braces and (tonsil) surgery!

[florencegal]

This is a weird one by the way, but I know you guys won't judge me for asking it and hopefully someone out there will have an answer as usual!

Just when I thought my braces journey was finally going to begin - had my two consultations, filled in and signed the forms and preparing things with my regular dentist for the four extractions - I've just been to my doctor re:a recurring throat infection and he informs me that if all the blood tests come back inconclusive, I'll probably have to have my tonsils taken out! (escaped this in childhood, I was the kid who got the adenoids whipped out instead - anything to be different ) So apart from the horror of blood tests (huge needle fear ), coping with the idea of my upcoming 4 tooth extractions and getting braced, I might be facing surgery too to get these tricky tonsil dudes out of my throat where they've been wreaking havoc for months! So.....Question: judging by how slooooooow the UK health service is I won't be able to have this done for months, by which point I was hoping and expecting to have my braces on - will they be able to do tonsil surgery if I have braces? Am I going to have to wait until after this surgery to get my braces? After so many years waiting already! I can't believe my bad luck and I would ask my doctor (didn't occur to me at the time) or ortho but everything's shut now and I'm in full-on panic.

End of very long post (as usual) - grateful for any pointers to ease my worried mind!

x

[Wyo_Stacy]

There should be no reason that your tonsils can't be taken out if you have braces. I recently had surgery with my braces and it was no problem. The only thing I had was while the nurse was going through her checklist (hearing aids, dentures, ect.) she said "braces, no." I opened my mouth and said "Yes." I went through the same thing with the Dr. and he just needed to make sure that I didn't have any elastics in at the time. It was no problem really.
The good thing is that you will already know what soft foods you like and will be able to tolerate from being braced. Best wishes.

[jaswi]

shouldn't be much of a problem. I had my tonsils out when I was 4, and it just hurt like a sore throat for a week or two, dont worry about it.

[florencegal]

Thanks so much guys for your quick and reassuring replies (and non-judgemental too, I know it was probably a pretty silly thing to panic about) - I feel much better now knowing that this shouldn't be an obstacle to achieving my braces dream!

lol Stacy: I bet you felt pretty good flashing your tooth accessories at that nurse who hadn't noticed a thing - it's a good job she went through the checklist out loud or else she might have skipped over it altogether! I hope things are going well for you both in your treatment and thanks again for being able to put my mind at rest

x

[ame_malia]

Good luck on your tonsilectomy, <b>florencegal</b>. I had my tonsils taken out when I was in elementary school, and although it was painful, I've heard that the older you are, the more painful it is. My mother had hers out in her mid-thirties, and I believe she stayed in the hospital for a couple of days, whereas I went home the same day [I don't remember much, as I was so young, but I do remember going to Braums and getting a milkshake ]

[florencegal]

More helpful and supportive replies - man, I love these boards!

Thanks guys for more reasurrance, it's especially good to know linda21 that if I do have to go ahead with the tonsillectomy that I can expect to see my health improve. I've been suffering on and off for the last 10 months or so with sore throats, feeling really run down, stuffy sinuses, a tonsil that's getting on to the size of a walnut.... And I was never a sickly person! Seriously, it seems to coincide perfectly with the dates I started a new job in a place where they love their air conditioning..... (it's 22 degrees outside today and I've been sat at my desk all day with my jacket on and scarf all round my neck and most of my face too. Not a great look!) Is this me being paranoid???!

It's good to know they can take special precautions not to damage braces, it's hard to see how there's gonna be room for all that metal in my mouth and then surgeon's hands in there too

Can I ask why you're getting teeth removed after your braces treatment linda? You're a brave girl indeed but it's all another step (or six) along the road to a happy, healthy and beautiful mouth so it'll all be worth it 100%. Glad to hear your tonsillectomy had such a postive effect on your life - and thanks ame_malia for pointing out that I'll have another good excuse to live on milkshake and icecream for a few days!

x

[sjsarre]

Hi florencegal

I had a tonsillectomy 7 years ago when I was 24...

I don't want to scare you so won't go into details. The pain was absolutely horrendous, but I did have complications...

On the real PLUS side my health within 12 months of the tonsillectomy was a hundred times better...

So for the month or so that I was in pain it was well worth it. And 7 years later I can definately say its still worth it...

The main problem you might have is the swelling in your mouth area including your tongue.. Everything swells up so much after the operation and takes a couple of weeks to really go down... The other problem aswell is that some people tend to suffer with literally NO saliva for a week afterwards, which happened to me. So that means lots of fluids.. I was extremely grateful of crushed ice cubes...

You will also have a white coating all over your mouth as it heals and you will need to do lots of special mouth washes... I'm not sure how and whether you can chew gum with braces but that sorted out my saliva issues. Chewing gum produces saliva so it did help sort my problem out (thats if you get the same issues)

Good luck with having the operation. Its definately worth it health wise I can tell you!