Frenectomy Recovery

Updated on May 18, 2011
S.H. asks from Harvest, AL
4 answers

My 5 year old daughter is scheduled for a frenectomy on Friday. Have you had a child go through this? I was just looking to hear how others' recovery went. How long did it take to heal? Any tips to help her through the recovery?

They will give her nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for the procedure. And they're already calling in a prescription for a pain medicine, and I have to get her some Motrin.

So just looking for tips from your experiences to help her feel better!

How does it affect their eating? Did they feel up to playing as normal? Should I get her some new "prizes" to play with afterward? What did your kid like to do while they recovered?

Thanks!

Edit to be more specific - She has a large gap between her 2 front top teeth due to a severe frenum attachment. So, this is the skin attached to her upper lip. I think it's going to be more than something that would fix itself from a fall. Makes me hurt thinking about it!!! We go to a family dentist for cleanings. They referred us to a pediatric dentist for this. Then THEY referred us to a periodontist because it was too severe for them to fix in their office. So it is considered oral surgery.

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More Answers

L.!.

answers from Austin on

My 5 yo had a frenectomy yesterday, along with a front tooth extraction (she fell at 18 months and knocked it; it was causing issues with her perm tooth coming in). Anyway, she is doing well.

They knocked her out, instead of using gas. She was scared as they hooked up the blood pressure monitor and sensors... Started wanting to leave and go home. Doctor gave her a shot to knock her out, especially since she wasn't in a mindset that would allow her IV to go in.

It took 10 minutes. I swear, they walked back to the waiting area, I called my husband to update him, and then they came put to say it was done. They moved her into Recovery and we left 20-30 minutes later.

She had an endless supply of pudding and popsicles yesterday. Had a hodge-podge of yogurt, Campbells soup, rice, and apple sauce for dinner. We got her a bunch of new crafts to do (from Micheal's), made a bed for her in the sofa in front of the TV. She watched a movie yesterday afternoon.

She's a thumb sucker (and no sucking with the stitches). I'm hoping this will break the habit.

The pain med makes her a bit loopy. And it tastes bad. We were told we can switch to OTC pain med after the first day. She doesn't like the taste of her anyibiotic either. I was able to pick up her prescriptions a few days before the procedure so I wouldn't have to waste time at the pharmacy yesterday--which was good because she was clingy yesterday. Back to her regular personality today.

All and all, she's done extremely well! Very proud of her. Of course, I've been on the ball about keeping her on pain medication when 6 hours have lapsed. Woke her up at 1am last night to dose her so it wouldn't wear off while she was sleeping.

Good luck with it!

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S.B.

answers from Dallas on

Well we didn't have the surgery because our daughter ripped hers in a fall. So I don't know if our experience will help. Even tearing it, she was up and running around like normal after about 30 minutes. We gave her one dose of tylenol, but that's it, she didn't seem to need it. She looked like a duck for three days and we couldn't brush her teeth with toothpaste (it burned). She ate normally for the most part. When my BIL (our dentist) finally saw it, he said he was relieved, one less procedure for him to perform. I know someone who's daughter had it done and she said it really wasn't a big deal (and her daughter is a drama queen ;) )

1 mom found this helpful

V.C.

answers from Dallas on

S.,
I had this done as an adult. I had braces put on immediately after. I couldn't bite anything without pain for a while, but didn't need prescription pain meds. My son had it done as a teenager. He had very little pain. I would use caution with the pain meds.

M.P.

answers from Lafayette on

is that where they cut off part of the thing connecting your tongue to the floor of hte mouth? if so, i had that done when i was 8. it was done while i had my tonsils and adenoids removed. so my recovery was much different than your daughters will be. good luck. i don't remember much pain from my mouth, it was all from my throat.

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