Surgery was a piece of cake, took 5 minutes, no
painkillers needed after the anesthetic wore off.
Gaps are big, but I have to open my mouth very
wide for them to be noticeable. Ortho
says he does not expect my profile to be adversely
affected by the extractions. Much of my agonzing
about gap aesthetics seems to have been unneccesary.
Thanks to ALL here who conforted me
. The bad news: I had NO IDEA what would be involved
in wearing a nance. I was told about the need for one,
and molded, but I did not realize that the device would
affect my speech and eating so profoundly. One reason
is that nobody on the ortho staff warned me about it.
The other is becasue they kept calling it a nance, when
in fact the keyword that apears on this board is "TPA".
This is clearly what I am wearing and it is AWFUL. I
have seen posts from others who say you get used to it
within a couple of weeks. God, I hope I do. I can't
eat a thing, can't talk, and in two weeks I have to
give two presentations at a conference. No offense
to anyone here, I hope -but I sound like a stroke
victim.
Ortho and I had a couple of long talks before the
extractions. The relationship is getting easier, although
he says he has NEVER encountered an adult patient
with as many questions as I have. Came right out
and said he feels his judgement is challenged when
I question him. To which I responded that I had the
utmost respect for his professional expertise, but
like to be informed. Here's my take on the
never-been-asked-as-many-questions-as-you bit:
The ortho is one of these formidably intelligent
types, talks very fast, thoughts running way
ahead of his words. I know the type well from
my grad school experiences. The guy is also
incredibly accomplished in other arenas
(extreme sports, and he is a former fighter
pilot.) My theory is that he's not used to questions
because his patients are too intimidated to ask him
ANYTHING.
