Metal Mouth Message Board

So- I just found out my husband is getting transferred. OMG- that makes me 3 1/2 hours away from my Oral Surgeon and Ortho. Holy Crap. I will have to drive for every appointment.

My question is how often do you see the ortho and the oral surgeon when you are getting close to surgery and for post op appointments?

Am I going to go crazy driving all the time?

UGGGGGGGGG

I think the answers are going to vary a lot on this question...just because all orthos and surgeons are different.

My ortho appointments didn't really change frequency before surgery except I had an extra 2 appointments: one for records and another the day before surgery to get my surgical hooks placed.

The surgeon appointments before surgery were not frequent at all; I had one in January to make sure I was on track to have surgery as planned (since I'm a student, it was at the end of the Spring semester) and to schedule an appointment, and then about 2 weeks before my scheduled surgery I had a pre-op appointment where they took records and went over everything in detail with me.

After surgery, you won't be visiting your ortho right away (for me it was about 6 weeks after surgery) and probably will only go back as often as you did before surgery (for me, every 4 weeks).

For the surgeon after your surgery (this is where you'll probably see the most variability), I'm sure you'll be able to work with your surgeon since it's such a long drive for you. My post-op appointments literally lasted about 5-10 minutes where he just checked to make sure blood flow was good and everything was healing properly. Those appointments were every 2 weeks, but after the first two weeks, he said he no longer needed to see me frequently (I'm not a normal patient, however...) and to schedule an appointment for the end of this summer.

I do know a lot of people on these boards have had surgeons that were several hours (and sometimes, states!) away, so I'm sure you'll be just fine.

Good luck with everything..hopefully it will be a scenic and peaceful drive for you!

Yeah I don't really visit them much and after surgery my surgeon said weekly.

Luckily for me, my orthodonist is in my town and my surgeon has a office in my town, I did have to drive to a another town for my final meeting with him before the surgery.

Orthodontist needed to do surgical molds at least 2 weeks before surgery.

Appointment with oral surgeon once he got the surgical molds a few days later. He took wax impressions for the splint and did his facebow measurements.

Two days before surgery had splint fitting with oral surgeon.

Day before surgery got surgical hooks with orthodontist.

Saw surgeon once/week for 4 weeks post surgery. Don't see him again for 3 months after that (so 4 months post-op).

Saw orthodontist at 5 weeks post-op, then 4 weeks later, and now am getting de-braced 5 weeks later.

Orthodontist needed to do surgical molds at least 2 weeks before surgery.

Appointment with oral surgeon once he got the surgical molds a few days later. He took wax impressions for the splint and did his facebow measurements.

Two days before surgery had splint fitting with oral surgeon.

Day before surgery got surgical hooks with orthodontist.

Saw surgeon once/week for 4 weeks post surgery. Don't see him again for 3 months after that (so 4 months post-op).

Saw orthodontist at 5 weeks post-op, then 4 weeks later, and now am getting de-braced 5 weeks later.

THanks all for your replies! I really appreciate it! Looks like I am in good shape and will be having a lot of lovely drives through the great state of Ohio. I will also just camp up here a few day before and after the surgery.

How many days post surgery do you think it will take for me to be OK to make the 3 1/2 hour drive.


Again, thanks SO much for your replies!!!!

I wouldn't suggest you driving 3.5 hours solo post surgery for at least a week, but your surgeon will probably want to see you sooner.... My surgery was on a Thursday, left the hospital on a Friday, had my first post-op visit that Monday, and then once a week for 5-6 weeks, then de-bracing and tooth whitening. Now I don't have to see him til September

Nice to hear how you guys have experienced this. I will move to England 7 weeks aftermy surgery. I'll hate to have to go back too often - it's expensive, but only takes a couple of hours.