Coming close to the end!

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#1 Post by **smile2006** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 3:18 pm

Well, I hope to follow Chris K. soon!! I had an ortho appointment today and he said lets shoot for May!!! I'm very excited at this possibility as my wedding is to be in mid-May. My ortho won't remove my braces until he's sure everything is stable, which I was expecting to this point to be early fall from previous estimations. He's still trying to get last molar on the right upper into place. It has been pulled down and now needs to be nudged forwad a bit. I still don't get how surgery left me with one molar floating on only one side. Other than that there is minor detailing here and there. My 1 month period with elastics is over too....still wondering if I'll make it through this virtually elastic free. What a haul all this has been and it was so good to hear maybe the end is near.

Meryatan......how close are you???? Might we be done at the same time?????

#2 Post by **maryjay** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 4:11 pm

hi smile2006,

i have been given an end-of-may date for having my braces removed too, and i am sooo excited! however ive got lower jaw surgery to get though in 3 weeks time, but all im thinking about is my teeth being able to bite together naturally and looking like everyone else! its being 2 years of brace-wearing now, and the end cant come soon enough! ive read chris k's experience about time flying after the op.... i hope it feels like this for me, and her profile (after) pics were awesome!

i hope you have a wonderful wedding sans-brace!

#3 Post by **smile2006** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:04 pm

Good luck with your surgery. I had my braces only 6 months prior to surgery (last July). I'm ready to be rid of these things as well!

#4 Post by **maryjay** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:55 pm

hi smile2006,

after researching on the web, and from what my ortho told me i thought it was normal to have 18-24 months brace wearing with surgery right at the end, which is what ive had, but looking at other peoples posts, the opposite seems to be happening!
i have my first of 3 appointments tomorrow, leading up to my (lower) jaw sugery at the end of the month, it takes me 3 hours to get the the hospital to what i think will be a 10 minute check up.. very annoying!
any pre/post sugery tips please let me know,
its hard to talk to my friends about this because they dont understand why im having surgery done as its by choice.
i have a hugh overjet, and if surgery is going to banish the goofyness i have always hated it will be worth it. luckily i have a very understanding boyfriend who have never said anything negative, and puts up with my moaning about aching teeth when i get a new wire placed, and bought me flowers when i had 3 teeth pulled out and couldnt stop crying.
if someone loves you with braces, thats love!!!

#5 Post by **smile2006** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:27 pm

I can only say this based on what I have read here but it seems like a lot of people in the US have braces for an extended period of time after surgery vs. other countries. Just something interesting that I've noticed. I'm sure it'll work out well for you. As far as doing the surgery for yourself, I have no regrets. Mine was done for "medical necessity" but I am so pleased with the results and what I feel to be a positive change in appearance. It's OK to do something for yourself. I started dating my future husband about a month before I got braces. It didn't bother him at all, of course he had braces as a kid so he somewhat understands!

I think you'll do fine. Single jaw surgery is much easier from a recovery standpoint than double jaw (I had double jaw and genioplasty). I found that the recovery was longest for the lower jaw area but my recovery was implicated by the genioplasty in the same area. As everyone says, it's the months/days leading up to the surgery that are the worst....then you're wheeled into the OR and next thing you know your done (and nicely brusied and swollen for a period).

Again, good luck to you.

#6 Post by **chrisk** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:42 pm

It's great to hear that you have an end in sight. It makes things so much easier to cope with when you have a possible debanding date ahead of you to look forward to. I hope your last couple of months flies by.

#7 Post by **anabel** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 9:36 am

HEY, I didn't know you got engaged!! Must have missed it--I've not been keeping up with everything here as much as I'd like. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! That is so great. And of course congratulations on maybe getting your braces off in May! I still don't have a date; ortho keeps writing he'll take them off "as soon as feasible" in my chart.

Also ChrisK, congratulations to you as well, I saw your pictures and I'm so happy for you!!

#8 Post by **smile2006** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 5:21 am

HI ANANBEL!!!!!!- Where have you been? How is the new baby coming? Where are you with your surgery/braces journey? Seems like our surgeries were forever ago but at the same time yesterday. I'm hoping for May with my braces but that is not too far away and I'm still seeing things I don't like. It's amazing how picky I've become! My bite is closed and awesome though. I find myself looking for things I can I bite into just to enjoy the process. I used to find things to eat where I could avoid biting into anything. Do you have any lingering numbness? I've still got a little just beneath my lower lip and the tip of my chin, it is diminishing week by week though. My upper area is fine! Yes, I got engaged over the holidays. We're planning a wedding in Sedona, AZ in May....small since we are old people (hahaha).

MERYATEN- What is your ortho working on now specifically? I've got multiple bends in my upper wire (inward, outward, upward) but this is gradually doing the trick as well as creating very tender upper teeth.

#9 Post by **smile2006** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 6:09 pm

Meryaten-

As the voice who supports us all with so much encouragment, I was sorry to read you're having some difficulty at the moment. I know how you must feel because we are similar stages in trying to finish up this process. Any little "weird" feeling I get in my mouth these days I'm convinced the surgery is failing, a filling is falling out or who knows what. With all we've been through I think it's natural to feel a bit stressed (even paranoid) at times. So give yourself a hug, and know your doctor's are looking out for your best interest and will set you up to be good and stable by the end. As far as root canals, I had two done probably 15-20 years ago and then one right before I got my braces. Let me tell you the one I had last year was much easier than I remember the first two to have been............so a root canal won't be as bad as you may think. Just for a good laugh, I have one tooth (molar) with a substantial filling. I have this reoccuring vision that everything is set and I go to get my braces off only when they remove that band the whole tooth nearly comes out with it...............eeeekkkk what a nightmare all this is at times. Sometimes the best remedy is a good laugh at our own expense

#10 Post by **smile2006** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 5:09 am

Since you still have a natural tooth under the crown my guess is they would remove the crown, do the normal root canal procedure and re-crown it (might have to be a new crown though unfortunately because of the way they put the post in root canal teeth to support the crown). Good luck tomorrow, let us know how it goes.

#11 Post by **katemm06** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 8:58 am

Hey Meryaten,

I'm really sorry to hear about some of the setbacks and stress you're experiencing with your teeth. It seems like after jaw surgery a lot of us inevitably take a couple steps forward and then a few backward before we can finally make it through this journey.

Did your teeth clenching/grinding only start after surgery? I ask you this because I also do the same thing now in my sleep which is not normal for me. This started immediately after having the surgery. I was told on Friday that I have an open bite in the back that is not being fixed by elastics so I'm not sure if mine is also caused by the teeth grinding. I will have to ask the ortho about this soon. Does anyone know if a lot of ppl start grinding their teeth after jaw surgery?

Hopefully everything gets worked out with your insurance soon and that you don't end up having a root canal.

#12 Post by **anabel** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:30 am

Hi, sorry took so long to respond, smile2006. Baby is doing fine and everything is going well in that area. I seem to be having similar issues as you and Meryaten, however, with my teeth. The bends, the grinding, the things that just don't feel right when I bite down. Saw the ortho yesterday and he put a huge thick wire in the bottom--some special wire that only he could do for some reason. Possibly the most painful wire I've had yet. Because of the bends I'd had previously on the bottom, my teeth weren't really lined up anymore, and this thick wire doesn't seem to have any or as many bends and NOW the teeth are lined up but at the expense of being able to chew. Ugh. He is also trying to fix a slight lingering (recurring?) overjet with elastics. My bite is still open in the back. Good news is, he says 3 more visits and I'm done. So I guess I'm closer to my teeth being right than I thought. I do have that paranoia, smile2006, that you mentioned but I am trying to remind myself that my ortho and surgeon are really great at what they do and that it'll be OK in the end. My next appt is in 3 weeks because he doesn't want to leave the evil thick wire in too long. It really blows not being able to take ibuprofen because of the pregnancy. Tylenol just doesn't do anything for evil thick wire pain.

#13 Post by **anabel** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:34 pm

Hey, a bite! That's great!!!

#14 Post by **smile2006** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:20 am

Anabel-

Yes, it appears to be the little pains of finishing up, bends, wires, etc. Hopefully the end will be here for all of us soon. You mentioned your bite is open in the back, is that only in the very back molars? I had that on one side and pulling that tooth into place has been the most painful thing of this whole experience. I didn't have a band on that tooth until after surgery. Anyway, I anxiously await my next apppointment to see if May holds up as a month to get these things off. Seems impossible! Check in now and again and let us know how your doing! When is the baby due?

Meryaten- Great on that tooth, even though it took a root canal!

#15 Post by **katemm06** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 10:40 am

Meryaten,

I'm happy to hear that the root canal resolved your discomfort and your bite is back to normal. Pain is never a good thing!!