced. They also perscribed a pain killer for afterwards but I used one pill out of the entire bottle.
Unfortunately because it was really easy and didn’t cause a lot of discomfort, it did nothing for weight loss. My surgery was also right at the front of my mouth so an easy area for the doctor to reach.
I think this is something I’ll be looking at in the coming years, too. I have a couple of teeth that are marked ‘problem’. Sucks – I struggle with dental issues. I have dental issues. I try to take good care of my teeth to avoid dental issues, but some of my teeth really hate me.
No worries MamaT. My teeth think I suck as well.
Diane – We’ll have to see. I have one tooth in particular that pretty much has no gum tissue around it.
Rebecca – LOL. And my first thought was, “Damn…I hope mine is way worse than Rebecca’s!”
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